Return to Forever - Light as a Feather (1972)

Of the three versions of Return to Forever, the initial version is of the greatest interest from the jazz standpoint. With Joe Farrell on reeds, bassist Stanley Clarke, Airto on drums and percussion and Flora Purim contributing vocals, this contingent was one of the finest groups of the 1972-73 period even if they only actually cut two records. This particular set includes the original version of Chick Corea's greatest composition ("Spain") along with versions of "500 Miles High" and "Captain Marvel." This music crosses many boundaries and still sounds fresh two decades later.

by Scott Yanow at All Music Guide.

Style:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 You're Everything
02 Light as a Feather
03 Captain Marvel
04 500 Miles High
05 Children's Song
06 Spain

Line-up:
Chick Corea - electric piano
Joe Farrell - flutes / saxophones
Flora Purim - vocals / percussion
Stanley Clarke - double bass
Airto Moreira - drums

Chick Corea - Return to Forever (1972)

The legendary first lineup of Chick Corea's fusion band Return to Forever debuted on this classic album (titled after the group but credited to Corea), featuring Joe Farrell on soprano sax and flute, the Brazilian team of vocalist Flora Purim and drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira, and electric bass whiz Stanley Clarke. It wasn't actually released in the U.S. until 1975, which was why the group's second album, Light as a Feather, initially made the Return to Forever name. Nonetheless, Return to Forever is every bit as classic, using a similar blend of spacy electric-piano fusion and Brazilian and Latin rhythms. It's all very warm, light, and airy, like a soft breeze on a tropical beach -- hardly the sort of firebrand approach to fusion that Miles Davis, Tony Williams, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra were exploring, and far less rooted in funk or rock. Corea also bathes the album in an undertone of trippy mysticism, not only in the (admittedly dated) lyrics, but in his cosmic keyboard wanderings, which remain melodic and accessible through most of the record. There's one genuine pop song in the groovy samba "What Game Shall We Play Today," and while "Sometime Ago" has similar elements, it's part of an ambitious side-long medley that features a stream-of-consciousness intro and a jubilant, Spanish/Mexican-style closing section called "La Fiesta," complete with castanets and flamenco modes. The title track is another multi-sectioned work, featuring Corea and Purim in wordless unison on two different, catchy themes, plus breezy work from Farrell and lots of Brazilian-flavored rhythmic interplay. And the dreamy, meditative "Crystal Silence" is an underrated gem waiting to be rediscovered. Certainly, this edition of Return to Forever wasn't inclined toward high-voltage jazz-rock (as the next one was), but this group's two albums still stand as some of the most imaginative and distinctive early fusion recordings.

by Steve Huey at All Music Guide.

Style:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Return to Forever
02 Crystal Silence
03 What Game Shall We Play Today
04 Sometime Ago - La Fiesta

Line-up:
Chick Corea - electric piano
Joe Farrell - flutes / soprano saxophone
Flora Purim - vocal / percussion
Stanley Clarke - electric bass / double bass
Airto Moreira - drums / percurssion

Pharoah Sanders - Africa (1987)

As Kevin Whitehead's liner notes to this release reflect, Sanders "pays explicit tribute to his late mentor John Coltrane -- as this set's Coltrane-oriented sound makes unashamedly clear." Actually, Coltrane penned only one of the eight tunes, while Sanders wrote six, but the spirit of the master looms heavily throughout. Sanders displays an uncanny resemblance to Trane's unique way of over-blowing and his special ability to get inside a ballad. Pianist John Hicks is in perfect form and contributes mightily to the success of the session. Most will probably prefer the original Coltrane to Sanders' imitations, but Africa is nonetheless a joyous and worthy tribute to one of the giants of jazz. This album marked somewhat of a backtrack for the saxophonist, as he had frequently become identified with much more traditional playing.
by Steven Loewy at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Progressive Jazz
Modal Music
Post-Bop

Tracks:
01 You've Got to Have Freedom
02 Naima
03 Origin
04 Speak Low
05 After the Morning
06 Africa
07 Heart to Heart
08 Duo

Line-up:
Pharoah Sanders - tenor saxophone
John Hicks - piano
Curtis Lundy - bass
Idris Muhammad - drums

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (1973)

Head Hunters was a pivotal point in Herbie Hancock's career, bringing him into the vanguard of jazz fusion. Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters. Drawing heavily from Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown, Hancock developed deeply funky, even gritty, rhythms over which he soloed on electric synthesizers, bringing the instrument to the forefront in jazz. It had all of the sensibilities of jazz, particularly in the way it wound off into long improvisations, but its rhythms were firmly planted in funk, soul, and R&B, giving it a mass appeal that made it the biggest-selling jazz album of all time (a record which was later broken). Jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop.
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Jazz-Funk
Funk
Fusion
Modal Music
Hard Bop
Post-Bop

Tracks:
01 Chameleon
02 Watermelon Man
03 Sly
04 Vein Melter

Line-up:
Herbie Hancock - electric piano / clavinet / synthesizers
Bennie Maupin - soprano and tenor saxophones / saxello / bass clarinet / alto flute
Paul Jackson - electric bass / marimbula
Harvey Mason - drums
Bill Summers - congas / shekere / balafon / agogo / cabasa / hindewho / tambourine / log drum / surdo / gankogui / beer bottle

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959)

Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius. It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bassline and gentle piano chords of "So What." From that moment on, the record never really changes pace -- each tune has a similar relaxed feel, as the music flows easily. Yet Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. It's the pinnacle of modal jazz -- tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. All of this doesn't quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they've memorized every nuance. They return because this is an exceptional band -- Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb -- one of the greatest in history, playing at the peak of its power. As Evans said in the original liner notes for the record, the band did not play through any of these pieces prior to recording. Davis laid out the themes before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous and still crackle with vitality. Kind of Blue works on many different levels. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced music that is extraordinarily enjoyable. It may be a stretch to say that if you don't like Kind of Blue, you don't like jazz -- but it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection.
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Post-Bop
Modal Music
Hard Bop

Tracks:
01 So What
02 Freddie Freeloader
03 Blue in Green
04 All Blues
05 Flamenco Sketches
06 Flamenco Sketches (alternate take)

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Julian "Cannonball" Adderley - alto saxophone
Paul Chambers - bass
Jimmy Cobb - drums
John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
Bill Evans - piano
Wynton Kelly - piano (on Freddie Freeloader)

Enigmatic Ocean

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