Return To Forever are one of the most innovative and successful jazz/rock fusion bands. Originally formed in the early seventies, they had reunions in 1983 and 2008 before the current line-up got together in 2010 with the arrival of new members Jean-Luc Ponty and Frank Gambale. This set contains a double live CD recorded in 2011 plus a bonus DVD containing the Inside The Music feature which combines live footage with the band discussing the tracks performed on the CD. Also included on the DVD are full live performances of After The Cosmic Rain and The Romantic Warrior and an extended trailer for the upcoming film The Return To Forever Story . / Line-up: Chick Corea (piano & keyboard); Stanley Clarke (electric & acoustic bass); Jean-Luc Ponty (electric & acoustic violin); Frank Gambale (electric & acoustic guitar); Lenny White (drums).
Miles Davis and storied producer/arranger Quincy Jones shared a long friendship and working history, despite the jazz trumpeter's legendary reputation as an intimidating and difficult collaborator. Their last partnership comes to light Tuesday in Miles Davis With Quincy Jones and the Gil Evans Orchestra Live at Montreux 1991, a concert from the Montreux Jazz Festival captured shortly before Davis died. Evans died in 1988.
Anyone who caught Jeff Beck's set at Eric Clapton's 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival (or even the two-song DVD excerpt) was probably salivating at the hope that an entire performance with the same band would appear on CD and DVD. This is it, 72 minutes and 16 tracks compiled from a week of shows at the U.K.'s famed Ronnie Scott's, and it's as impressive as any Beck fan would expect. The guitarist's last official U.S.-released live disc was from his 1976 Wired tour (an authorized "bootleg" of his 2006 tour with bassist Pino Palladino is available at gigs and online; others pop up as expensive imports), making the appearance of this music from just over three decades later a long-awaited, much-anticipated event.
Originally recorded in 1991, By Design finds drummer Billy Cobham joined by tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Joe Chindamo and bassist Brian Bromberg.
Transformation is the first studio album by bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, released independently on 14 May 2007. The album was recorded when she was 20 years old, having moved to the United States from her native Australia.
This was one of the earliest entries in the GRP catalog. It's a keyboard-dominated session, and definitely has a commercial sound to it. There are, however, enough drumming calisthenics to satisfy the intended audience. Cobham's band is not as exciting or as distinguishable as those from his days in the '70s, but the personnel are certainly adequate for the music being played. In particular, "Slow Body Poppin'" contains a fine Larry Carlton-influenced solo by Dean Brown. The remake of "Stratus" was interesting, but does not do the original justice. This is recommended mostly for the Cobham faithful.
A Major Fancy is Lees's paintbrush of rock music, done outside Barclay James Harvest despite that not completely disconnected from the big band. The recording finished in 1972, but everything went on stand-by until late 1976-1977. As the grand vocalist in BJH, Lees receive, right here, both a greater freedom of expression and a weaker kind of inspiration. His album is placid (even lowly significant) but fruitful, plotted on an unforgettable serenity, nevertheless full of flavor.