RETURN TO FOREVER is AWESOME. It was a GREAT concert. The first concert of a 50 city tour. The band jammed for about 45 minutes, then took a break and came back to play for another 45 minutes or so. After the break, they started an acoustic set - 2 songs - which were at least 20-25 minutes together. Both the acoustic songs were from the Romantic Warrior cD. In one of the two acoustic songs, Stanley Clarke played an solo on the upright bass that lasted 8-10 minutes...starting with the bow, then playing up and down the neck, and toward the end, he was playing the upright bass like a flaminco guitar - WOW, and again WOW. Al DiMeola opened the Acoustic set with a fantasy on the acoustic guitar that was just beautiful.
Each musician in Return to Forever is just AWESOME on their own, but toghter WOW, they have a synergy, where the sum is more than the parts. It is evident that Chick Corea is the band leader, and composer. His main keyboard is the Rhodes. During the acoustic set he played a baby grand piano (maybe it was a full grand - hard to tell, it was always in the shadow) that was just incredible. His synth solos and leads were soaring. He sculpted sound to create an amazing aural experience.
Lenny White kept the groove all night long. He had a couple of 2-6 minute drum solos that were incredible. (I keep using that word alot, because that was what the night was). His single bass drum thumped, the cymbals crashed, and the bass snares were driving. He was rock steady - keeping the beat for the others.
Each band member got a chance to say a few words - and Lenny said "in the age of boy bands, this is a man's band!" All four of the each thanked the audience for their support and encouragement. And how good it was to be together again.
Here is a link to an article that ran in the Austin American Statesman paper:
http://www.austin360.com/search/cont...524return.html
And here is a link to a few of the pictures I took - not that great - but I was trying to be inconspicuous - I didn't know if cameras were allowed or not. So the quality is not great, but they are a wonderful memory:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8970067...7605337415181/
I hope YOU get a chance to see them.
Regards from Texas,
Ted