April 2008 Issue 303 jazz &blues report www.jazz-blues.com now in our 34th year Return To Forever RETURNING! PREVIEWED New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Ponderosa Stomp Published by Martin Wahl Communications Editor & Founder Bill Wahl Layout & Design Bill Wahl Operations Jim Martin Pilar Martin Contributors Michael Braxton, Mark Cole, Kelly Ferjutz, Dewey Forward, Chris Hovan, Nancy Ann Lee, Peanuts, Matt Simpson, Wanda Simpson, Mark Smith, Dave Sunde, Duane Verh, Emily Wahl and Ron Weinstock. Check out our constantly updated THE RETURN OF website. Now you can search for CD Reviews by artists, titles, record labels, keyword or JBR Writers. 15 Return To Forever years of reviews are up and we’ll be going all the way back to 1974. Summer Tour Includes North American and European Concert Halls and Festivals Comments...billwahl@ jazz-blues.com Web .................. www.jazz-blues.com Return to Forever’s classic lineup calls Return to Forever’s “rich improvisa- Copyright © 2008 Martin-Wahl Communications Inc. of keyboardist Chick Corea, bassist tional symbiosis.” No portion of this publication may be Stanley Clarke, guitarist Al Di Meola and “What made me want to do it,” Corea reproduced without written permission drummer Lenny White have announced told the Times, “was just recalling how from the publisher. All rights Reserved. a tour that will represent their first ex- great the feeling was playing with these Jazz Report was founded in Buffalo New tensive engagements together in 30 guys. Just the experience of playing, when York in March of 1974 and began in Cleve- years. I thought, ‘Wow, yeah, that was an amaz- ing period — fun, creative, exciting.’” land in April of 1978. The foursome will play more than a W division of artin-Wahl 50 dates across North America and Eu- Heckman, who attended the band’s c o m m u n i c a t i o n s rope, featuring primarily classic music first rehearsal, said the group is now from their chart-topping albums. Begin- “bringing a 21st century perspective to the ning in Austin, Texas, on May 29th, the visceral blend of rock energy with the im- On the Cover legendary supergroup will swing across provisation and compositional structures Return To Forever. Standing: left to right, the U.S. and Canada in June, cross the of jazz that made the quartet a phenom- Chick Corea, Lenny White, Al DiMeola Atlantic for July dates in Europe from enon of the ’70s.” Seated: Stanley Clarke. Lithuania to London, then return to the Original Return to Forever fans and a This Page: left to right, Al DiMeola, Stanley States for an East Coast run of major new generation of listeners can experi- Clarke, Chick Corea, Lenny White. venues. ence their unparalleled high-powered, yet Photos by Lynn Goldsmith Fans should check their local ven- grooving, musical mastery themselves this ues for ticket on-sale information or visit summer. Tour dates are below. www.return2forever.com for the latest A special Return to Forever anthol- "Buffalonious" information and unique VIP fan experi- ogy, compiled from the classic albums ence ticket packages. ‘Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy’, ‘Where Our original mascot The tour includes top outdoor festi- Have I Known You Before’, ‘No Mystery’ from the early vals such as the Montreux Festival, the and ‘Romantic Warrior’ and featuring dra- Buffalo Jazz Report Montreal International Festival, Spain’s matic sonic improvements, will also be days – mid '70s. San Sebastian festival, France’s Nice released to coincide with the tour. This He is older now, Festival and the Freihofer’s Festival in definitive collection, which was produced but global & Saratoga Springs, NY, as well as the- by founding RTF members Chick Corea aters and concert halls chosen to show- and Stanley Clarke, is the first to include still very cool! case what LA Times critic Don Heckman music from all these albums in one double- PAGE TWO April 2008 • Issue 303 CD package. Find out more about Return To Forever and additional tour eMusic brings David Murray’s dates at www.return2forever.com. rare recordings to light Tour Dates NEW YORK – eMusic, the world’s largest retailer of inde- (Note: Fans should check with their local venues for ticket pendent music — and the world’s second-largest digital music on-sale dates.) service after iTunes — has announced that 26 rare and out-of- May print recordings by influential jazz musician David Murray are 29-30 (Thu-Fri) Austin, TX - Paramount Theatre now available for the first time digitally and exclusively on 31 (Sat) Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Center eMusic for three months. David Murray, tenor saxophone and bass clarinet player, June began his recording career more than 30 years ago, releasing 1 (Sun) Dallas, TX – Nokia Theater at Grand Prairie more than 100 albums that have earned him countless awards 3 (Tue) Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre including a Grammy (1989); a Guggenheim Fellowship (1989); 4 (Wed) Salt Lake City, UT – Kingsbury Hall and the Bird Award (1986) among others. Murray’s family re- 6 (Fri) Portland, OR - Schnitzer Concert Hall cently secured the digital distribution rights to his master re- 7 (Sat) Jacksonville, OR - Britt Music Festival cordings on DIW, the Japanese jazz label Murray recorded for 8 (Sun) Seattle, WA – The Paramount in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The 26 releases span an eleven- 9 (Mon) Vancouver, BC – The Centre in Vancouver For year period and have previously been unavailable, out of print, Performing Arts or simply very hard to find in both the U.S. and the E.U. 11-12 (Wed-Thu) San Francisco, CA - The Grand At The “eMusic excels at promoting and contextualizing music like Regency Center (2 shows/night) David Murray’s with expert editorial and reviews, and at reach- 13 (Fri) Los Angeles, CA – Gibson Amphitheatre ing sophisticated jazz consumers, who make jazz one of our 14 (Sat) Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre top-selling genres,” said Rob Wetstone, eMusic Vice President 17 (Tue) St Louis, MO – Fox Theatre of Label Relations. “Murray has been a favorite of eMusic’s 18 (Wed) Omaha, NE - Holland Performing Arts Center jazz fans and we know they’ll be excited to hear these new 19 (Thu) Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre titles which haven’t been available previously in the U.S. or 20 (Fri) Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre Europe.” 21 (Sat) Detroit, MI - Freedom Hill Amphitheatre In 1980, Murray was declared Artist of the Decade by the 22 (Sun) Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre Village Voice, and in their 2006 guide to Murray’s music, seven 24 (Tue) Cleveland, OH – The Plain Dealer Pavilion of the DIW titles were highlighted, including; Sketches of To- 25 (Wed) Toronto, Canada - Sony Centre kyo, Deep River, Shakill’s Warrior, Real Deal, Ballads for Bass 26 (Thu) Ottawa, Canada - Ottawa Jazz Festival/Confed- Clarinet, and The Long Goodbye. eration Park These highly sought after recordings demonstrate why 27 (Fri) Montreal, Canada - Pelletier Hall/Place Des Arts Murray has become one of the most influential and highly re- 28 (Sat) Saratoga Springs, NY – Freihofer’s Jazz Festival garded free jazz artists around the world. Each recording on July eMusic will be accompanied by detailed notes from eMusic jazz 2 (Wed) Vilnius, Lithuania - Utenos Arena columnist and National Public Radio contributor Kevin White- 4 (Fri) Warsaw, Poland - Congress Hall head. 5 (Sat) Budapest, Hungary - Budapest Arena “David Murray is one the most important (and fun to listen 6 (Sun) Belgrade, Serbia - Belgrade Arena to) tenor saxophonists of the last 30 years,” said Whitehead. 8 (Tue) Paris, France – Olympia Hall “He has made many fine records, owing to quality of his robust 9 (Wed) Vienne, France – Vienne Jazz Festival sound, the range of his influences from the swing era to the 10 (Thu) Madrid, Spain - Via Jazz Festival avant-garde, and the array of settings he records in, from duos 11 (Fri) Girona, Spain - Cap Roig Festival to quartets, octet to big band.” 12 (Sat) Lorca, Spain David Murray titles now available as MP3 downloads on 13 (Sun) Valencia, Spain eMusic (www.emusic.com) are as follows: 16 (Wed) Neuhardenberg, Germany 1986: David Murray, N.Y.C. 1986 18 (Fri) Montreux, Switzerland - Montreux Jazz Festival 1985: John Hicks/David Murray, Sketches of Tokyo 19 (Sat) Essen, Germany - Grugahalle 1986: David Murray & Jack DeJohnette, In Our Style 21 (Mon) London, England – Indigo2 1988: David Murray, Deep River 23 (Wed) Nice, France - Nice Jazz Festival 1988: David Murray, Ballads 25 (Fri) San Sebastian, Spain 1988: David Murray, Lovers 30 (Wed) Miami, FL – The Fillmore Miami Beach 1988: David Murray, Spirituals 31 (Thu) Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall 1990: David Murray, Special Quartet 1990: David Murray Quintet, Remembrances August 1991: David Murray, Shakill’s Warrior 1 (Fri) Orlando, FL - House Of Blues 1991: David Murray Big Band, David Murray Big Band 2 (Sat) Atlanta, GA - Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre 1991: David Murray Quartet +1, Fast Life 4 (Mon) Baltimore, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion 1991: David Murray Quartet, Death of A Sideman 5 (Tue) Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center For The Perform- 1991: David Murray & Milford Graves, Real Deal ing Arts – w/ Béla Fleck and The Flecktones 1992: David Murray Octet, Picasso 6 (Wed) Boston, MA - Bank Of America Pavilion – w/ Béla 1991: David Murray, Ballads For Bass Clarinet Fleck and The Flecktones 1993: David Murray Quartet,Tenors 7 (Thu) New York, NY - United Palace 1994: David Murray Quartet,Shakill’s II 1994: David Murray, The Tip Again, visit www.return2forever.com for newly added dates. 1994: David Murray, Jug-A-Lug April 2008 • Issue 303 PAGE THREE 1992: David Murray Big Band, South of the Border Association of Schools of Music and has provided a solid musi- 1993: David Murray Quartet, For Aunt Louise cal foundation for more than 1,000 international and domestic 1991: David Murray/James Newton Quintet, David Murray/ students.