FunkFreak75 Bill's second solo album after leaving Return To Forever, on Manfred Eicher's ECM label; his first album with other collaborators--this one all acoustic.

1. "Melting" (11:33) excellent jazz foundation from Bill's nylon string guitar's arpeggitions, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette's exquisite more-traditional jazz work in the rhythm department, all set up to support and elevate the clear melody work of Jan Garbarek's tenor sax. Beautiful. In the sixth minute Bill finally steps into the spotlight as Gary and Jack continue their exquisite support. Such beautiful, fluid, and yet dynamic acoustic guitar playing! It's almost on a par with classical guitar virtuoso John Williams. Though Jack DeJohnette's drumming never sounds boisterous or ultramasculine, he does an amazing job of performing at an incredibly high level of skill: His play in the second half might even be called racy or piquant. If all jazz sounded as beautiful as this it might be my go-to choice of music. (18.75/20)

2. "Not Forgetting" (6:33) solo guitar on a John McLaughlin-playing-Bill Evans-level opens this before the rhythmatists join in with some sparse support. Jan's tenor is the first to solo--a little too strong or loud for fitting in with the others (in my opinion) but then Bill solos on a steel-string acoustic guitar as Gary very much plays off of him. All the while, Jack remains affixed to his cymbal work. Bill's unexpected and sometimes-obtuse chords used to support Jan's next solo are so reminiscent of the amazing support work that John McLaughlin creates on so many songs throughout his career. I can't say that I've heard many jazz guitar virtuosi perform on this kind of level. (9/10)

3. "Face In The Water" (6:25) spacious, more spacious, discordant, and avant-garde/free jazz than anything before lends to the thinking that this album and music (and ECM productions in general) may actually belong more in the straight jazz category than fusion. Impeccably and virtuosically performed, just not my favorite. (8.66667/10)

4. "Aubade" (9:38) another tune that starts out in a style that is more true jazz in its chordal and melodic patterning. In the second minute there is an almost-imperceptible shift into some gloriously gorgeous chords and melodies. But it doesn't last as Bill and Jan move back into pensive and discordant patterns while Jack's delicate cymbal play increases its pace and syncopated, expressive sophistication. No Gary Peacock bass (that I can hear) in the first five minutes though a second guitar track appears in that fifth minute. Again, Jack's drum contributions grow and increase in intensity despite still remaining in what one would call a "gentle" and "background" role. Jan returns around the six-minute mark for a turn on his soprano sax, really exploring some of the instrument's high notes for a stretch before leading everyone down into a quieter place so that Jack can have a solo. The man is so skilled, so creative, that it's hard to take in much less comprehend all that he offers to the listener. Amazing is the truest adjective one can apply. At the nine-minute mark we return to that catching little chord progression in order to usher out the song. Not a song that I will be drawn back to hear very often but one that definitely has my fullest respect and admiration. (18/20)

5. "Cafe Vue" (5:40) another more fully jazz expression within which each of the musicians seem to have looser, almost free-jazz compartments in which to act while Bill, and, later, Jan, solo using quite astringent or perhaps chromatic melody lines. Again, not my favorite: too much dissonance for my puny, unaccommodating brain. (8.666667/10)

6. "Unending" (7:33) another John McLaughlin-plays-Bill-Evans-like song with soprano sax, nylon string guitar and Gary and Jack's active and nuanced support. Not as pretty as the first time through ("Not Forgetting"). In fact, the overall palette is a bit too busy and too loud, making it very challenging to enjoy. (13/15)

Total Time 47:20

This album just solidifies the proof that the combination of Manfred Eicher, ECM, acoustic jazz, and a band of exclusively high virtuosi is tough to beat. My issue with this album (and a lot of ECM albums and artists) is in the seriousness of the jazz music being played and expressed: they're just a bit too dense for me to enjoy (though I definitely appreciate them).

B+/4.5 stars; an excellent album of incredible performances of fully-jazz-oriented music that occasionally brushes onto the yard of the Jazz-Rock Fusion domain. Were I anywhere near fluent in the "colloquial" language(s) of jazz music I might be able to better appreciate this album.

Matti P American jazz guitarist BILL CONNORS (b. 1949) played on just one RETURN TO FOREVER album, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973), before going his own way and Al Di Meola becoming RTF's guitarist. Debuting in the legendary ECM label with Theme to the Gaurdian (1975), he made a bunch of albums in the seventies and the eighties, up to Assembler (1987). Then a long break. Aptly titled Return (2004) is still his latest album. It seems he never quite received the status he definitely would have deserved, and that's underlined by the fact he's still usually referred as a one-timer Return To Forever member.

This music is very much the kind of jazz/fusion that I wholeheartedly enjoy. The guitar is sonically comparable to PAT METHENY, my fave jazz artist, and other instruments of the quintet playing on this album are acoustic piano, bass, drums and percussion. The co-musicians are no familiar names to me, but I really enjoy their fresh and mellow sound. Bill O'Connell's elegant piano fits brilliantly together with the guitar and is very equal with it, too.

Pieces such as 'On the Edge' and 'Mind Over Matter' are very charming compositions full of life. The virtuosity never becomes self-indulgent, not even in the most complex and fast moments, there's always the fluent flow in music. In the beginning of 'Mr. Cool' Lincoln Goines on bass gets the spotlight. The slightly slower piece 'McMinor' brings valuable variety in the mood, although it could have been more openly romantic. After nine pieces composed by Bill Connors the album is closed by a mellow, beautiful version of John Coltrane's 'Brasilia'.

Return is a finely written, played and produced, post-bop oriented jazz album very easy to enjoy if you like e.g. Pat Metheny. There may not be absolute superb highlights that really move you emotionally, but no weak or boring moments either. There's a perfect balance between melodic mellowness and energetic vitality and virtuosity.