RETURN TO FOREVER — Musicmagic (review)

RETURN TO FOREVER — Musicmagic album cover Album · 1977 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Abraxas
Return to Forever's last album to date, Musicmagic, shows yet another major style swift and as a consequence it has received bad praise.

In their inception, the band played a very exquisite mix of jazz and latin inspired music, they later moved to a completely instrumental and electric sound where their brains joining the jazz rock movement in the heights of Mahavishnu Orchestra. They rapidly added funk and some classical/symphonic arrangements to their sound, and it was extremely apparent in their commercially successful Romantic Warrior, an album that can be associated to prog rock.

So what had Chick Corea in mind for Musicmagic? It was definitely something new. New because the line-up is changed drastically, the guitars are out once again as in their first albums, vocals are back but from Chick's wife, Gayle Moran, singer of the second line-up of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Lenny White is not on the drums and a brass section is added, first (and last, as for now) time in the group's life. Stanley Clarke is the only remaining member, the only one who was together with Chick in the whole evolution of the band.

As a result, you have a pretty big mixture of things. The latin influences, the classical ones, some rock and funk. Having said that, it seems like a completely interesting album, especially when it's in hands of Chick Corea, but that's not really so. Being the dawn fo the 70s there are some really cheesy moments that jazz fusion, in general, was suffering from.

However if you can pass those moments, the album actually presents rather complex and interesting arrangements that are not repetitions of older ones. Say 'Music Magic' or 'The Endless Night', both 9+ minutes, has the band playing this new style with excellent execution, with both groove and intricacy.

A good comparison would be Chick's solo album 'The Leprechaun' which has a similar idea in mind, mixing jazz fusion with classical ideas mainly. The result on both is not completely successful, but at least it's different from a lot of fusion from its time, and of course the chops and the grooves are always to be found.

So, if you can handle a very different Return to Forever that plays a weirdo fusion with vocals and some lighter late 70s grooves, this is good enough for any jazz rock collection.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Symphonic Blues No. 6 Third Stream
CORKY SIEGEL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recut Jazz Related Electronica/Hip-Hop
SKALPEL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Yuval Cohen Quartet : Winter Poems Post-Fusion Contemporary
YUVAL COHEN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Just Nu Jazz
JIM HART
Buy this album from MMA partners
Skrifum Post-Fusion Contemporary
JON BALKE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

SOLSTICE album release • Duo Russo - Holst
PAOLO RUSSO
js· 3 hours ago
Akiko Yano & Hiromi - Kawarushi (Official Audio)
HIROMI
js· 1 day ago
All I Want For Christmas Is You
DAVID HAZELTINE
js· 1 day ago
Chicken
QUATUOR EBÈNE
js· 2 days ago
Det er en egen lomme
THE LEIF
js· 2 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed