After seeing a great performance by Frank Langella in the 1936 play about corruption in the world of business and finance, Man And Boy, on Broadway, I headed up to 51st and 6th to the Italian restaurant Ceci. The meal was really good and I highly recommend it.
Then it was off to the subway for a ride down to W. 4th and a short walk to the Blue Note jazz club to see Return To Forever. During its initial run from 1972-1977, the band Return To Forever, led by Chick Corea, cycled through a number of different musicians and styles. But at its core, the group was a standout of the jazz fusion movement and remains one of the seminal bands of the era. Almost thirty years after disbanding, arguably the most popular members of Return To Forever - keyboardist Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White and guitarist Al Di Meola - reunited for a U. S. tour in 2008.
Corea, Clarke, White and replacement guitarist Frank Gambale just finished a world tour (with Jean-Luc Ponty on violin) as Return To Forever IV, the latest incarnation of the electric fusion outfit. The quartet at the Blue Note took on jazz standards along with Return To Forever classics, newly arranged for an acoustic setting.
