Airto - percussion/wood flutes
Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Nelson Ayres -
piano/electric piano
Ron Carter - bass
Joe Farrell, Hubert Laws - alto/bass flute/flute/piccolo/soprano
sax/tenor sax
Jay Berliner, George Benson - guitar
Airto, Flora Purim - vocals
plus ensemble
Produced by Creed Taylor
Recorded Van Gelder Studios 1972
1. Return To Forever
2. Flora's Song
3. Free
4. Lucky Southern
5. Creek ( Arroio )
Bonus Tracks :
6. So Tender
7 Jequie
8. Creek
The music contained here is a mixture of Brazilian,
jazz and funk and might be claimed as one
of the earliest examples of true "fusion."
Airto was, and is, a master of a wide variety
of percussion instruments as well as being
a first class kit drummer. His many and varied
abilities are admirably showcased on this
album which features a fascinating collection
of different pieces and groupings of personnel.
As the first track would suggest this album
is in many ways a forerunner of Chick Corea's
"Return To Forever", the main difference
being, to my ears, that this disc has more
freedom and less of a sense of regimentation.
There are many great solos here particularly
from the woodwinds - Hubert Laws who is indisputably
one of the finest jazz flute players ever,
Joe Farrell, who is now sadly almost forgotten
but contributes some classic soprano work
and the young Michael Brecker on tenor. The
other outstanding soloist is George Benson
on guitar.
My only minor criticism of the release is
that percussion passages are much more effective
when one can actually see the various instruments
being played. This is not intended in any
way to negate the wonderful standard throughout,
but rather an observation of what might have
been added if this could have been released
as a DVD.
The Brazilian style tracks succeed in evoking
pictures of the rainforest complete with howling
wildlife. Of the more straight ahead selections
"Creek" is a real swinger and features
Joe Farrell at the top of his form. I think
that this is a disc I will return to on a
regular basis and is certainly one of more
interesting reissues this year.
Dick Stafford.
CD Reviews
CTI 5127852
