Search - Chick Corea, Return to Forever :: Light As a Feather

For those who enjoy RTF's 'Musicmagic'

Gavin Wilson | 08/23/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Whether you love this album probably depends on how early you joined the Corea fan-wagon. I joined in 1976, and found all of 'Romantic Warrior', 'No Mystery' and 'Where Have I Known You Before' to be superb ***** recordings. Working my way back, I wasn't so convinced by 'Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy'. Working forward, I felt totally let down by 'Musicmagic'. Maybe it was the loss of DiMeola's guitar or the disappearance of the hard, gutsy style that I believed was at the core of RTF. Unfortunately the re-branding of RTF as a latin sax-and-female-vocalist seemed a betrayal of the somewhat masculine values of the previous RTF.



But hearing 'Light as a Feather', it's now clear to me that the Musicmagic style wasn't totally new for Corea and RTF. Substitute Flora Purim for Gayle Moran and you have pretty much the 'LaaF line-up of five years earlier. The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide gives this four stars out of five, saying 'Essential for its joyousness, flawed for its lengthy noodling'. I'm not so convinced about its indispensability. Stanley Clarke's bass, mostly low down in the re-mastered mix, seems undistinguished when you compare it with it subsequently became.



The second disc is no worse than the first, although the idea of giving us no fewer than four versions of a track that wasn't even released on the original LP seems excessive. It's revealing to hear Corea giving instructions at the start of each recording -- he clearly worked his band hard, but they were demonstrably capable of responding to his requirements.



For me, 'No Mystery' is one of the best albums ever recorded, although I'll grant that it's an acquired taste. (Whenever I move to a new music format -- such as minidisc or MP3 -- I'll always try out 'Flight of the Newborn' first.) This album falls somewhat short of that, and I can only describe it as 'pleasant enough'."

Masterpiece

Robert Wade Cottingham | Dallas, TX | 12/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At the time of this writing, the photo is wrong - it shows the original polydor single CD edition. The $30+ price is for the 2CD remastered edition. Since I just put this title on my recommended listening list as one of the greatest jazz albums ever, I wanted to balance the 3 star review here! Although I prefer the original mix to the remastered edition, (it was already perfect), the compositions and the playing are classic."