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A highly anticipated evening of jazz reuniting longtime associates keyboardist Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White on Wednesday September 2 at the Hollywood Bowl was plagued with sound problems and distractions yet still held some unforgettable moments. The trio reunited to offer up a buffet of their catalog on the acoustic and electric jazz fronts with special guest singer Chaka Khan, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and original Return to Forever guitarist Bill Connors.
The men of the hour opened the evening with a couple of Corea compositions that Corea and Clarke first recorded as sidemen with Stan Getz as well as on the classic acoustic RTF album Light As a Feather: “500 Miles High” (with Corea on piano) followed by the spry “Captain Marvel” (with Corea on electric piano). It was a contrast hearing White drive these pieces with a straight ahead jazz pulse when remembering Airto’s more Latin punctuated accents on the RTF recording.
Next up was one of the evening’s first highlights – the arrival of Ponty on violin to join just Corea on piano and Clarke on upright bass on a delightful jaunt through “Armando’s Rhumba,” an evocative gem from Corea’s double-Lp My Spanish Heart that featured lots of joyful interplay between the players. This was followed by a fine quartet version of Ponty’s composition “Renaissance.”
Heaven descended into hell due to some unfortunate amplifier cord problems when guitarist Bill Connors joined the proceedings to explore a couple of numbers from the very first Return to Forever electric project, 1973’s Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. Connors was guitarist on just that album before being replaced by teenaged wunderkind Al Di Meola. When the RTF reunion tour came to Los Angeles last year at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Di Meola was a fiercely confident and explosive soloist song for song. Connors, on the other hand this night, was woefully underwhelming with his head down reading the charts and a complete lack of exuberance. While the technical issues were unfortunate, they were rectified by the second number, “Space Circus,” yet Connors still failed to come to life - a disappointment for those anticipating fusion fireworks. The saving grace was the addition of Ponty on electric violin for this number- a treat in that Part 1 of “Space Circus” is a mind-tickling almost child-like preamble and Part 2 is a funk throw down. Frenchman Ponty – a gracious godsend all night long – handled both with deft aplomb.
Next it was time to bring out a woman who is no stranger to fireworks – vocally and otherwise. Ms. Chaka Khan bravely made her jazz bow 26 years ago on a Lenny White-produced project titled Echoes of an Era that featured Corea, Clarke and the late great horn men Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard. On this night Khan revisited two songs from that project. Taking the stage in a form-fitting black outfit, sexy heels and a gauzy colorful purple wrap, she tore into the Corea original “Highwire: The Aerialist” followed by “I Loves You Porgy.” Chaka was doing just fine with “Porgy” before surprise guest Stevie Wonder took the stage. At first he played a fitting harmonica solo, but then Khan, excited to have her friend up there, decided to try to engage Wonder in some vocal back and forth. This would have been fine had the song been something other than “Porgy” - a song with no context for a man to be singing, period. As she fed him the lines in his ear, Wonder was visibly uncomfortable singing them and did not deliver them well – a most unfortunate misfire.
She then pleased her pop fans with the jazziest and finest version of “Through the Fire” this writer has ever heard outside of pianist Eliane Elias’ recorded version (which happened to be produced by Clarke). Ponty returned once again to add a lovely solo to the piece. The evening came to a spectacular conclusion with an all-star whirl through Corea’s evergreen “Spain” featuring Stevie Wonder on electric piano and Chick on acoustic piano. Wonder has been playing “Spain” in his own shows the last couple of years and jammed along with Chick with joy and precision.
The concert was opened by guitarist John Scofield with his latest ensemble The Piety Street Band, which warmed things up with soul-jazz-tinged gospel tunes - a couple featuring lead vocals by the drummer and the keyboardist separately - that took the crowd by pleasant surprise. By set’s end, folks were testifyin’ in their seats and rockin’ in the aisles. This is a welcome new twist from indelibly blues-rooted “Sco” and hopefully one he will continue exploring for another album and tour.
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