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CD - Romantic Warrior
 DVD Review
Title: Romantic Warrior
Artist: Chick Corea/Return to Forever
Release Date:1999
www.chickcorea.com
First recorded by the Return to forever band in February 1976, these six
tracks have easily withstood the test of time. Chick leads the
band with his familiar precise fusion keyboard style, while the guitar of Al Di Meola,
noted for his technical mastery and extremely fast, complex guitar
solos, gives the music a 70s presence. Romantic Warrior was the
most successful RTF production and it rose to 35 in the Billboard charts
for that year. The album may have been recognized in the annual awards
had the prolific Corea not already won 2 Grammies that year for The
Leprechaun. Elements of that previous production recorded some
months before, are clear to associate particularly on the title track.
Chick must have decided to leave the wife at home this time as, unlike
'Leprechaun' which features Gayle Moran, there are no vocals of any kind
with 'Warrior'. Also featured are the Stanley Clarke (bass) and Lenny White
(drums), long standing members of the RTF crew. The album was the last
to be recorded by this line up
before Chick took the band in a new direction.
Track List:
1. Medieval Overture (Chick Corea, 5:14)
2. Sorceress (Lenny White, 7:34)
3. The Romantic Warrior (Chick Corea: 10:52)
4. Majestic Dance (Al Di Meola, 5:01)
5. The Magician (Stanley Clarke, 5:29)
6. Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant (PT1 & PT2) (Chick Corea: 11:26)
The album was the first for RTF on the Columbia label (now part of Sony)
which may have contributed to the sales volume of over ½ million.
The 1999 CD sleeve includes a few notes by Chick in which he says 'Listening again after
all these years to this recording was a very wild experience for me; and
musically, there could be a lot of discussion about what goes on here
and what went into making this music on a technical level. But truly my
main impression from revisiting this past moment of which I was a part -
was how this one recording managed to contain so many of the elements
that I have strived for in living a musical life.' This digitally
re-mastered CD is as fresh today as it was over 30 years ago, and sounds as though it
left the recording studio just yesterday.
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