{"id":937,"date":"2011-09-15T20:00:33","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T20:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.71.127.204\/wordpress\/?p=937"},"modified":"2015-10-13T19:18:52","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T19:18:52","slug":"937","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/2011\/09\/15\/937\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to Forever IV \/ Zappa Plays Zappa – Verizon Wireless Theater – Houston, TX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Written by Jim Bille<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep 15, 2011 at 08:00 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"Chic Corea, Lenny White and Stanley Clarke returned to Houston a couple of weeks ago with their latest version of Return to Forever. The current incarnation of this jazz fusion powerhouse, Return to Forever IV, features Frank Gambale on guitar and violin virtuoso Jean Luc Ponty.<\/p>\n

This line up thrilled the starving Houston jazz lovers with yet another historic performance. I say another because the reunited Return to Forever featuring Al DiMeola passed through town a few years back and set us all on our ears then but this line up may be even more special considering the addition of Ponty and Gambale.<\/p>\n

Without a doubt Jean Luc Ponty is the jazz violinist of all violinists. Even today after 40 some years in the spotlight no one can approach the virtuosity of this master. His addition to Return to Forever is brilliant.<\/p>\n

Guitarist extraordinaire Frank Gambale has joined forces with Chic Corea previously as a member of the Elektric Band. Now with RTF-IV, Gambale has really stepped things up. His unique approach to playing is amazing especially when incorporating a guitar style known as sweep picking.<\/p>\n

The evening\u2019s performance not only highlighted some of the best material from Return to Forever but featured music from Jean Luc Ponty\u2019s and Stanley Clarke\u2019s solo efforts. Ponty\u2019s ethereal masterpiece, \u201cRenaissance\u201d, was performed impeccably. Clarke\u2019s \u201cSchool Days\u201d was the encore number that punctuated the whole show.<\/p>\n

Other numbers featured included a reworking of Return to Forever\u2019s \u2018Senior Mouse, this one was heavily infused with Ponty\u2019s addictive and melodic violin playing and was one of the many highlights of the show.<\/p>\n

Lenny White\u2019s, \u201cThe Shadow of Lo\u201d and \u201cSorceress\u201d was also featured as well as Corea\u2019s classic \u201cRomantic Warrior\u201d.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to have seen two incredible and stellar performances from Return to Forever here in Houston and hope to see many more.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not much on tribute bands but when it comes to a \u2018like father like son\u2019 show called Zappa plays Zappa you have to love it.<\/p>\n

Dweezil Zappa and his tribute show to his father Frank Zappa have been opening for RTF-IV on the U.S. leg of their world tour to much fan fare. It was actually a nice fit since the elder Zappa collaborated with at least one of RTF\u2019s members, Jean Luc Ponty. Some of the performances on this tour have actually featured Ponty and Corea sitting in with ZpZ on a few numbers. To bad the Houston crowd wasn\u2019t on the list for this treat the other night.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like young Zappa needed the help or support anyway. His tight band offered up faithful renditions of his dad\u2019s music. Zappa\u2019s guitar playing was brilliant but two members of his ensemble really stood out for me. The first being Scheila Gonzalez on saxophone, flute and keyboards not to mention some really great vocal work. The second was the main vocalist, Ben Thomas. Thomas\u2019s vocal style, delivery and sound was almost a dead ringer for Frank Zappa.<\/p>\n

Songs featured included \u201cDancin Fool\u201d, \u201cDon\u2019t You Ever Wash That Thing?\u201d, \u201cMontana\u201d, \u201cCity of Tiny Lights\u201d, \u201cBig Swifty\u201d, and of course \u201cDon\u2019t Eat the Yellow Snow\u201d.<\/p>\n

Two great acts like this are not often featured on the same bill. What luck for the Houston crowd and anyone else attending Return to Ever IV down the road\u2026\u2026.great stuff!!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Jim Bille Sep 15, 2011 at 08:00 PM Chic Corea, Lenny White and Stanley Clarke returned to Houston a couple of weeks ago with their latest version of Return to Forever. The current incarnation of this jazz fusion powerhouse, Return to Forever IV, features Frank Gambale on guitar and violin virtuoso Jean Luc… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-concert-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":939,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937\/revisions\/939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}