I have been a fan of pianist Chick Corea since the early 70s. He was around before that, I just was not aware of him. In the 70s he was on the cutting edge of Fusion music--jazz and rock, experimenting with the new possibilities offered by electronic technology. For those of us who remember that decade, and that hybrid genre, we know there was a lot of crappy sounding stuff. But not with Chick. Chick always made music. To paraphrase someone whose name I can't recall: often when jazz musicians move toward rock, it sounds as though they are slumming, (and when rockers edge toward jazz, it sounds as though they are reaching above their station). But not Chick, he always made music. Electronic music in the 70s often was bad, bad stuff. But not with Chick, he always made music.

Listen to an early version of his group, Return to Forever, playing Crystal Silence. From 1971.

Return to Forever, RTF for short, evolved toward a more fusion sound. Here is a 1974 recording of the new quartet--Chick, Stanley Clarke on bass, Bill Conners on guitar, and Lenny White on drums.

By 1975 Al DiMeola had replaced Conners on guitar in RTF. Here is Beyond the Seventh Galaxy. And Vulcan Worlds.

The guys never forgot how to get acoustic. From 1976, The Romantic Warrior.

By the late 70s the members of RTF were into solo albums, but I think each one never again achieved the heights they reached together.

Return to Forever also functioned as a kind of "outreach band" for Scientology. In the 70s all four were Scientologists (though I have heard that Clarke left the religion), the album covers directed listeners to sources of more information on that religion, and the music itself, in my opinion, evokes a Scientology feel.

The music I recommend, though not the religion.

UPDATE: RTF has reunited for a tour. Here is Stanley Clarke talking about RTF in the 70s.

Vulcan Worlds from last June on the Reunion Tour.