Return to Forever is one the defining jazz albums of all time. Even after his stint with Miles Davis, and his increasingly inventive solo albums, nothing could have prepared listeners for the jaw-dropping beauty of this album. Chick, behind the electric keyboard, leads a brand-new band through four of his compositions, all of them now classics. Stanley Clarke — one of Chick’s most enduring musical partners — makes his first appearance here on bass, along with the great Joe Farrell on saxophone and flute, Airto on percussion, and the stunning vocalist Flora Purim. The sound is distinctly electric, tinged with Brazilian percussion and an enduring warmth that had never been achieved on a plugged-in jazz album before. Return to Forever is an album for the ages.