Daniel's Collection
Return to Forever 04/08/1977
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA
| Source | Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS and Goody The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 41 Recording Gear: AKG 451-E Microphones (CK-1 Capsules) > Nakamichi 550 Cassette Recorder Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Yamaha KX-W592 Cassette Deck > Sony R-500 DAT > Analog Master DAT Clone > Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 > Sound Forge Audio Studio 13.0 capture > Adobe Audition > iZotope RX6 > iZotope Ozone 6 > Audacity > TLH > FLAC |
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| Media | |
| Notes | I know what you’re thinking. “Millard recorded jazz?” Indeed he did, in fact several times. This was the final tour by the Musicmagic line-up led by Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke, and featured a six-piece horn section plus Corea’s wife Gayle Moran on vocals. The RTF ’77 tour spawned the group’s Live album, released later the same year and expanded to multiple LPs and CDs in the decades that followed. The Santa Monica set list matches the live album for the most part with the exception of the final encore song, which we are not savvy enough to identify. Please let us know what it is. Mike’s recording is excellent and captures the full fidelity of the band and the enthusiasm of the crowd in fine balance. Like the best of his work, the capture is rich and especially powerful with the horns. The Santa Monica Civic is a great sounding room (why on earth did they stop doing concerts there) and from Orchestra Row D, Mike was right where he wanted to be. Samples provided. Mike would go on to record DiMeola and Clarke solo shows over the years at a time when jazz-rock fusion was immensely popular. In hindsight, its puzzling the genre hasn’t continued to thrive. Here’s what Jim R recalled about the Return To Forever show: Mike and I attended the Return To Forever concert on April 8, 1977 at the Santa Monica Civic. We sat in the Orchestra Pit, Row D. As expected from being so close to the stage, the sound was fantastic. Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke were virtuosos. Watching Clarke play bass with his long fingers was incredible. He made it look effortless. Mike and I attended Return To Forever thanks to the constant prodding of Mike's high-school friend Jay, who was a drummer. Jay was steadfast in his praise of Return To Forever and the group’s individual members. When we saw that they were playing one of our favorite venues, The Civic, we had to go to see what all the fuss was about. Both Mike and I came away greatly impressed despite being only mildly familiar with the material. In fact, this concert opened up a whole new genre to both of us. Later we attended and recorded as solo acts (a partial list): Stanley Clarke at The Roxy 1977, Lenny White at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, Al DiMeola a few times, Jean Luc Ponty and Chick Corea on multiple occasions. We also caught Stanley again in 1979 when toured as part of the New Barbarians featuring Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. We recorded those local shows as well. I did not take pictures. We stayed low key to fit in with the crowd. |
| Microphones | AKG 451-E Microphones (CK-1 Capsules) |
| Trades Allowed | Yes |
Owned by Daniel
· Last Updated Feb 7, 2026
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