The Latin textures and the flute work of Laws and Jorge Pardo also remind the listener of some of Corea's work in the 1970s, particularly 1972's Light as a Feather, Corea's best-selling album with an early incarnation of the band Return to Forever, and Corea's own 1976 release, My Spanish Heart. Yet these flashes of reminiscence don't render this work derivative or duplicative. Corea and his collaborators are not locked into one style or idiom. You can find slices of Brazilian flair, a bop-like sound on tenor sax work by Tim Garland, some flamenco and even a touch of electronica. Some might find such diversity off putting. But whether you want to call in world jazz or something of your own invention, the fact is that in Corea's adept hands it flows and it works.
The Ultimate Adventure may not rank as Corea's foremost recording of the last decade or so. Still, the fact it brings to mind some of his highly popular earlier work may make it more accessible to the jazz fan and average listener than To The Stars. Moreover, it again confirms the breadth and depth of Corea's talent as a composer, a group leader and a performer.
Article comments
1 - Rufus T Firefly
"an early fantasy work of Hubbard's?"
http://www.lermanet.com/scientology-and-occult/
"The magical cults of the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th centuries in the Middle East were fascinating. The only modern work that has anything to do with them is a trifle wild in spots, but is a fascinating work in itself, and that's the work of Aleister Crowley - the late Aleister Crowley - my very good friend."
L Ron Hubbard, Philadelphia Doctorate Course, Lecture 18, "Conditions of Space-Time-Energy."
L Ron Hubbard moved in with Jack Parsons, where they began the practice of the occult and sexual magick. Parsons' mistress, Sara Northrup, left him for Hubbard and later became Hubbard's second wife, even before Hubbard had divorced his first wife.
The most well known and documented story of Hubbard's relationship with Jack Parsons, is that of the Invocation of the Goddess, Babalon," which they performed in the "Babalon Working" ritual along with "Scarlet Woman," Marjorie Cameron. The goal of this ritual was to produce a satanic "Moonchild."
The only other reference to a 'moonchild ceremony' being performed is by Adolf Hitler:
"From page 24 of Gods and Beasts - the Nazi's and the Occult by Dusty Sklar Pretzsche had introduced Hitler to consciousness-expanding drugs, as well as to astrological and alchemical symbolism. Hitler told Stein that Pretzsche had been present when List tried to materialize "the Incubus" in a ritual designed to create a "Moon Child." "...About 1912, disciples of Lanz and List started the Germanen Orden under the leadership of a member of List's Armanen, a journalist named Philipp Stauff, and several others. [ Ed.Comment: The German Orden later evolved into the Nationalist Socialist Party or Nazi Party recruiting Hitler as their 'Fuhrer']
2 - Mark Saleski
i mostly have to ignore the 'back story' of Corea's projects since the music itself is often quite good.
this goes all the way back to his "A.R.C.", one of my favorite jazz records.
3 - godoggo
Nice to see Laws's name. Does he solo much?
4 - Tim Gebhart
Laws solos a bit but most of the time his playing is as part of the ensemble and trading with Corea.