CHILDREN OF FOREVER

Better known as one quarter of Chick Corea's Return To Forever circa their golden early-seventies era, Clarke was one of jazz-rock's foremost bassists, a seriously-talented technician who took the bass guitar to places Chris Squire could only dream of. His work with Return To Forever included all three of that group's classic albums - 'Where Have I Known You Before', 'Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy' and 'Romantic Warrior' - yet his solo work never quite reached the same heights despite a prolific output over the decades. This is where it all began, however, and in a distinctly un-fusion fashion. Issued in 1973, 'Children Of The Future' is an odd beast indeed, a spacey mixture of lounge-jazz, bass-funk and trad elements that will have the listener scratching his head well after the sixth or seventh listen. Fans of fusion may find it all a bit odd - this writer certainly did - yet there are still moments to savor. The opening title-track takes a seriously eclectic journey through Clarke's extrapolating bass movements, complete with funk touches almost too deft to be heard, yet what is most infuriating about 'Childen Of Forever' is the closing epic 'Sea Journey', A beautifully- wrought, wonderfully expressive and harmonic piece, this lengthy track is almost ruined by some of the most off-putting vocal warbling one can imagine, leaving one wishing that Clarke had put his foot down(maybe on a bass pedal?) and made 'Sea Journey' an all-instrumental affair. It isn't, so what you have is a closing piece that is part wonderful, part infuriating. It's a good way to sum this lovingly-crafted debut up - parts are brilliant, others certainly aren't - yet fans of esoteric jazz moods should be in dreamland. An interesting album then from a true exponent of his art, 'Children Of Forever' sure does have it's moments...it's just some of them are genuine moments to forget. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2014