CHILDREN OF FOREVER

First solo album of RTF's bassist, the Chick Corea-produced Children Of Forever is very much a product of its time, with its cosmic gatefold artwork and its peace & love title, and it was recorded between the first two phases of Return To Forever (the exiting Moreira/Farrell and incoming Bill Connors and the album was released on the Polydor label), so it's quite obvious the mother project's paw is all over this jam-packed album (around 25 minutes aside). I believe this is around the time where Chick Corea told Stanley to move onto the electric bass guitar, or else he would be changing RTF's bassist, so Clarke obliged ? and luckily so for him and us),, since he became a master at it. But in the present album, he plays the contrabass on all tracks except the extravaganza piece closing the first side. The album also features a good flute, but obviously not the former RTF Joe Farrell's, but Arthur Webb's.

Amazingly enough this album starts with a very Kobaian near-11 mins title track piece, as Vander's bunch could easily claim it as theirs; from the electric piano led jazz-rock (courtesy of RTF's Corea) to the Vander-like drumming (courtesy of RTG's White) to very Orffian-like chants (almost incantations) and only Clarke's very strolling bass can effectively instil a doubt that you're not on Seventh Record label product. The following Unexpected Days is a bit less Zeuhl-ish, but the general mood can still evoke it, since the lingering impressions from the preceding piece are still alive. Andy Bey and Bridgewater's vocals are definitely more jazzy (Dee Dee sometimes close to crooning). Don't be fooled by the name of the following almost-instrumental track, which has nothing to do with folk, but everything to do with a bass guitar extravaganza, an awesome showpiece, where Clarke scats a bit like lionel Hampton did on his albums.

The flipside only features two tracks, opening with the album's jazziest 7-mins Butterfly Dreams, and it is the album's low point, not helped by the cheesy Bey vocals. The 17- mins+ Sea Journey starts very much in the mood of its predecessor, but evolves soon into an outstanding excursion in the depths of the oceans, floating on a superb lengthy bowed bass stroll, before leaving guitarist Martino some breathing space. Only the vocals are a bit cumbersome, but don't really hinder the moods either. Let's just say that I'd have no problems with having this CPF album as totally instrumental, because it could stand it easily without modifications.

Strangely enough, this debut solo album is often overlooked by fans (and sometimes books and websites), as my utterances are the first on this page, whereas the other albums are much more reviewed. This is a bit sad, because COF is a great album, despite the fact that Stanley doesn't use the electric bass, which would make him a celebrity. Maybe this is why JR/F fans tend to ignore (their losses) this excellent album.