They’ve been cursed by jazz purists, called saviors of the music by others and considered kindred spirits by fans of Yes and Genesis.
Return to Forever, one of the heavies of the jazz-rock era, never leaves listeners indifferent. And after more than 25 years apart, the band is proving that point once again.
In a reunion that in some jazz – and jam band – circles ranks with that of the Police, keyboarist Chick Corea, guitarist Al Di Meola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White have joined forces to reprise the amped up pyrotechnics that made them fusion pioneers. They play the Bank of America Pavilion Wednesday on a bill with Bela Fleck.
Chelsea native Corea has heard enough praise and brickbats about Return to Forever’s brand of loud, impolite jazz to last several lifetimes.
“Were we on the cutting edge of getting beaten up?,” he said with a laugh from the band’s bus on the road in Germany. “Yeah, for sure. But my philosophy is that every individual, whether in the audience or on the stage or with a pen in hand about to write a review, should think for himself and have his own opinion. The subject kind of ends there.”
Despite grumbles that Return to Forever was ruining jazz with its rocked-up electric sound, the band became one of jazz’s most successful.
In the decades since, the band’s members have carved out separate careers that have at times wandered far from the fusion that made them heroes to jazzers, prog rockers and, more recently, jam-band nation.
“Every time we’ve seen each other over the years, we’ve talked about getting together again,” Corea said. “But the busy-ness of everyone’s schedule has come first until this confluence. Being on this 57-concert tour together has made us realize that we really missed being with each other. We trade stories and recollections all the time. It’s been a blast. And musically, by the time we get to Boston near the end of the tour, the band will be very, very well oiled.”
The group has been covering material from the four Return to Forever albums released between 1973 and 1976: “Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy,” “Where Have I Known You Before,” “No Mystery” and “Romantic Warrior.” They’ve also got a new double, best-of CD, “The Anthology.”
“We haven’t had time to write any new songs,” said Corea. “But we’re improvisational musicians. We’re always finding new ways to do things.”
Corea expects his family and friends from Boston to be out in force on Wednesday.
“I’ve invited them all,” he said. “My aunts and uncles, my first and second cousins and their children, my old Chelsea High School friends. Boston is always great to come back to.”
It’s also a town with a lot of musical memories for Corea.
“I remember Return to Forever playing on a bill with Weather Report in this large green outdoor place – it might have been the Boston Common, I’m not sure – and the police came up on stage and tapped me on the shoulder. They told me I had to stop playing because we were violating noise level laws. We had to stop the concert. The audience didn’t like it at all. They were irate. You definitely remember funny things like that.”
Return to Forever, with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, at the Bank of America Pavilion, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets: $25-$60; 617-728-1600.
