A Big Deal

So just how big a deal is tomorrow night’s  Return to Forever concert?  Big enough that a photographer from the New York Times has spent the last two days at the Paramount.  Big enough that both Thursday and Friday night are sold out.  And big enough that the remaining tour includes 32 North American Cities before heading to Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, France, Spain, Germany, Finland, Switzerland,  and England. 

It all begins right here in the best venue in the Live Music Capital of the World!  And it is here because the greatest Programming Director, Lietza Brass, works at the Paramount. Not sure who/what Return to Forever is?  See my earlier blog.

Who or What is Return to Forever

 

Booking jazz is never easy at the Paramount.  I mean it’s a perfect place to listen to jazz, but without a real jazz station in Austin, it isn’t easy to get the word out to fans and enthusiasts when we bring a jazz show to our stage.  We’ve learned that a big name better be a part of the bill or half the house won’t fill.  (poetry unintentional)

So when our Programming Director, Lietza Brass, booked not one but two nights of Return to Forever, I got a little nervous.  Trust me is all she would say.

Return to Forever is the name of a jazz fusion band founded and led by keyboardist Chick Corea. The band had many members who came and went, but one constant with Corea was bassist Stanley Clarke.  Several musicians, including Clarke, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Al Di Meolafirst became well-known through their performances on Return to Forever’s albums.

So here is the deal.  It’s a huge, huge, big deal in the music world that the group has gotten back together, and the best venue in Austin is kicking off the international tour.  So let’s all trust Lietza and enjoy not one, but two great nights of jazz in Austin.

Other great nights of music coming to the Paramount soon include Steve Earle, Joe Jackson, Leo Kottke, Jerry Jeff Walker and Kris Kristofferson.