Riddle: What comes both before and after Forever?

Answer: The reunion of Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White.

Well before they combined with guitarist Al Di Meola to change the face of jazz with the jazz-fusion supergroup Return to Forever in the '70s, Corea, Clarke and White performed briefly as a trio. Now, hot on the heels of last year's highly acclaimed Forever reunion, the three legendary musicians have decided to put the trio together again. On Tuesday, the group kicked off a four-night engagement at Yoshi's in Oakland and will also perform Sunday at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Besides the absence of Di Meola, a key difference Tuesday is that the trio performed on acoustic instruments (as they will throughout the week), meaning the music wouldn't be the group's regular rock-oriented fusion sound, just straight-up jazz. Still, the sold-out show didn't feel lacking in any regard. There were no cries of "Where's Al?" and nobody felt cheated because the trio never plugged in.

Still obviously "in the zone" from the long Forever reunion tour, the musicians shared undeniable chemistry throughout the evening — to the point where one might swear this trio been together nonstop over the last three decades. Without saying a single word to the audience, the band went right to business and took listeners through glorious explorations of "Villa," "Summer Night" and "Monk's Mood."

The concert reached an

Everest-like peak with the fourth number, "No Mystery," the title track Forever's 1975 release. The music was mysterious and wild, conveying all the starry-eyed ambition of Corea's best compositions of the period, and featured dynamic interplay between the musicians as well as some outstanding individual performances. Corea was no less than dynamite on the keys and White was the motor behind the beast. Yet, whenever Clarke steps into a building, well, it's his house—and that was certainly the case in Oakland. It's fun to watch people's expressions when Clarke launches into one of his fleet-fingered, impossibly difficult, solos. Their eyes light up and their mouths drop, stunned at his virtuosity.

He's also a fine composer, although not quite in Corea's league, and Clarke's "After the Cosmic Rain" (from RTF's 1973 disc, "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy") would serve as a great closer to the main set.

Read Jim Harrington's Concert Blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/category/concerts/.