Chick Corea got to play close to home and fusion fans got to see one of jazz-rock’s most revered - and short-lived - combos Thursday night at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Clearwater resident Corea, playing Ruth Eckerd for the first time, led Return to Forever through 2 1/2 hours of rhythmic twists, hairpin harmonic turns and occasionally glorious excess.

The quartet of Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola and Lenny White disbanded abruptly in 1976 at a commercial and artistic peak with that year’s “Romantic Warrior” album. Save for a brief reunion in 1983, the four hadn’t played together prior to rehearsals for the current tour, which just finished its European leg.

“We practiced our butts off, kind of,” Clarke joked midway through the first set, but the only laughs the playing evoked would have been of sheer wonder.  Rhythmic and melodic sea changes were navigated with the ease most musicians exhibit moving from a G to a C chord. “This is a man band,” boasted White, and if his comparison was with manufactured pop groups that don’t play instruments, the statement also stressed the dedication necessary to master such challenging music.

For all its technical demands, Return to Forever’s music never drifts into inaccessibility, thanks in great part to Corea’s gifts for melody. And the band definitely entertained, joking and mugging shamelessly. Their smiles suggested the reunion pleases them as much as the fans.

DiMeola in particular seemed to be having the time of his life, flying through light-speed solos that would have collapsed into noisy slop in less capable hands. Whatever the velocity, DiMeola plays with a disciplined clarity that seems beyond that of mere mortals. With so many other tools at his command, though - excellent tone and even taste, when he chooses to use it - it would have been nice to hear him ease off the accelerator and let his solos breathe every once in a while.

His speed was put to its best usage in unison passages, many featuring all four musicians scaling a knotty rhythmic path.

The band plugged in for the first set, a ferocious 75-minute flood of sound full of Clarke’s bass power chords, Corea’s vintage analog synthesizers and DiMeola’s fret-board sprints. It was an exhilarating, almost exhausting performance. The second set was acoustic, encouraging the musicians to utilize more space and restraint in their playing.

The second set also featured solo spots from Clarke and White. Clarke’s bass solo was a supreme example of musical storytelling, filled with emotion, suffused with tone and color. White’s was what drum solos should be: inventive, thoughtfully paced and musical. White may have had less of the spotlight than his band mates, but he’s the one responsible for keeping the jazz in this jazz-rock outfit, making sure the music swings, regardless of how far into the Seventh Galaxy it travels.

The show closed electric, with a “Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant” that was over all to quickly.