Secret Agent (Chick Corea album)
1978 studio album by Chick Corea
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Secret Agent is a studio album by Chick Corea, recorded and released in 1978. It is a musically diverse release that features Corea’s long-standing collaborators Joe Farrell on reeds and woodwinds, percussionist Airto, and vocalist Gayle Moran (Corea’s wife). Al Jarreau sings “Hot News Blues”, and a four piece brass section and string quartet also appear.
| Secret Agent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Studio | Producers Workshop, Los Angeles (tracks A1 to B1, B3, B4) & Kendun Recorders, Burbank, California, USA (track B2) | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 42:58 | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Producer | Chick Corea | |||
| Chick Corea chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz |    [1] |
| AllMusic | [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
| DownBeat | [4] |
This album is one of three that Corea released in 1978, along with The Mad Hatter and Friends in what was called an "almost impossibly active year".[1] 1978 also featured the release of live albums An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert and RTF Live: The Complete Concert (4LP Box Set) with Return to Forever.
Reception
DownBeat gave the album 4 stars.[4] Douglas Clark wrote in his review, "Despite its flaws, this album cooks, and good solos abound. Corea and Farrell each have a few; Vizzutti has a nice flugelhorn spot on Funk and Bunny Brunel punches out a good chorus on Park, as does Airto on timbales.Corea is in control, but his band is with him all the way".[4]
Track listing
All pieces are composed by Chick Corea unless otherwise noted.
Side one
- "Golden Dawn" – 3:39
- "Slinky" – 5:42
- "Mirage" – 2:11
- "Drifting" – 4:09
- "Glebe St. Blues" – 6:58
Side two
- "Fickle Funk" – 5:05
- "Bagatelle, No. 4" (Béla Bartók) – 3:34
- "Hot News Blues" – 6:18
- "Central Park" – 5:22
Personnel
- Chick Corea – acoustic piano (A1, B2); Fender Rhodes electric piano (A2, A3, A5, B1, B3, B4); Hohner clavinet (A5, B4 ); Minimoog, Multimoog & Oberheim Eight Voice synthesizers (A1 to A4, B2 to B4); backing vocals (B4); percussion
- Allen Vizzutti – trumpet (A1, A2, A4, A5, B4); flugelhorn (B1)
- Bob Zottola – trumpet (A1, A2, A4, A5, B4)
- Ron Moss – trombone (A5, B4); bass trombone (B4)
- Jim Pugh – trombone (A1 to A5, B4); bass trombone (B4)
- Joe Farrell – flute & alto flute (A2, A4); bass flute (A4); tenor saxophone (A5); soprano saxophone (B1)
- Bunny Brunel – fretless bass (A1, A2, A4 to B1, B3, B4)
- Tom Brechtlein – drums (A1, A2, A4, A5, B3, B4)
- Airto Moreira – percussion (A2, A4, B4); Hi-hat (B1)
- Charles Veal – violin & viola (A1, A5, B4); backing vocals (B4)
- Carol Shive – violin (A1, A5, B4); backing vocals (B4)
- Paula Hochhalter – cello (A1, A5, B4); backing vocals (B4)
- Gayle Moran – lead vocals (A4, A5, B2); backing vocals (B4)
- Al Jarreau – lead vocals (B3)
Charts
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Jazz Albums[5] | 7 |