Track Listing

1. Musician
2. Hello Again
3. Music Magic
4. So Long Mickey Mouse
5. Do You Ever
6. Endless Night

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #130517 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Musigmagic-A Must Have Transitional Corea Album
I originally bought this album (back in the days of vinyl) 21 years ago at a little record store called the Cactus Botique (not that the store name matters, but it shows you that I have a lot of memories tied up in this particular work). I was a real fan of Corea at the time, but a little too young to appreciate something this eclectic--a cross between fusion, jazz vocals, big band (a little, anyway) and grassroots accoustic jazz). Of course, being a bit more mature, I now greatly appreciate this work not only for its songs and musicianship, but for the fact that it is clearly a transitional piece from where Corea had come (HYMN of THE SEVENTH GALAXY, WHERE HAVE I KNOWN YOU BEFORE, ROMANTIC WARRIOR) and where he was going (the exquisite FRIENDS, not to mention the AKOUSTIC BAND work of a few years later). Indeed, what makes this album so unique, so special is its cross between the earlier fusion and the more grassroots jazz approach Corea later adopted. By the way, audiophiles are in for a real treat, as this album was recorded well, with excellent instrument placment as well as a wonderfully lush and large soundstage. The only complaint I have is that Columbia's Nice Price series of reissues fail to include the extensive liner notes that accompanied the original disk. For example, I think the female vocalist (you just have to hear this voice!) is Gayle Moran, but I'm not sure. Although its 21 years later, this album, unlike a lot of fusion works, still holds up today and is incredibly listenable. And, at least in my case, the passage of time has made this work more enjoyable than before.

Best Album I Ever Bought
I bought it on vinyl in 1977 when it first came out, and 25 years later it still amazes me. I can't add much more than the other reviewers here, but I will add some info from the original liner notes that will interest some, but was not included with the CD:

Chick Corea - Acoustic Piano, Fender Rhodes, Mini Moog, Clavinet, Moog 15, Polymoog, ARP Odessey, Vocals

Stanley Clarke - Electric Bass, Piccolo Bass, Acoustic Bass, Vocals

Gayle Moran - Hammond B3 Organ, Polymoog, Acoustic Piano, Vocals

Joe Farrell - Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax, Flutes, Piccolo

Gerry Brown - Drums

John Thomas - Lead Trumpet and Flugel Horn

James Tinsley - Trumpet and Piccolo Trumpet

Jim Pugh - Tenor Trombone

Harrold Garrett - Tenor and Bass Trombone and Baritone Horn

Dissapointing to me
I had recieved Return to Forever's "Romantic Warrior" a couple of years ago for christmas and I fell in love with it. I loved the electronic sound, the grinding fusion, and the creativity, not to mention that this wall of sound was created by basically only 4 people, yet these 4 were 4 of the best jazz musicians ever: Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White.

So a few days ago, I went to the store and decided to buy another RTF album. They didn't have much, they had this album, and their greatest hits album from about 1980. I noticed that 4 of the 6 tracks on that album were from this album, and only 1 (maybe the other was from that one too) was from Romantic Warrior. So I'm thinking, "Wow this album MUST be just as good!" So I bought it and excitedly put it in the CD player. I was surprised.

The first minute was fine, it sounded great. Then I noticed that their were trumpets and stuff in it, and when the singer started I was like "oh no." Not that it was bad, because the first track was all right. It's just that it wasn't just the four of them anymore, there was a funk band and singers now. It didn't sound electronic anymore; there was a lot of acoustic piano, and the band (the trumpets especially) almost covered up the rest of the band. There were a few interesting ideas, like the cello solo in the first song.

Now some may be saying that "wait this was a transitional piece for Chick Corea". Yes it is. However, this was only the second RTF album I have gotten, and the second Chick Corea album. To me, personally, this transitional jump is way too big for me. Romantic Warrior was a classic for me, MusicMagic was just ok. I will definatly buy more RTF albums, and maybe hearing other albums will make me appreciate this one more. But for now I will probably only buy albums before Romantic Warrior.