Chick Corea: The Ultimate Adventure (2006)

Just as some books need to be edited for length, so do some albums inspired by works of literature. At least that's the case with The Ultimate Adventure, Chick Corea's second straight album project derived from a novel by his late Scientology mentor L. Ron Hubbard. Dubbed a tone poem by Corea, the nearly 75-minute work has some of his airiest, most cooly fluent music in some time. With its distinctive electric piano punctuation and contributions by flutist Hubert Laws and RTF percussionist Airto Moreira, the lyrical passages have echoes of his much-loved band of the seventies, Return to Forever. And the Spanish tinge for which he is known gravitates winningly south to Arabic North Africa. Ultimately, though, not all of the album's chapters are equally lively: the "Adventure" goes on a bit much for those who aren't using it as a soundtrack to the plot about a boy on a self-actualization quest, and even for some who are. But Corea has never negotiated the acoustic-electric (or, in his parlance, akoustic/elektric) divide as well as he does here and his ability to command a large cast including saxophonist Tim Garland and guitarist Frank Gambale is impressive. --Lloyd Sachs

Tracklist:
1. Three Ghouls-Part 1 1:38
2. Three Ghouls-Part 2 4:02
3. Three Ghouls-Part 3 3:11
4. City Of Brass 6:38
5. Queen Tedmur 5:15
6. El Stephen-Part 1 6:39
7. El Stephen-Part 2 1:47
8. King & Queen 6:06
9. Moseb The Executioner-Part 1 1:39
10. Moseb The Executioner-Part 2 2:20
11. Moseb The Executioner-Part 3 1:54
12. North Africa 6:24
13. Flight From Karoof-Part 1 6:11
14. Flight From Karoof-Part 2 1:35
15. Plane Of Existence-Part 1 5:25
16. Arabian Nights-Part 1 4:31   
17. Arabian Nights-Part 2 2:38
18. Gods & Devils 2:15  
19. Plane Of Existence-Part 2 2:52
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Joe Farrell: Night Dancing (1978)

After his association with CTI ended, Joe Farrell made two weak and rather commercial sets for Warner Bros., of which this LP is the second. Although Farrell gets in a few good spots on tenor, soprano and flute, the strictly for-the-money arrangements of Trevor Lawrence and the excess of musicians sinks this effort. The version of Stevie Wonder's "Another Star" is dominated by dull "background" vocalists; most songs have instantly dated funk played by the rhythm section, and the talents of keyboardists Herbie Hancock and Victor Feldman are wasted. Only a three-and-a-half-minute unaccompanied tenor solo on "Come Rain or Come Shine" by Farrell still sounds good 20 years later.

Tracklist:
A1 Katherine - Written-By – Jeff Lorber 6:36
A2 Silver Lace - Written-By – Joe Farrell 8:15
A3 How Deep Is Your Love - Written-By – Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb & Maurice Gibb 4:19
A4 Come Rain Or Come Shine - Written-By – Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer 3:24
B1 Another Star - Written-By – Stevie Wonder 5:30
B2 Casa De Los Sospensos - Written-By – Joe Farrell 7:30
B3 Night Dancing - Written-By – Trevor Lawrence 5:49
B4 You're In My Heart (The Final Acclaim) - Written-By – Rod Stewart 3:13
Personnel:
Joe Farrell – Soprano and tenor saxophone, flute
Herbie Hancock – Piano, electric piano
Victor Feldman – Piano, electric piano
Michael Boddicker – Synthesizer, Clavinet
Lee Ritenour – Guitar
Jay Graydon – Guitar
Richard Greene & Beryl Marriott – Violin, viola
Robert W. Daugherty – Bass
Abraham Laboriel – Bass
Mike Porcaro – Bass
Chuck Rainey – Bass
John Guerin – Drums
Jeff Porcaro – Drums
Harvey Mason, Sr. – Drums
Airto Moreira – Percussion, cuica
Paulinho Da Costa – Conga
Joe Romano – Tenor saxophone
Oscar Brashear – Trumpet
Garnett Brown – Trombone
Quitman Dennis – Baritone saxophone
Chuck Findley – Trumpet
Lew McCreary – Bass trombone
Flora Purim – Vocals
Andrea Robinson – Vocals
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