Tap Step
	Produced by Chick Corea
	Released on March? 1980
	US CHART POSITION #170 . . . US JAZZ CHART POSITION #8
	Find it at GEMM
BSK 3425 cover [high resolution photo]

A nudge better than the recordings around it (Secret Agent, Touchstone) despite the silly costume. Drawing from a loose axis of familiar players, Corea presents seven new compositions that touch upon lighthearted funk, Latin music, cool jazz, and traces of fusion. In other words, Chick is still marching to the same pattern set forth on earlier albums, though the material this time is very good. Tap Step features no missteps, despite trying its hand at all manner of music. The opening “Samba L.A.” is unexpected, a gossamer samba both winsome and ethereal that serves as a cautious celebration (perhaps due to the lack of a low end that a bass player would have provided). “Embrace” is a lilting, pungent song featuring the vocals of Gayle Moran and a wonderfully sneaky arrangement from Chick. The march eventually arrives in “Tap Step,” given a distinctly jazzy flavor here. Side two begins with the delightful “Magic Carpet,” a piece that appeases both the sophisticated palette and the animal grace of jazz simultaneously. Squeaking and squawking herald “The Slide,” which Corea and Jamie Faunt (on piccolo bass) gingerly take up before immersing themselves in a remarkably rich rhythm. The playful “Grandpa Blues” features Chick on vocorder and Stanley Clarke contributing lead guitar-like lines from his piccolo bass (they must have rented one for the week). Tap Step ends on a serious note with the restless “Flamenco,” a noisy return to a style Corea has probably exhausted at this point. Add these seven tracks up and the sum total is surprisingly solid; not the sort of album to displace My Spanish Heart, but the kind of tasty fare that Corea fans can rally behind.

BSK 3425 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. SAMBA L.A.    (Lyrics by Tony Cohan)    5:52
2. THE EMBRACE    (Lyrics by Tony Cohan)    5:52
3. TAP STEP    8:19
4. MAGIC CARPET    6:51
5. THE SLIDE    6:47
6. GRANDPA BLUES    (Vocorder lyrics by Chick Corea)    4:03
7. FLAMENCO    3:34
   
   Music composed and arranged by Chick Corea

CREDITS

CHICK COREA -- clavinet, OBX, Moog 55, acoustic piano, Rhodes, Minimoog, wood block, vocorder, handclaps
DON ALIAS -- congas, lya drums
TOM BRECHTLEIN -- drums, snare drum
BUNNY BRUNEL -- fretless bass
JOE FARRELL -- tenor sax, soprano sax
AL VIZZUTTI -- trumpets, flugelhorns
Nani Villa Brunel -- vocals (1)
Stanley Clarke -- piccolo bass, talk box (6)
Jamie Faunt -- piccolo bass (5)
Shelby Flint -- vocals (1)
Joe Henderson -- tenor sax (7)
Hubert Laws -- flute, piccolo
Gayle Moran -- vocals
Airto Moreira -- snare drum, tamborim, whistle, drums, pandero, cuica
Laudir Oliviera -- surdo, agogo, ganza, tamborim
Flora Purim -- vocals (1)
Bernie Kirsh -- recording and mixing engineer
Mark Ettel -- mixing assistant
Jim McCrary -- photography
Peter Whorf -- art direction

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