"Tenor and soprano saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. was faced with an almost impossible task in 1976: following up his two 1975 critically acclaimed and wildly successful commercial recordings Mister Magic and Feels So Good.

A Secret Place was produced by Creed Taylor and issued on his Kudu imprint, while the versatile David Matthews arranged the horn section.

The players include pianist Dave Grusin, drummer Harvey Mason, Ralph MacDonald on percussion, bassist Anthony Jackson, guitarist Eric Gale, trumpeter John Gatchell and alto saxophonist Gerry Niewood.

His soprano sings over the backbeat as Grusin's Rhodes piano plays down a vamp for the rhythm section, and fills in the painted backdrop beautifully.

"Dolphin Dance" begins every bit as sparely and exotically spacious as Hancock's own version, with beautiful soprano and alto work, gorgeous floating Rhodes piano, and lots of warmth.

[4] Thom Jurek of AllMusic commented "Washington's tenor solo is sophisticated and utterly tasteful; its emotion ratchets up the dynamic in the entire tune.

The album features four long tracks – all stretched out and layered together with washes of funky, yet subtle sounds – in a perfect blend that let Washington really stretch out on his solos, blowing with a great deal of soul over some hip instrumentation that includes Dave Grusin on electric piano, Anthony Jackson on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, and Ralph McDonald on percussion.