🎷 AotW: Jazz Spyro Gyra - MORNING DANCE

[Captain Bacardi]

Spyro Gyra
MORNING DANCE
Infinity Records INF 9004

Released 1979

Peaked at #2 on the Jazz Album chart, #27 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, #33 on the R&B Album chart (1979)
"Morning Dance" peaked at #1 on the AC chart, #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #60 on the R&B Singles chart (1979)
"Jubilee" peaked at #92 on the R&B Singles chart (1979)

Produced by Jay Beckenstein and Richard Calandra of Crosseyed Bear Productions, Inc.
Associate Producer: Jeremy Wall
Produced for Amherst Records

Songs & Musicians:

1. Morning Dance (Jay Beckenstein) - 4:11

Jay Beckenstein - Alto Sax
Jeremy Wall - Electric Piano
John Tropea - Electric & Acoustic Guitars
Jim Kurzdorfer - Bass
Ted Reinhardt - Drums
Rubens Bassini - Congas & Percussion
David Samuels - Marimba & Steel Drum
​

2. Jubilee (Jeremy Wall) - 4:31

Jay Beckenstein - Alto Sax
Jeremy Wall - Electric Piano & Synthesizers
John Tropea - Electric Guitar
Will Lee - Bass
Steve Jordan - Drums
Rubens Bassini - Congas & Percussion
Randy Brecker - Trumpet solo
David Samuels - Marimba
​

3. Rasul (Jeremy Wall) - 3:57

Jay Beckenstein - Soprano & Tenor Sax
Jeremy Wall - Electric & Acoustic Piano
Rick Strauss - Guitar
Jim Kurzdorfer - Bass
Ted Reinhardt - Drums
John Clark - French Horn
​

4. Song For Lorraine (Jay Beckenstein) - 3:50

Jay Beckenstein - Soprano Sax
Tom Schuman - Electric & Acoustic Pianos
Chet Catallo - Guitar
Jim Kurzdorfer - Bass
Eli Konikoff - Drums
Gerardo Velez - Congas, Bongos & Percussion
Suzanne Ciani - Synthesizers
Vocalists: Lani Groves, Diva Gray, Gordon Grody
​

5. Starburst (Jeremy Wall) - 4:50

Jay Beckenstein - Tenor Sax (Intro)
Jeremy Wall - Electric Piano & Synthesizers
John Tropea - Guitar
Will Lee - Bass
Steve Jordon - Drums
Rubens Bassini - Congas, Timbales & Percussion
Michael Brecker - Tenor Sax solo
​

6. Heliopolis (Jay Beckenstein) - 5:34

Jay Beckenstein - Alto Sax, Boobams & Percussion
Jeremy Wall - Electric Piano & Synthesizers
John Tropea - Guitar
Will Lee - Bass
Steve Jordon - Drums
Rubens Bassini - Congas & Percussion
David Samuels - Marimba
Tom Schuman - Rhodes solo
​

7. It Doesn't Matter (Chet Catallo) - 4:27

Jay Beckenstein - Soprano Sax
Tom Schuman - Electric Piano
Chet Catallo - Guitar
Jim Kurzdorfer - Bass
Eli Konikoff - Drums
Suzanne Ciani - Synthesizers
Jeremy Wall - Synthesizers
Gerardo Velez - Congas
Vocalists: Lani Groves, Diva Gray, Gordon Grody
​

8. Little Linda (Jeremy Wall) - 4:27

Jay Beckenstein - Alto Sax
Jeremy Wall - Electric Piano, Acoustic Piano & Percussion
Rick Strauss - Guitar
Jim Kurzdorfer - Bass
Ted Reinhardt - Drums
Rubens Bassini - Bongos & Percussion
David Samuels - Vibraphone
​

9. End Of Romanticism (Rick Strauss) - 5:00

Jay Beckenstein - Soprano Sax
Jeremy Wall - Electric Piano
Rick Strauss - Electric & 12 String Guitar
Jim Kurzdorfer - Bass
Ted Reinhardt - Drums
David Samuels - Marimba
Tom Schuman - Synthesizer solos
John Clark - French Horn
​

Synthesizer Programming: Larry Fast
Horn Section:

Jay Beckenstein - Alto Sax
Michael Brecker - Tenor Sax
Randy Brecker - Trumpet
Tom Malone - Trombone
Lewis Del Gatto - Flutes
​

Strings:

Harry Lookofsky - Violin (Concertmaster)
Matthew Raimondi - Violin
Harry Cykman - Violin
Charles LiBove - Violin
Alfred Brown - Viola
Charles McCracken - Cello​

Strings arranged and conducted by Jeremy Wall
Horns arranged and conducted by Jeremy Wall except "Heliopolis" by Jay Beckenstein

Recorded at Secret Sound Studio, New York, NY
Recording Engineers: Jack Malken, Michael Barry
Assistant Engineers: Candice Munson, Darroll Gustamachis, Jason Corsaro

P.C.I. Recording Studio, Rochester, NY
Recording Engineers: Lawrence Swist, Mick Guzauzski

House of Music, West Orange, NJ
Recording Engineer: Charlie Conrad

Trackmaster Studio, Buffalo, NY
Recording Engineer: Larry Swist

Mixed and Edited at Secret Sound Studio, New York, NY
Mixing Engineers: Jack Malken and Michael Barry
Editing: Rick Rowe

Mastered by Bob Ludwig of Masterdisk, Corp. New York, NY

Illustration: David Heffernan
Art Direction & Design: Peter Corriston

Available at Amazon.com (with song samples): http://www.amazon.com/Morning-Dance...binding_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1385344649&sr=1-1



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

Not a big one for me--the title track I really like, and it was a staple on WJZZ for several years. But the rest of the album never really did anything for me--kind of reminds me of The Rippingtons (which I endured in concert ) where one song sounds like a sideways version of the one that preceded it. Good playing on this album, but it never "sparked" with me. And I can only take so much of the wretched sound of the soprano sax...and I used to play the bloody thing! That is one thing that ruins some of my favorite Herbie Hancock tracks on Head Hunters and Thrust (and that bloody bass clarinet--who ever decided it was a jazz instrument anyway?).

 

[Dave]

This time a much more facile & agile, lightweight approach to jazz... (And another album John Tropea had played on to be added to collcetion of works by my favorite guitarist!)...

And while the title track has been heard everyewhere from radio to music to shop to, the remaining contents, too, just seem to be generically bland & aesthetically too restarined...

And anything bursting out or attempting to, just like our previous Jazz-AOTW, only gets lost in its own pretentiousness... Which is easy to do even in this feather-weight sort of vein...


-- Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Gotta disagree on the comments so far. While I usually don't go for this kind of stuff, I found plenty to enjoy on this album. The title track obviously was played a ton. But for my money I really enjoyed "It Doesn't Matter", which is a gorgeous guitar solo. I really enjoy "End Of Romanticism" as well. There's something about the French Horn on that track that grabs me. Pretty hip drum work as well. "Heliopolis" was a tune a band I was in used to play a lot. Lots of solo space available there. Now it is true that a couple of tracks get a bit frenzied, such as "Starburst" and "Little Linda", and I end up skipping those. This album was part of the trend of the nauseous "smooth jazz" movement, but compared what passes for smooth jazz today this album still has some balls to it. It's definitely a guilty pleasure.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

I don't feel $mooth Jazz really took hold until the 90s, when those "Wave" stations were all the rage. Or, when so-called jazz stations started playing Luther Vandross and Mariah effing Carey. I loves me some Luther, don't get me wrong, but not on my jazz station thank you. $mooth Jazz may also be part of the reason I detest soprano saxophones, one of nature's truly most wretched instruments. (Remind me again...why do I own one? I actually enjoy the flute so much better than the sax now, but to play the flute in high school was to have your head jammed between the bars of the bike rack after school while the bullies whupped your pansy arse. )

Definitely would call Spyro a contemporary jazz band though, and they did influence many others to follow. Early Yellowjackets, Steps Ahead, etc. took more than a few cues from that group.

Contemporary jazz...yeah, I dig it. But tuning into our local $mooth Jazz station is like listening to the same song played backward, sideways and upside down for hours on end. I'd rather just be truthful and call it "contemporary easy listening" as it has little to do with jazz anyway.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I remember first hearing the phrase "smooth jazz" in the mid 80's after Kenny G did his droning on "Songbird". There were some critics describing most of the GRP catalog as smooth jazz back then as well. There was a time when David Sanborn was on everybody's album, and the next thing you know every alto sax player in the world was doing the Sanborn scream.

I know what you mean on the smooth jazz radio stations. We had two different ones here in Austin, and they died out pretty quick. I think the second one only lasted a month or so. Sometimes they did okay, playing some Steely Dan and Grover Washington, Jr. But mostly it was every sax player in the world, like Boney James, Kenny G, Gerald Albright - and they all sounded the same. Same beat, same synths, same background vocals. They played Luther here as well, along with Gino Vanelli. The only time I actually listened to it was when Herb Alpert came out with Second Wind, and they called that album "acid jazz" for some reason. When Passion Dance came out, they would only play the title track. I would call the station and request they play "TKO", "Beba" or "Que Pasa Mr. Jones?" and they told me those tunes were "too loud" for their format (I think I've mentioned this in the past). They lost me after that.

I don't mind a soprano sax if it's played right. I love hearing Wayne Shorter, Steve Lacy, Branford Marsalis and Bennie Maupin play it (I actually loved his work on Thrust!).



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

Our one $mooth Jazz station has lasted awhile (at least a decade if not more), but with the advent of HD radio, they got shoved into another digital slot at the same frequency. So, there is far less of an audience now, as HD radio is not at all common compared to standard FM radio. Being a CBS station, they do have online streaming, but not many workplaces (who liked to use them for background music...such was my pain when I had to spend days in the office ) are able to burn up bandwidth by streaming it.

What's really sad is how a lot of jazz artists just have to live with the label, erroneous as it is. If it gets their product noticed and sells records, then I guess the end result is worth it. In my case, I don't care what label anyone puts on it--I either like it, or I don't.

There are some of "classic" GRP artists I like; others I don't care for. There are some gems on the label, and others that just don't click with me. I do give the label credit for creating a "family" feel though, and it parallels A&M's two-founder leadership with one artist and one businessman at the helm.

In fact, I've been meaning to spin Dizzy Gillespie's New Faces which has Branford and Kenny Kirkland in the group.

 

[AM Matt]

Back then in late 1979, "The Great American Radio Show" (hosted by radio announcer Mike Harrison), the # 1 Jazz Album Of 1979 was "Morning Dance" by Spyro Gyra. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[Dave]

The soprano sax by Tom Saviano on some West Coast recordings, & by Jules Broussard w/ Santana are at least OK... A career made out of it by _____--well...--NO!


-- Dave