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| Down the Wire |
| Spyro Gyra |
| első megjelenés éve: 2009 |
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| (2009)
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CD |
| 4.701 Ft
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| 1. | Down The Wire
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| 2. | Unspoken
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| 3. | Not For Nothin'
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| 4. | Island Pond
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| 5. | The Tippin' Point
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| 6. | Ice Mountain
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| 7. | A Flower for Annie Jeanette
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| 8. | La Zona Rosa
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| 9. | What It Is
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| 10. | A Distant Memory
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| 11. | Make It Mine
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Jazz
Bill Harris Quintet Flute, Sax (Tenor)
Bonny B. Producer, Percussion, Vocals, Group Member, Drums
Dave Love Executive Producer
Gerardo Velez Percussion
Jay Beckenstein Producer, Saxophone, Group Member
Martin Walters Mastering, Mixing
Ozzie Melendez Trombone
Philip Brennan Cover Art
Robert Hoffman Photography, Design
Scott Ambush Group Member, Producer, Bass
Tom Schuman Keyboards, Group Member, Producer
Spyro Gyra Takes Another Step On The Wire On New Heads Up Release
"Life is being on the wire, everything else is just waiting."
--- Karl Wallenda
The patriarch of the famous aerialist family certainly knew what he was talking about after a lifetime of thrilling, edge-of-the-seat performances for his audiences. While the stakes might not be as high for a jazz band improvising in a recording studio or in front of a live audience, Spyro Gyra's leader and saxophonist Jay Beckenstein understands the passion that drives a person and makes "life on the wire" so appealing.
"This music is what I've done for most of my life. I very much define who I am by the music I make." He allows, "Traveling to the shows is definitely about waiting. But even when I'm home, I have the same kinds of concerns as everyone else. My life becomes about my family, my home, just the basic everyday navigating and problem solving that we all do. But when I'm making music with the band and things are going well, I leave the anxiety behind. I escape that part of me that's just trying to survive in the world and I'm able to get in touch with that part of me that has nothing to do with practicality. It's something that's kind of divine, and I don't normally think in those terms, but it's as close as I can get to that ideal. I really do get swept away in it and it's a marvelous, spiritual, therapeutic thing."
Their new album, Down the Wire (HUCD 3154), is set for worldwide release on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group. Down the Wire is a snapshot of Spyro Gyra's enduring dedication to that walk down the wire.
For more than three decades, they have maintained a position at the forefront of modern jazz by successfully managing not just one, but several feats of creative dexterity. "That's what has kept this band going," says Beckenstein. "There are always balances to be found - between the individual player and the group, between the songwriter and the player. It's about both satisfying yourself and satisfying your audience. And when you're improvising in front of a crowd, you're really walking down that wire. There are always surprises that way, but our openness to those surprises is what makes this band what it is. We just happen to be walking on a slightly more forgiving tightrope."
Although often still pegged as being from Buffalo, NY, this is the first Spyro Gyra recording to come out of Buffalo in thirty years, when they recorded their landmark classic, Morning Dance. "Recording in Buffalo was more relaxed than when we record in New York. There were fewer distractions. Particularly for Tom Schuman and I, who came out of the Buffalo scene, it always feels really good to go back there. It touches on a time in our life that - although we didn't know it then – was supremely magical. For as long as I've been away from the city, I've never personally stopped feeling that part of me is a Buffalonian."
So what place does the listener have in this group's balancing act? "My hope is that it has the same effect on the audience that it does on me. I've always felt that music, and particularly instrumental music, has this non-literal quality that lets people travel to a place where there are no words. Whether it's touching their emotions or connecting them to something that reminds them of something much bigger than themselves, there's this beauty in music that's not connected to sentences. It's very transportive. I would hope that when people hear our music or come to see us, they're able to share that with us. That's the truly glorious part of being a musician."
Asked where Down The Wire belongs in Spyro Gyra's substantial legacy, Beckenstein is quick to reply. "You know, everybody up on the wire knows one thing for sure," Beckenstein laughs. "The real trouble comes if you start looking behind you. The future's in front of you."
Creatively, Spyro Gyra have certainly had their ups and downs over the years. Leader/saxophonist Jay Beckenstein and his colleagues have recorded some real gems along the way, but they have also recorded their share of boring, forgettable "elevator muzak." Thankfully, there isn't an iota of "elevator muzak" to be found on Down the Wire, which is among the studio albums that captures the sort of energy and vitality Spyro Gyra are known for projecting on-stage. There are no misguided attempts to emulate Kenny G, Richard Elliot, or Najee on this 2009 release; Down the Wire is a legitimate fusion album -- accessible and melodic, but risk-taking, edgy, and faithful to jazz' improvisatory spirit. Beckenstein offers plenty of inspired solos, and Spyro Gyra (whose 2009 lineup also includes keyboardist Tom Schuman, guitarist Julio Fernandez, bassist Scott Ambush, and drummer/percussionist Bonny B.) aren't afraid to let loose on memorable selections like the Afro-Cuban-flavored "La Zona Rosa," the mysterious "Unspoken," and the vibrant "Ice Mountain." Down the Wire detours into straight-ahead post-bop territory on "The Tippin' Point," but most of the material combines jazz with elements of rock, funk, and soul -- which, of course, is what fusion is all about. Spyro Gyra's roots are Weather Report, Return to Forever, electric Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters -- in other words, the adventurous, gutsy fusion of the '70s -- and their early albums reflected that. But sadly, Spyro Gyra's willingness to pander to commercial smooth jazz/NAC radio in the '90s resulted in an abundance of embarrassing fluff. However, there is no fluff on this 65-minute CD, which finds the Spyro Gyra of 2009 acting a lot like the freewheeling Spyro Gyra of the '70s and early '80s. Down the Wire is an engaging disc that Beckenstein should be proud to have in Spyro Gyra's catalog. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Spyro Gyra
Active Decades: '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: 1974 in Buffalo, NY
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Fusion, Jazz-Pop, Crossover Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Founded in 1974 by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra have consistently been one of the commercially successfully pop-jazz groups of the past 30 years. The band became a full-time venture in 1976 and has been touring ever since. Critics love to attack this band's music, which combines R&B and elements of pop and Caribbean music with jazz, but its live performances are often stimulating -- unlike many of its records, which emphasize the danceable melodies.
The roots of Spyro Gyra lay in Buffalo, NY, in 1974. Beckenstein and his longtime friend, keyboardist Jeremy Wall, had been leading a group with a revolving membership; every one of the many members in the band were loosely involved in the local jazz and rock scenes. Around 1974, the group was beginning to gel and cultivate a following. A club owner who wanted to advertise an upcoming appearance by the band asked Beckenstein for the group's name. The saxophonist told him "Spirogyra," a word he learned in a college biology course. The owner misspelled the word as Spyro Gyra, and the band fell into place, featuring Beckenstein, Wall, Jim Kurzdorfer, and Tom Walsh. Not long afterward, the group added keyboardist Tom Schuman. Electric guitarist Chet Catallo, drummer Eli Konikoff, and percussionist Gerardo Velez all joined in 1978 (with Wall dropping out) and bassist David Wofford was added in 1980.
Spyro Gyra independently funded and recorded their debut album, releasing the record on the local independent label Amherst in 1976. The record slowly became a success and Amherst sold the rights to the band to Infinity Records, a division of MCA. Wall left the band in 1978, leaving Schuman as the group's main keyboardist. Morning Dance, their first album for Infinity, was released in 1979. The record became a major hit, spawning a Top 40 single with "Morning Dance" and going platinum. Morning Dance firmly placed Spyro Gyra as one of the most popular artists in contemporary jazz, and throughout the '80s, their popularity continued growing. Their albums were consistent best-sellers, and their concerts often sold out. In 1983, vibraphonist and marimba player Dave Samuels -- who had played on several of the group's albums -- became a full-fledged member of the band. Over the course of the '80s, the membership of Spyro Gyra fluctuated, but Beckenstein and Schuman remained at its core, keeping the group's signature sound intact.
In 1990, MCA's jazz roster was absorbed by GRP, so Spyro Gyra switched labels, releasing Fast Forward, their first album for GRP, later that year. In 1993, Samuels left the touring band, but he continued to play in the studio. By the late '90s, the band featured Beckenstein, Schuman, Julio Fernandez, Joel Rosenblatt, and Scott Ambush, and released Got the Magic in 1999. Two years later the band moved to the Telarc-affiliated Heads Up label and released In Modern Times in 2001, followed by Original Cinema in 2003. Drummer Rosenblatt left the band and was replaced by Ludwig Afonso for 2004's Deep End. A fourth Heads Up album, Good to Go-Go, was issued in 2007. The holiday album A Night Before Christmas followed in 2008.
---Scott Yanow & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide |
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