Spyro Gyra - FOREIGN AFFAIR (CD) | NEW

Label: Amherst Records – AMH6611-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2011
Genre: Jazz, Latin, Funk / Soul
Style: Fusion, Afro-Cuban, Smooth Jazz, Latin Jazz

1        Caribe
Written-By – Jay Beckenstein
5:29
2        Khuda
Written-By – Sandeep Chowta, Shabbir Ahmed
4:46
3        Sweet Ole Thang
Written-By – Bonny Bonaparte*
4:26
4        Falling Walls
Written-By – Julio Fernandez
6:32
5        Shinjuku
Written-By – Tom Schuman
5:11
6        Chileno Boys
Written-By – Alberto Rios, David Brora*
6:23
7        Samba For Two
Written-By – Tom Schuman
5:18
8        Cancilo Di Ninar
Written-By – Jay Beckenstein
4:20
9        Antiqua
Written-By – Jay Beckenstein
6:30
10        Last Call
Written-By – Danny O'Keefe, J. Fred Knoblach*
4:42
11        Dancing On Table Mountain
Written-By – Scott Ambush
7:22

Mixed At – Big Time Audio
Mastered At – Gateway Mastering
Recorded At – Clubhouse Recording Studios
Manufactured By – Amherst Records
Marketed By – Amherst Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Crosseyed Bear Productions
Copyright © – Crosseyed Bear Productions
Backing Vocals – Bonny Bonaparte* (tracks: 6)
Bass – Scott Ambush
Co-producer, Duduk, Tabla [Programmed By] – Sandeep Chowta (tracks: 2)
Congas – Pedrito Martinez
Design [Cover Illustration] – Peter Ambush
Drums, Percussion – Bonny Bonaparte*
Engineer – Paul Antonell
Engineer [Assistant] – Connor Milton, Eli Walker II*
Guitar – Julio Fernandez
Keyboards – Tom Schuman
Management, Photography – Phil Brennan
Mastered By – Adam Ayan
Mixed By – Martin Walters
Percussion – Tosin Aribisala (tracks: 11)
Producer – Spyro Gyra
Saxophone – Jay Beckenstein
Vocals – Arijit Singh (tracks: 2), Julio Fernandez (tracks: 6), Keb' Mo' (tracks: 10)
℗&©2011 Crosseyed Bear Productions
Manufactured and Marketed by Amherst Records, Inc.
Recorded at The Clubhouse, Rhinebeck, NY
Additional Recordings at Menakeys Recording Studio, Union City, NJ
Mixed at Big Time Audio, Jonesboro, TN
Mastered at Getaway Mastering, Portland, ME
Barcode (Text): 0 51617 66112 2
Barcode (String): 051617661122

Spyro Gyra started out with the rhythms of the world. From the samba rhythms and Caribbean feel of their early hits to the latest album, they have made it a point to embrace the music of the places they have visited. Their new album, a FOREIGN AFFAIR, is ready to take you around the world from the Caribbean to South America, and even to South Africa, India and Japan. Besides the memorable instrumentals, there are also three vocal tunes, one of which features Grammy winning Keb' Mo.

Personnel: Julio Fernandez (guitar); Jay Beckenstein (saxophone); Tom Schuman (keyboards); Bonny B. (drums, percussion); Pedrito Mart?nez (congas).
Audio Mixer: Martin Walters.
Recording information: Menakeys Recording Studio, Union City, NJ; The Clubhouse, Rhinebeck, NY.
Photographer: Phil Brennan.
Over 35 years into one of contemporary jazz fusion's most extraordinary evolving musical journeys, Spyro Gyra entered the 2010s where they began -- on their own indie label, Amherst Records, on which they released their self-titled debut in 1978. Driven by the melodic, jazzy, and increasingly global-minded vision of saxophonist and founder Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra have undergone various personnel changes throughout the years while becoming serial world travelers. The concept of A Foreign Affair began with Beckenstein asking his crew -- Tom Schuman, Julio Fernandez, Scott Ambush, and Bonny B. -- to come up with impressions of these adventures. The results are dynamic, exotic, high-spirited, loaded with invention and improvisation, and even slightly spiritual in spots (the moody African-flavored "Khuda," featuring the dreamy, soaring vocals of young Indian singer Arijit Singh). The ports of call on the group's stylistic itinerary develop distinctive personalities as they evolve. They start with a relaxed and silky, sax-driven reggae sway on Beckenstein's "Caribe," then start dancing with Schuman's synth pans in fiery sync with the saxman's punchy lines on Bonny B.'s festive "Sweet Ole Thang." The bubbling, super-percussive "Falling Walls" by Fernandez is harder to place geographically but is reflective of the trademark adventurous Spyro Gyra sound of the 2000s. Schuman's mystical "Shinjuku" touches on the whimsical side of Spyro Gyra's numerous trips to Japan, where they have long enjoyed great popularity. There's also a graceful, lighthearted touch of Rio ("Samba for Two"), a balmy bossa romance ("Can?ao de Ninar"), and a return to the Caribbean via "Antigua." Ambush's expansive closer, "Dancing on Table Mountain," allows the bandmembers to stretch and show the depth of their jazzy possibilities. Between all the frequent flyer miles, two of the most interesting tracks are the beautiful, poignant vocal tracks by Keb' Mo' (the melancholy "Last Call") and Fernandez (the easy-rolling Latin-tinged cultural message song "Chileno Boys"). Over 30 recordings in, Spyro Gyra still had something fresh to say while fearlessly entering their fifth decade of recording. ~ Jonathan Widran

• Condition: NEW
• Format: CD
• Internal ID: 051617661122
• Format Detail: CD
• Genre: JAZZ/FUSION
• Label: Amherst Records
• Catalog Number: AMH6611-2
• Format Type: CD
• Released: 2011-09-13