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The Deep End (Spyro Gyra Album)
''The Deep End'' is the twenty-seventh album by Spyro Gyra, released on May 25, 2004. The album peaked at No. 3 on the jazz album chart at ''Billboard'' magazine. Critical reception Tom Hull dismissed the album as a "dud" in his "Jazz Consumer Guide" for ''The Village Voice'' in September 2004. In a commentary published on his website, he explained, "Spry funk, thick layers of guitar-keyb-sax that never let up, occasional tidbits of exotica, they don't aim for pablum, but they don't take risks either, so in the end they're as predictable as formula." Track listing # "Summer Fling" (Jeremy Wall) – 4:58 # "Eastlake Shuffle" (Julio Fernandez) – 5:02 # "Monsoon" (Jay Beckenstein) – 7:00 # "As You Wish" (Beckenstein) – 4:36 # "Joburg Jam" (Beckenstein) – 6:10 # "The Crossing" (Fernandez) – 7:17 # "Wiggle Room" (Scott Ambush) – 6:48 # "Wind Warriors" (Tom Schuman) – 6:15 # "In Your Arms" (Schuman) – 4:46 # "Chippewa Street" (Beckenstein) – 5:46 # "Beyond the Rai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spyro Gyra
Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. The band's music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop music. The band's name comes from ''Spirogyra'', a genus of green algae which founder Jay Beckenstein had learned about in college. History Early years Saxophonist Jay Beckenstein and keyboardist Jeremy Wall formed a band with jazz and rock musicians who were playing in the Buffalo bar and club circuit. In 1974, when a bar owner asked for the band's name, Beckenstein said, "spirogyra", a type of algae he had learned about in school. The bar owner wrote the name incorrectly, "Spyro Gyra", but it stuck. The founding members of the band were Beckenstein, Wall, bassist Jim Kurzdorfer, drummer Tom Walsh, and keyboardist Tom Schuman. In 1977, they released '' Spyro Gyra'' independently before making a deal with Amherst Records, which re-released the album with a different cover. It included "Shaker Song," which reached No. 90 on Billboard's H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Ambush
Scott Antel Ambush is an American musician, best known as the bass player of jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra. Biography He was born April 28, 1960 in Frederick, Maryland to Webster and Jeanette Lofton Ambush. He attended Urbana Elementary School in Urbana, Maryland, West Frederick Middle, and Frederick High School. After high school, he attended the University of Maryland at College Park. While studying psychology during the day, he was introduced to the Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ... music scene at night. Through word of mouth, he was recommended for the bass job with Spyro Gyra and filled the bass space after audition. He made his studio debut with Spyro Gyra in 1992 on the album "Three Wishes". Discography Albums (with Spyro Gyra) Albums (w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2004 Albums
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest composite number, its proper divisors being and . Four is the sum and product of two with itself: 2 + 2 = 4 = 2 x 2, the only number b such that a + a = b = a x a, which also makes four the smallest squared prime number p^. In Knuth's up-arrow notation, , and so forth, for any number of up arrows. By consequence, four is the only square one more than a prime number, specifically three. The sum of the first four prime numbers two + three + five + seven is the only sum of four consecutive prime numbers that yields an odd prime number, seventeen, which is the fourth super-prime. Four lies between the first proper pair of twin primes, three and five, which are the first two Fermat primes, like seventeen, which is the third. On the other hand, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the Hit Factory from Jerry Ragavoy. At that time the Hit Factory studios were located at 353 West 48th Street and consisted of two studios, A2 and A6. Eventually, a third studio, A5, was added. These studios were active from 1975 to 1981. Germano incorporated the Hit Factory into a business, redesigned its studios, and created the logo it uses to this day. Notable albums from this location include "Songs in the Key of Life" by Stevie Wonder, "One Trick Pony" by Paul Simon, "Station to Station" by David Bowie, "Fear of Music" by Talking Heads, "Voices" by Hall & Oates, "Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf, "Foreigner" by Foreigner (band), "I'm In You" by Peter Frampton, "Live and Sleazy" by Village People, "They Only Come Out At Night" by the Edgar Wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Hull (mastering Engineer)
Scott E. Hull (born January 28, 1962) is a mastering engineer based in New York City, and the owner of Masterdisk.Prosoundnews Walsh, Christopher (2008). "Hull Acquires Masterdisk", ProSoundNews Hull began his career as an intern at Masterdisk in 1983.Mix Weiss, David (2008). "New York Metro, December 2008", Mix He became 's assistant in 1984, and was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1994.Masterdisk Website [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,'' or ''vibist''. The vibraphone resembles the steel marimba, which it superseded. One of the main differences between the vibraphone and other keyboard percussion instruments is that each bar suspends over a resonator tube containing a flat metal disc. These discs are attached together by a common axle and spin when the motor is turned on. This causes the instrument to produce its namesake tremolo or vibrato effect. The vibraphone also has a sustain pedal similar to a piano. When the pedal is up, the bars produce a muted sound; when the pedal is down, the bars sustain for several seconds or until again muted with the pedal. The vibraphone is commonly used in jazz music, in which it often plays a featured role, and was a defining element ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Samuels
David Alan Samuels (October 9, 1948 – April 22, 2019) was an American vibraphone and marimba player who spent many years with the contemporary jazz group Spyro Gyra. His recordings and live performances during that period also reflect his prowess on the steelpan, a tuned percussion instrument of Trinidadian origin. Biography Samuels was born in Waukegan, Illinois, United States. At the age of six he started playing drums and piano. He learned vibes and marimba while a student at Boston University. He continued his studies at the Berklee College of Music, also in Boston, and studied with vibraphonist Gary Burton. He taught percussion at Berklee before moving to New York City in 1974. Soon he was recording and performing with Gerry Mulligan, Carla Bley, and Gerry Niewood. He played in a vibes/marimba duo with David Friedman, who had been his teacher at Boston, releasing albums under the name Double Image. In 1979 he began recording with Spyro Gyra, eventually becoming a memb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyro Baptista
Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. Career Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York. During the 1980s, he worked on films with John Zorn and appeared on Zorn's albums in the 1990s. Also in the '90s, he appeared on albums by Marisa Monte, Holly Cole, and Cassandra Wilson. In 1997 he released his first solo album, ''Vira Loucos'', with cover versions of music by Heitor Villa-Lobos. The album was recorded with Marc Ribot and Nana Vasconcelos and released by Avant, a label owned by Zorn. He was a member of Zorn's band Dreamers. He recorded with pianist Herbie Hancock on his album ''Possibilities''. He recorded and performed worldwide with Hancock's Grammy award-winning ''Gershwin's World''. He toured with Yo-Yo Ma's Brazil Project and appeared on the ''Obrigado Brazil'', which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Kilson
William Earl Kilson (born August 2, 1962) is an American jazz drummer. Kilson was born in Washington, D.C.. He started on trumpet at ten, switched to trombone at 11, then to drums at 16. He studied at the Berklee College of Music from 1980 to 1985 and took private lessons from Alan Dawson during 1982–89. Following this he did a tour of Europe with Walter Davis. He has played with Ahmad Jamal (1989), Dianne Reeves (1989–95), Greg Osby (1991), George Duke (1991–98), Steps Ahead (1993), Tim Hagans (1993 and subsequently), Terumasa Hino (1994–98), Bob James (1995 and subsequently), Dave Holland (since 1997), Bob Belden (1997) and Kevin Mahogany (1998). Other associations include Kirk Whalum, Freddie Jackson, Chris Botti, Donald Brown, Bob James, and Paula Cole. Kilson is perhaps best known for his work with Holland. He plays on Holland's Grammy Award-nominated 1999 album ''Prime Directive'' and his Grammy-winning 2002 release ''What Goes Around''. Kilson has also led his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julio Fernández (musician)
Barbaro Julio Fernández (born August 29, 1954) is a Cuban-American guitarist and composer best known as the current and longtime guitarist for the jazz-fusion band Spyro Gyra. Fernández was born in Havana, Cuba, but grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he started playing guitar at the age of nine. Fernández graduated from Hoboken High School in 1972 and attended Montclair State University as a music major. Before finding paid work as a musician, Fernández worked at various times as a clothing salesman, a messenger in a law firm, a newspaper delivery man and a labourer in a coat factory. In 1984, his friend Gerardo Velez, Fernández's collaborator on various projects and the percussionist for Spyro Gyra at that time, told him the band was looking for a new guitarist. Fernández auditioned and was hired the next day—an event he described as "one of the happiest days of my life." Except for a short hiatus at the end of that decade, Fernandez has continued in that position. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Schuman
Thomas William Schuman (born January 31, 1958) is an American jazz pianist, smooth jazz keyboardist, the co-leader, composer and arranger. of 13 Grammy nominated contemporary jazz group, Spyro Gyra. He has been the keyboardist for Spyro Gyra since he was 16 years old (before the release of their first album). He has performed on all of Spyro Gyra's albums to date and has written or co-written over sixty Spyro Gyra compositions since the album '' Catching the Sun'' ( MCA, 1980). Tom also produced 6 solo albums on his own label http://jazzbridge.com. He also built and engineers his own recording studio https://schuboxstudios.com. Discography Solo * ''Extremities'' ( GRP, 1990) * ''Schuman Nature'' (JazzBridge, 2003) * ''Into Your Heart'' (JazzBridge, 2002) * ''Deep Chill'' (JazzBridge, 2006) * ''Reflections Over Time'' (JazzBridge, 2010) * ''Designated Planets'' (JazzBridge, 2013) * ''Live At Marians Jazzroom'' (JazzBridge, 2018) With Spyro Gyra * ''Spyro Gyra'' (Amherst Rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jay Beckenstein
Jay Barnet Beckenstein (born May 14, 1951) is an American saxophonist, composer, producer, and the co-founder of the band Spyro Gyra. He owned BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York. Music career Beckenstein was born in Long Island, New York, to a Jewish family. His mother, Lorraine, was an opera singer and his father, Leonard, loved jazz and introduced him to Charlie Parker and Lester Young when he was a baby. He started playing the piano at age five when he moved to Farmingdale, New York. He was given his first saxophone at the age of seven. In his senior year of high school, he and his family moved to Germany. He attended and graduated from Nurnberg American High School in 1969. He has said that being Jewish in Germany was positive at the time. However, he has recalled that he once saw an old photo of an elderly neighbor in his SS Nazi uniform while visiting him and he never went back. He received a college degree in music from the University at Buffalo in 1973. Trumpeter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
