''Carnaval'' is the fourth album by

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 ...

, released in 1980. It was given gold record status on June 1, 1987. At ''Billboard'' magazine, ''Carnaval'' reached No. 49 on the Top 200 Albums chart. The song "Cafe Amore" reached No. 77 on the Hot 100 singles chart and No. 14 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart.

Track listing

# "Cafe Amore" (

Chet Catallo Chet Catallo (born March 11, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work as a member of the band Spyro Gyra. Music career In 1978, Catallo joined the group Spyro Gyra while they were recording the album ''Morning Dance''. This record ...

) – 5:02 (album version) 4:12 (single edit version) # "Dizzy" (

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 si ...

, Eli Konikoff) – 4:40 # "Awakening" (

Jeremy Wall Jeremy Wall is a musician, and along with Jay Beckenstein, was a founding member of the jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra. He contributed to the group as a pianist, producer, and composer. He is currently an assistant professor in the Music Industry de ...

) – 5:48 # "Cachaca" (Beckenstein) – 4:18 # "Fox Trot" (Beckenstein) – 4:40 # "Sweet 'n' Savvy" (Schuman) – 5:12 # "Bittersweet" (Beckenstein) – 4:28 # "Carnaval" (Wall) – 5:26

Personnel

Credits adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Band *

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, ...

– saxophone (1-8), acoustic piano (4) *

– keyboards (1, 2, 4-7) *

– keyboards (3, 8) *

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 pr ...

– marimba (2, 5-8), vibraphone (2, 5-8) *

– guitar (1-7) * Jim Kurzdorfer – bass (3) * Eli Konikoff – drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7) *

Gerardo Velez Gerardo "Jerry" Velez (born August 15, 1947) is an American musician. Best known for performing with American psychedelic rock musician Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock Festival in August 1969, Velez is a veteran percussionist and drummer, who has perfor ...

– percussion (2-6, 8) Guests *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

– flute (1) *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

– trumpet (1, 2, 5, 8) *

Rob Mounsey Rob Mounsey (born December 2, 1952) is an American musician, composer, and arranger. Music career Mounsey was born in Berea, Ohio, and grew up in Seattle, Washington, spending a few years each in Findlay and Granville, Ohio. At the age of 17, ...

–

Polyphonic synthesizer Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophoni ...

(1-7) *

Hiram Bullock Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American guitarist known mainly for playing in jazz funk and jazz fusion, but he also worked as a session musician in a variety of genres. Biography Bullock was born in Osaka, Jap ...

– guitar (2, 8), guitar solo (2) *

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American guitarist. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz guitar, harmony, ...

– guitar (3-7), guitar solo (4, 7) *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper' ...

– bass (1, 2, 4-8) * Steve Jordan – drums (4, 8) * Errol "Crusher" Bennett – congas (1, 4, 6, 7, 8), percussion (1, 4, 6, 7, 8) * Richard Calandra – percussion (3) * Steve Kroon – percussion (4, 8) * David Darling – cello (2, 3) Horn Section * Jay Beckenstein – alto saxophone * Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone * Tom Malone – trombone * Randy Brecker – trumpet String Section * Jonathan Abramowitz – cello * Jesse Levy – cello *

Sanford Allen Sanford Allen (born 1939) is an American classical violinist. At the age of 10, he began studying violin at the Juilliard School of Music and continued at the Mannes School of Music under Vera Fonaroff. He was the first African-American regular mem ...

– violin * Lamar Alsop – violin * Peter Dimitriadies – violin * Harold Kohon – violin * Harry Lookofsky – violin, concertmaster * Guy Lumia – violin * Matthew Raimondi – violin * Richard Sortomme – violin

Production

* Jay Beckenstein – producer * Richard Calandra – producer * Jeremy Wall – assistant producer, horn and string arrangements (1-5, 7, 8), conductor (1-5, 7, 8) * Tom Schuman – horn and string arrangements (6), conductor (6) * Michael Barry – engineer, mixing *

Neil Dorfsman Neil Dorfsman (born May 31, 1952) is an American sound engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Dire Straits, Bruce Hornsby, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney and Sting. He won Grammy Awards for Best Producer for Bruce Hornsby's ''S ...

– engineer, mixing * Jack Malken – engineer, mixing * Jason Corsaro – assistant engineer * Chris Howard – assistant engineer * Lucy Leslie – assistant engineer *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering at

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such no ...

(New York, NY). * George Osaki – art direction, design * David Heffernan – cover artwork * Waring Abbott – band and sleeve photography * Eliott Saltzman – studio photography

References

{{Authority control 1980 albums Spyro Gyra albums MCA Records albums