''Heart of the Night'' is the nineteenth album by the American jazz group

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 1996 by

GRP Records GRP® Records (Grusin-Rosen Productions) is a jazz record label founded by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen (producer), Larry Rosen in 1978. Distributed by Verve Records, GRP® was originally known for its digital recordings that focuses on its jazz ...

Track listing

# "Heart of the Night" (

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, ...

) – 4:34 # "De La Luz" (Julio Fernandez) – 5:14 # "Westwood Moon" (

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 ...

) – 4:56 # "Midnight" (

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 ...

) – 4:26 # "Playtime" (Beckenstein) – 4:34 # "Surrender" (Beckenstein) – 4:47 # "Valentino's" (Schuman) – 4:56 # "Believe" (Fernandez) – 5:11 # "As We Sleep" (

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 ...

) – 4:58 # "When Evening Falls" (Beckenstein) – 4:59 # "J Squared" (Beckenstein, Joel Rosenblatt) – 4:49 # "Best Thing" (Beckenstein) – 4:34

Personnel

Spyro Gyra *

– saxophones *

– keyboards * Julio Fernandez – guitars, vocals (2) *

– bass guitar * Joel Rosenblatt – drums Additional personnel * Porter Carroll – vocals (1) *

Vaneese Thomas Vaneese Yseult Thomas (born August 24, 1952) is an American R&B, jazz and soul blues singer, best known for her 1987 US ''Billboard'' R&B chart hit single, "Let's Talk It Over". In addition, in more recent times, she has supplied backing vocal ...

– vocals (1) * Steve Skinner – programming (1) *

Bashiri Johnson Bashiri Johnson (born May 12, 1955) is a New York City-based percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, videogames, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded ...

– percussion *

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 The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

(2, 7, 9, 10),

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,' ...

(2, 7, 9, 10) * Eugene Moye – cello (2, 9) * Jesse Levy – cello (2, 9) * The No Sweat Horns – ensemble (3, 5) ** Scott Kreitzer – saxophones,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s, horn arrangements ** Randy Andos – trombone ** Barry Danielian – trumpet *

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 (4) *

Chieli Minucci Chieli Minucci (born April 17, 1958) is an American guitarist who co-founded the band Special EFX. Career His father, Ulpio Minucci, was a concert pianist and composer who wrote the music to the 1955 song " Domani." Chieli Minucci started Spec ...

– arrangements (1) *

– vocal arrangements (1), cello arrangements (2, 9)

Production

* Jay Beckenstein – producer * Jeremy Wall – assistant producer * Doug Oberkircher – recording, mixing * Kristin Koerner – assistant engineer * Scott Hull – mastering * Hollis King – art direction * Jason Claiborne – graphic design * Donna Raineri – photography * Phil Brennan – management ;Studios * Recorded and Mixed at

BearTracks Studios BearTracks Recording Studio was a recording studio complex in Suffern, New York, owned by Jay Beckenstein of Spyro Gyra and built in the early 1980s. Operating from 1982 at 926 Haverstraw Road in Suffern, the studio is no longer in business. It ...

(Suffern, New York). * Mastered 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 City, New York).

References

External links

Spyro Gyra official web site
{{Authority control 1996 albums Spyro Gyra albums GRP Records albums