2–3 minutes

A journey into Jazz

Spyro Gyra was a band from Buffalo New York who showed their presence in 1974 showcasing the R&B, jazz, pop and funk blend of the talent being unleashed. In 1977 they released Spyro Gyra as their first album independently before signing on with Amherst Records.

Amherst re-released the album with a different cover, Shaker Song came from this album and reached #90 on the Billboard Hot 100. With the success from Shaker Song the band decided to tour in 1978.

2nd Album

The song “Morning dance” tops the charts @ #1 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary List, #17 in the U.K. and # 45 in the Canadian pop charts. 1979 found this album going Gold and then Platinum in 1987 by the RIAA

2nd Decade

#3 & #4 Certified

Catching the Sun was released in 1980 on the MCA label reaching #4 in the Jazz Album category, peaking @ #31 in the U.K. and #80 in Canada. This went gold in 1985 and was followed in 1987 by Carnaval which followed Catching the Sun in 1980 as their forth album.

In 1981 they released “Freetime” the fifth album followed by “Incognito” in 1982. “City Kids” came out in 1983 marking the first album recorded at Bear Track Studios in Suffern NY established in 1982 by Beckenstein.

1983 found the band recording “Access All Areas” live in Florida. 1985’s “Alternating Currents” was the first studio album recorded with just the core members of the band, no guest musicians. 1986 followed up with “Breakout” and both of these would place in the top 15 jazz albums in Billboard 1986 ranking.

1987’s “Stories Without Words ” and 1988’s “Rites of Summer” hit Billboards top 15 Contemporary Jazz albums of 1988. The 1989 album “Point of View” brought the decade to an end with honors given to Spyro Gyra as Billboards top Jazz artist.

In Closing

I chose this topic to write about today as I dusted off the album “Carnaval” and am spinning it as I write this. The band has made changes in their line-up but continued to play over the years and are still playing today.

If you’ve never listened , give these guys a shot and I believe you will find the “Smooth Sounds” I mentioned in the title relaxing. Please respond with thoughts on jazz, this band or my posts in general.

REF* – wordpress.com – Youtube.com