Well I picked up "Got The Magic" last night.
I have to say that this record threw me for a loop upon the first couple of spins.
There were reports that Windham Hill Jazz had asked Jay Beckenstein to come up with an accessable record...a record that would get alot of airplay.
I sort of scoffed at the notion...knowing how headstrong Jay Beckenstein is.
Well he did come up with the commericial record that they asked for.
So commercial in fact, that many of the critics the band won over with last years live record, the fantastic "Road Scholars", are bound to jump off the newly boarded ship.
"Got The Magic" reminds me of the seamless productions that the early Spyro Gyra records were.
Fans that hoped the band was going to take the extended soloing and intense, rough around the edges style that informed "Road Scholars" into the studio are not going to find that here.
The first thing that struck me about this record, besides the fact that it recalls the Spyro Gyra of the late 70's and early 80's, is that there are vocals all over this record...a concession I wish the band had not made.
It's not that this is not a great record...I think in many ways, it IS a great record...it's just not the "style" of great that I have in mind when I think of the most challenging of the bands compositions..."De La Luz" "Believe", "Breakout" "Sunflurry", "Escape Hatch", "Conversations", "Incognito", "Pacific Sunrise", "Breakfast At Igors", "Midnite", "Burkes Law", "Joyride", "The Archer" "Captain Karma"....you ge the idea.
Alot of people are going to call this recording a "smooth" recording, and I am going to have a tought time arguing that.
At the moment, my favorites on the new record include, "Sierra"(a track that features a good scat vocal performance by Julio Fernandez), "Havana Moonlight"(a latin tinged performance-a style that is indeed one of my favorite Spyro Gyra trademarks), "Breezeway"(a Jeremy Wall composition that DEFINITELY recalls the bands early, more po influenced period), and "Silk And Satin".
This may change upon further listening...but my first impression is that there is much less Tom Schuman on this record than I like...and much less heavy Julio Fernandez guitar passages. Julio does shine on acoustic guitar on more than a couple of tunes, but I expested at least a track or two where the whole band really lets it fly. You are not going to find it on "Got The Magic".
Jay Beckenstein has stated many times in interviews that the band is always careful to balance the bands melodic compositions with more angular complex pieces...the band has made this record top heavy with the melodic, at the expense of even one hard charging tune.
"Pure Mood" is a bouncy latin tinged number...but I wish it were a bit edgier...maybe even alot edgier.
Overall, I think that "Got The Magic" has the potential to be a hit record and/or recieve alot of airplay on smooth jazz stations.
The melodic songs are as great as ever...I think that a great sense of what a great song and melody is one the bands best features...I just think that in their desire to be accommodating to the Windham Hill excecutives, the may have gone a bit overboard....
Who knows...in a couple of weeks I may have a different take on "Got The Magic"...it certainly is a pristine recording...incredible production...layers upon layers of stuff going on...but to find the jazz influences, you REALLY have to dig deep for them with this one.
As some are aware, I have never been the biggest fan of vocals on Spyro Gyra compositions...although I do LOVE the "De La Luz" type vocals...and I think that AT LEAST five or six of the new songs have at least some vocals on them...and one(Springtime Laughter)features words voclaized by Basia.
A great song, but I have a problem with it being on a Spyro Gyra record...I just don't think pop vocal song when I think Spyro Gyra.
Most or all of the edge that we know Spyro Gyra has in it's arsenal have been "Smoothed" away. I don't mind it at all, sometimes even love it, for a few tunes per record...but not for an entire record.
I am not going to disown the band or anything like that...the band never stays in one place for to long...and the new songs may take on new lives in the live shows...and the live shows are never going to become "edited" as some of the bands studio compositions turn out.
Well, that's my initial take on "Got The Magic"...more comments after I have had a much longer period of time to digest this new, "seemingly" smooth cd.

Peace!
Paul

Glad to know that we are still on the same wavelength Paul.

The tracks are very listenable in the vein you describe so my hope for Spyro in their fight to survive in the music world is that this release hits the charts and stays there for the whole year!

To those who like the timbre of the saxophone and languish in the sound of the Boney James' or G-men types, I have say that I prefer the work of Jay Beckenstein, hands down!

Hit those charts, Jay!

Phil,

Your last point is indeed a double edged sword:

I wish the band every success...but I am deathly afraid that if "Got The Magic" becomes a hit, the band may stick with the style for more than one record.
If they continued to put out records with so many vocal performances on them(as is the case with "Magic") the band would slip from the top of the heap when it comes to my rankings of the best contemporary jazz bands.
Part of me would rather see Spyro Gyra end up playing to crowds of 40 or 50 people rather than blur into the smooth jazz set.
I love the fact that you can still tell if it's Spyro Gyra when you here them come on the radio....and I do not want them to just become one of the many...I want them to remain a distinct voice!
Peace!
Paul

P.S. I hope that even if "Magic" is a hit, the band still feels it has enough control over the creative process to make a more "improvised" and overtly "jazzy" or "fusion-y" record next time out!

To tell the truth I haven't heard the CD since I am waiting for my promos (yes Windham Hill is sending me stuff..very cool!)
But I did have to bring up one thing..I don't feel that a lack of improvisational content indicates smoothing out. Improvisation is requisite for straightahed/traditional jazz but it is not necessary (although nice as icing on the cake) in terms of contemporary. So structured songs in themselves don't imply smooth Look at SG's "Joyride" and "Daddys got a New Girl Now"..two very structured songs that are anything *but* smooth. Smoothing out comes when the the songs are all soft/romantic and string synths start to wash over the music, that generic percussion loop takes over, and there is more groove and mood than discernable song (a lot of smooth jazz is just lite improvisation over a sequencer right now..presumably an actual song would make the music "too exciting" or too noticable). The song I do have wasn't a thrill but it wasn't a Boney Cloney either..
commercial makes me happy, sappy makes me gag.

Shannon,

First, THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!

Phil and I get a bit upset that other Spyro Gyra fans have not yet dicovered this dicussion board...perhaps in future months they will! So it is great to have new thought and opinions.

I have listened to "Got The Magic" about a dozen times...and I really like five or six cuts.

I thinks that when you hear the record, you will understand what Phil and I meant when we described it as "too smooth" in some places.

First, there are a few songs that include vocal trio's running through the songs chanting lyrics such as "the magic...the magic"...or "love comes....when you least expect it...they say that love comes"

Stuff like that just makes me yell "YUCK!!!" when I hear it.

Sometimes, you can add TOO much to a composition...and these vocal parts that are added, not only do not add anything, they DETRACT from those five songs...they make me CRINGE.

If you go back over the posts threads I have started and contributed to since Magic Island opened some months ago, you will find thatI am a HUGE, HUGE SPYRO GYRA fan-atic!

The record is a mixed bag...I won't let the songs that let me down detract from song I that are growning on me("Sierra", "Havana Moonlight", "Teardrops", "Breezway", "Silk And Satin")...but it's tough to believe that I will ever like the songs with those ANNOYING vocal sound bites on them.

And that is tough to say, because Spyro Gyra remains the best contemporary jazz band around...especially in the live setting.

Peace!
Paul

I was hoping I would get the CD today, but there is a reason they call it Snail Mail!..
There is one thing in the world that gets on my nerves more than a sugary wash of string synths and that is those *awful* chant vocals. I call them "Najee chants" because my first recollection of being annoyed by them was on Najee's first CD. Cringe only begins to describe my reaction to this. For one thing they are totally useless..either make a song a vocal or make it an instrumental *don't sing the title of the song overandoverandover*. Ick. I don't recall SG ever doing this before but I am convinced that Chuck Loeb went to one two many radio conventions and got conned by the buzzword'n'Armani gang before realizing that it was unnecessary and may actually hurt sales to follow their lead.
I grew up with SG in the sense that I did my first "jazz brunch" shows around the time the first album came out (Shaker song, not Morning Dance") and have been playing them ever since. Some CDs I like and some I don't..they are more of a song by song band to me..I have seen them live about 15 times over the years and love their concerts but have never been a rabid fan. I am a rabid Rippingtons fan, all incarnations included, and seeing audiences respond to their live work was one of the reasons I started to think of programming contemporary instrumental music in a more uptempo/rock leaning context..so whether you are a Rips fan or not at least they kept one person from even setting foot on the path to Smooth.

Shannon,

I've had that fantasy for some time now...getting a station to program at least one hour a day, or even one hour a week with compositions that never make it to the playlist rotation(due to the fact that the listener "focus groups" find those songs too challenging.
Some songs take a while to grow on you...and many times, those same songs become far and away your favorites!
I think I love about 95-99 percent of everthing that Spyro Gyra has released...and live, pehaps only the Pat Metheny Group can keep up with them on a band member for band member musicianship level.
The Riipingtons music is kinda hit or miss with me...some tracks blow me away...others are just kinda "there"...not horrible, but not particularly memorable.
Speaking of the Ripps...I will have the good fortune to see them on Sept 10.
As for Spyro Gyra, I will get a chance to see how the new material comes off live when I see them on August 11th at Humphries in San Diego, and at the Hyatt Newporter in Newport Beach on August 13th.

BY THE WAY...WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON "GOT THE MAGIC", Shannon?
Peace!
Paul

My current take on Got the Magic is that it is a smooth jazz background music album. I have tried to listen to it several times and it just plays through without me noticing it(as someone in a focus group said about our local smooth jazz station "we play it at work because nobody notices that it's on").
It is a pleasant piece of background music with a few bright moments and too many soft unnoticable passages in between.
I am probably oversensitive to generic smooth jazz because I get so many CDs now that all have certain requisite elements..so as soon as those string synths come in or those voices chant the title of the song over and over I fly for that skip button. People who don't hear tons of smooth jazz formula music probably won't be as sensitized to it as I am. But I wish that in the wish to accomodate radio these artists would not get so tunnel visioned. In the industry, especially in LA I imagine someone could get the impression that the SJ radio was the only way to expose the music and that everyone who likes contemporary instrumnental music is a Smooth Jazz listener. This just ain't true..I had that reaffirmed last night when I saw the Rippingtons and Craig Chaquico..the crowd was mostly late 30s and up and they went nuts everytime these guys played something that rocked. I like a pretty ballad that has a melody and a hook (and either a complete vocal or no vocal..none of this chanting) but I like diversity too. and the impression I get from casual people watching and more formal research is that a lot of people are like that too. I think someone mentioned it on one of these boards before but I feel the same way so I will restate. Why not give radio 2 or 3 formula cuts with the soprano sax and string synths then give the rest of the album to real people, old fans and potential new fans. I don't care if there is not much of an edge, I don't care about "jazziness" or improvisation..what I want is songs that catch my attention and stick in my head. Background music just doesn't do that.
I want' the band to be successful, I want their music to sell..but will being one more unnoticable element in an unnoticable music mix in a radio format that is not in that many markets do the trick?

To everyone, I don't have the cd as yet. But I'm getting the idea that the tunes were probably rejects from the previous studio cd!! Just to get this cd out on time. Is anyone else getting this idea too? I may not buy this one based on all the criticism.

later

Shannon . . .

>>... Why not give radio 2 or 3 formula cuts with the soprano sax and string synths then give the rest of the album to real people, old fans and potential new fans. ...<<

I always enjoy your comments and insight on these threads. The above comment brought to mind the latest Yellowjackets' release "Club Nocturne" that seems to have followed the suggestion above. This release also included five or six excellent arrangements from the pens of Russell Ferrante and Bob Mintzer that are pure YJ stuff. Their fans, however, tended to moan about the vocal tracks from Kurt Elling, Jonathan Butler and Brenda Russell being included and have been pretty negative about the release.

Fans can be tough on their favorites. They tend to want what they want and I guess I do as well. I've posted some pretty negative thoughts on "Got the Magic." I believe what I'm afraid of most is that Spyro Gyra, after 20 years near the top, is going to be compromised and eventually swallowed up in today's increasing mediocrity. I suppose they have vital choices to make for their future. But as Pat Metheny said recently, if commercial success was his primary goal, he could do much better writing jingles for McDonald's. I want these guys to stand their ground as a lot of other jazz artists are doing.