My Spyro Gyra collection, because I have 31 CDs, is in constant rotation - usually 2 of them in any week's playlist.
But most of the time, I play them at low volumes or on a mini boom box that doesn't have good separation. Today, for the first time in a long time, I played it cranked up, but I only got to Capetown Love.
Some fresh observations:
Bump It Up - still a very, very cool song.
Extrovertical - I'll get back to you on that one.
Big Dance Number - still has me visualizing 1930s costumes and "the Charleston."
Film Noir - still my favorite song on the disc and one of Jay's coolest compositions of this decade.

A note about two that I haven't played yet:
Funky Tina - love it, love it, loooooooove it!
Getaway - I don't like this one as much as I did when it was new. I remember someone here saying it was impossible to play this song on the highway without speeding. That might have influenced me. It's nice, but since the newness wore off, I've always thought to be kind of sappy.
Now, back to Extrovertical.
I saw the group a few months after OC was released at House of Blues, New Orleans. I was with Donna, a former MagicIslander. I think her ID was smjazzfan. The first half of the set was 6 tracks from OC. When we were chatting with the guys after the show, Donna asked why they didn't play Extrovertical. Schu looked at her like she was crazy, and said, "That song is wack'." Scott said the same thing.
At the time, it was funny. In our minds, Jay had written a tune so challenging that the guys didn't want to mess with it outside the studio.
If that's the case, I now understand why.
There's a lot of stuff going on beneath the surface of that song. I get the impression of Jay having an Edgar Winter "Frankenstein" moment as he composed it.
It's different. It's out there.
It's great!!!

Original Cinema is one of my favorite Spyro albums. Haven't played it recently though, but I'm going to revisit it so I can refresh my memory and adequately address specific songs.

I do know that "Extrovertical" is a favorite of mine on that CD. I would love to see them perform that one live. "Big Dance Number" and "Film Noir" are right up there as well. Also like the South African flavored "Cape Town Love."

Not that crazy about "Funky Tina."

Like I said, I'll need to revisit this CD and probably edit my comments later.

Trivia question:

What was the original name of Capetown Love? Spyro played some new material in advance of Original Cinema's public release (something that they staunchly refused to do prior to the release of Down The Wire. That decision will likely result in some areas losing the opportunity to see the Down The Wire material performed live.)

At least one of the tunes introduced during the pre-release live performances was introduced with a title that ended up different once the album was actually released. Can anyone recall the title that was given to Capetown Love during these performances? I was actually looking forward to the original title making the album. I thought it would have created an interesting mental image that I believe that most people don't think of when thinking of Capetown.

I have the answer. I'll let yinz chew on it for a few days...

I have this thing for "dream sequence" and "film noir" that's very, very addictive!!! So dark.....so smooth!!

Great CD. Love it!

I do not care much for "Down The Wire" but have been apprehensive voicing that here as I keep thinking it is me???

No guesses yet? Was I the only one who saw these shows?

Apparently, Gary, haha. I sure missed them.
Having listened to the rest of the CD, I'll add that my appreciation for Handheld is much greater than before. It ranks about 8th out of the 13 tracks, but that's not saying much considering that 2nd-7th seem to always be changing. Is Capetown Love really my 6th favorite song on this release, or am I just so hooked on Film Noir, Extrovertical, Bump It Up, Funky Tina and Big Dance Number, that nothing else gets a fair rating?

I saw them, I just can't remember the original title. I suffer from CRS sometimes!

Here's the only hint I'll give:

It might be the subject of a Currier and Ives product if they were to make one about Capetown...

Gary: Are you suggesting that they should've replaced the actual current title "Cape Town Love"? Also, I'd be interested to know what you mean when you say what "most people think of" when thinking Cape Town.

No incense, just a thought dude. Most South Africans are always at some point left wondering what impact the decades of isolation our country has had on the image created in the "Western world" over the years.

My impressions were that this title was appropriately labelled shortly after they had toured South Africa, which I was fortunate to catch. If my memory serves, the album was released shortly after that visit. By them naming the track as such gave me and all our SG fans here quite a warm feeling of what it meant to them when performing here. As you may well know, SG has graced our soil on several occasions.

No Roger, I'm suggesting that they already have changed the title. Actually, I'm not merely suggesting it; actually, I think I stated it pretty clearly. Please re-read my original message on the subject.

I understand your concern regarding the image that some may have after the struggles over the years. I've followed much of the history through the music of Jonathan Butler, Miriam Makeba and others. I was deeply moved during the Amazing Race episode a few years ago when the Afirican American father and daughter from Gaithersburg, MD got to visit the actual spot where the slaves boarded the ships in Senegal.

It's not the "Capetown" part of the song title that I wish were different, it's the "Love" part. As I've stated in a previous post, the title of this tune, as it was introduced to us in a live setting prior to the album release, was different than the title that ended up with a permanent place on the actual album. As a simple matter of personal preference, I thought the original title (which hasn't been revealed in this thread yet) would have created an intriguing image that probably isn't the first thing that people would think of. It's more about geography (perceived) than history.

No worries, Roger. It's all positive. The title that will be revealed here very soon is just as positive as "Capetown Love."

Roger, here's a hint just for you. Based on the original title of Capetown Love, I have a feeling the inspiration for the original title came during a Spyro Gyra visit to the area during the June, July and August period. You say you were there, maybe you can confirm that.

To be absolutely, 100% clear on what I'm saying here, I was in attendance at a Spyro Gyra show in Annapolis, MD several months before Original Cinema was released. Just like any other show, either just before or just after the performance of a particular tune, Jay Beckenstein would tell us the title (especially on newer material that was being performed live for the first time) and perhaps even tell a short story about what inspired the writing of the tune. In this case, I'm sure Jay said something like, 'This tune was inspired by a recent visit to South Africa. It's called ######## ##########.' I thought it was an excellent song title. I also thought, 'Hmmm, that's not something I would have imagined.' When the album was finally released, I saw that the title of that tune had been changed and I was slightly disappointed.

That is one good CD. I may just play it when I get home. Peace and goodwill.

I haven't played it since yesterday, but I've been thinking about it a lot. Every now and then, I try to rank the songs based on how much I enjoy them. It's really not fair because there's easily 9 of the 13 tracks that could go toe to toe with a like number of songs from most (not all) previous releases.
Capetown Love, as wonderful as it is, has never ranked higher than 5th.
Funky Tina was my first favorite, holding the 1 spot for about a month. Film Noir took over and hasn't relinquished the title. Spots 2, 3 and 4 have been in constant flux, with some combination of Big Dance Number, Bump It Up, Extrovertical, Funky Tina, Party of Seven and Calle Ocho.
I think that says a lot about how close these songs are in terms of persistent enjoyability.

The Original working title of "Capetown Love" was................

drumroll.......

tympani.......

"CAPETOWN SLEIGHRIDE"

Paul

BTW--I thought the version on the North Sea Jazz Fest DVD was
excellent Julio's solo, and especially Schuuu's ending synth break!!

Somehow, I have trouble imagining a sleigh ride in Capetown. The title might have worked for the Christmas album, but I'm not sure it works with the music. Between the two, I'm glad "Love" won out.

See what I mean Woody? It's not an image that most of us would think of when thinking of Capetown (mostly because most of us haven't spent a year or more there.) For all we know, the winters there could be just like the winters in Minnesota or Vermont. Maybe sleighrides are very common in Capetown.

Capetown Love is just a generic song title. How many thousands of "... Love" song titles have there been? Capetown Sleighride provokes thought. It creates a very unique mental image, IMHO...

Thank goodness Shanghai Gumbo didn't become Shanghai Love. As far as "Sleighride" only working for a Christmas album, did "Gumbo" only work during Mardi Gras?

I assume you've never lived in the South. Gumbo is not, I repeat NOT specific to Mardi Gras.

...and assuming you've never lived in Capetown, you admittedly have trouble imagining a sleighride there.

I think you saw the opposite of the point I was trying to make. What I'm saying is if we put limitations on the paramaters of our imagination, we come up with narrow thoughts like believing that a song title with the word sleighride in it should be limited to only being on a Christmas album.

I assume you've never lived in the North. A sleighride is not, I repeat NOT specific to Christmas (a singular 24 hour day on the calendar.) If it were, then all other winter activities (ice skating, skiing, snowmobiling, sled riding, snowman building, etc.) would all be required to take place on that singular day exclusively.

They could have just as easily named the tune "Winter In Capetown" or "Capetown Snowstorm" or countless other possibilities. None of these titles would necessarily need to be limited to being placed on a Christmas album. Should "Shanghai Gumbo" only be available for sale in China? Should "Monsoon" only be played during a particular season? Should "Havana Magic" have been reserved for an 'all latin' album? Should "As We Sleep" only be played while in bed?

BTW, it's not illegal to say, 'Good point Gary! I see what you're saying...' I'm correct quite often...

Haha. It is a good point. No, sleighs aren't only associated with Christmas, but I do associate them with snow. Does it snow a lot in Capetown?
Wikipedia on Capetown's climate
Thus my problem imagining a Capetown sleighride.
Maybe the song would be better simply titled Capetown. Or, Capetown Hayride? I don't know.
I still say the music doesn't fit with a sleigh ride, Christmas or non-Christmas. It's much too tropical.
On the other hand, San Francisco-based jazz singer Barbara Clairdee did a Christmas album a few years ago. Her rendition of Winter Wonderland had me thinking of the beaches in Bahia.
Good bit of trivia, Gary, but I like the fact that the sleighride portion of the title got dropped.

We dont experience much snow in Cape Town, well centrally. "Cape Town" often extends to the entire Cape though, which by inference covers a far wider area, including mountainous terrains, where one would find the odd occurrence of snow. "Odd" as in perhaps once a year, and certainly no romantic "snowfall". People in the regular Cape Town CBD areas would at that point trudge up to those areas with their kids to enjoy some of this unusual phenomenon they probably only saw in movies before.

As for the original song title (Cape Town Sleighride), I quite like the sound of that. As Gary here mentioned, it does conjure up interesting thoughts by the pure virtue of its paradox. I do agree though that one associates "Sleighride" with a certain music genre, or sound, pretty much of what we've been taught to expect to hear. However, when combining it with an "uncomplimentary" idea, it no doubt lends itself to a completely new avenue of improvisation, which SG could in fact have exploited fairly limitlessly.

I think that's the point, to create a not a paradox, but a blend, a fusion. (Kind of like that Korean Taco truck I've heard such good things about that drives around LA.) "Shanghai Gumbo". I must be hungry, I'm relating everything to food again.....

Original Cinema is an interesting release for me as it came at a time of reconnecting with both SG ( I think the last release I had purchased before OC was Road Scholars ) and also getting back into playing my sax more. It's a very diverse release -- I think I remember Schu telling me it was pretty much a Jay production too.

Current favs are Funky Tina (solo is old school Jay), Film Noir (unusually dark for SG). Initially I was fascinated with Extravetical too -- but it can be hard listen (lot's gong on).

Jim

I know what you mean, Jim. As I said before, there's about 8 songs that are right close to one another in terms of persistent enjoyability. Funky Tina grabbed me right off the bat. Even though it's been surpassed by Film Noir, with occasional nods to Bump It Up, Big Dance Number, Extrovertical, Party of Seven and Capetown Love, FT - to use a sports announcer phrase - keeps "hanging around" the top spot.

.. OC turned me back into the SG fanatic I used to .. I even transcribed flashback for fun, but did ended up performing it.

Just to add my four cents(inflation):

Capetown Sleighride could very well be just a description of the bands experience in an overall sense on a visit to Capetown, perhaps it was a whirlwind experience that seemed like a sleigh ride....fast, but fun....and musically, the track is fast and fun, with alot of twists and turns, eh??

On another front, I love the way that the two ballads, as performed live on the North Sea Jazz Fest DVD, show that ballads need not be syrupy or wimpy:

Film Noir is as powerful as a Led Zeppelin song, with as much drama, in my NSHO.

Paul