1. O Tannenbaum
2. It Won't Feel Like Christmas
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Christmas Time Is Here
5. Baby, It's Cold Outside
6. Carol of the Bells
7. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
8. The First Noel
9. Silent Night
10. This Christmas
11. Christmas Song
Jay Beckenstein - Saxophones
Julio Fernandez - Guitars
Tom Schuman - Keyboards
Scott Ambush - Bass
Bonny B - Drums, vocals
Christine Ebersole - Vocals (track 2)
Dave Samuels - Vibraphone (tracks 3, 6)
Janis Siegel - Vocals (track 5)
And still they come...the
Christmas albums. This one is by Spyro Gyra,
a jazz-fusion group which might be called
a "one-hit wonder", as they had just one British
hit single (in 1977) with Morning Dance.
That tune had an attractive melody and a danceable
Latin-American beat, topped off with Jay Beckenstein's
gorgeous alto sax.
Jay Beckenstein is still
the mainstay of the band, which got its name
from a club owner's mis-spelling of spirogyra,
a word which Beckenstein jokingly suggested,
remembering it from biology lessons as meaning
a kind of pond scum. They have never been
scum but were always a polished group, although
the polish is much smoother these days. Gone
are the stimulating Latin rhythms and most
of the jazz-rock impetus, leaving Spyro Gyra
dangerously close to the derided category
of "smooth jazz". Their playing of the traditional
songs on this album tends to be too reverential,
with less jazz feeling than I would have liked.
The opening track O Tannenbaum
is difficult to disentangle from its other
lives as The Red Flag and Maryland,
My Maryland, but there are respectable
solos from Beckenstein (on soprano sax), Fernandez
and Schuman. Jay moves to tenor sax for It
Won't Feel Like Christmas, an original
which is closer to pop than jazz as sung by
Christine Ebersole (who won a Tony award for
her role in 42nd Street).
Winter Wonderland adds
vibist Dave Samuels to the mix but the only
soloist is guitarist Julio Fernandez. Drummer
Bonny B joins Janis Siegel for a vocal duet
on Baby, It's Cold Outside, which has
pleasant solos from Beckenstein, Fernandez
and Ambush. However, the playing is tepid,
and it's rather chilly inside as well as outside.
Dave Samuels returns for Carol of the Bells
but his solo has none of the fire you might
expect from the main man in the Caribbean
Jazz Project, although Beckenstein puts some
punch into his closing statement on soprano
sax.
Tom Schuman's piano solo
in Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
actually gets into swinging jazz. Jay's alto
sax is rather too polite but the tune gets
funky towards the end when the frontmen interchange
bluesy improvisations. The album also perks
up for the final track, with Bonny B's energetic
vocals on The Christmas Song, which
have a remarkable resemblance to Al Jarreau
in his prime.
I have liked some of the
many recordings that Spyro Gyra have made
over the years but this album is a long way
from what the Concord Music Group website
describes as Spyro Gyra's "edgy" sound. Most
of the music is agreeable but generally too
inhibited to be much more than inoffensive
background music for your Christmas party.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Heads
Up HUCD 3145
