''Dreams Beyond Control'' is the seventeenth 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 Beckens ...

, released in 1993 by

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

. The group supported the album with a North American tour. The album peaked in the top 5 on ''Billboards Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

Production

The album was produced by

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 ...

Alex Ligertwood Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

sang on ''Dreams Beyond Control''; it was the first time a Spyro Gyra album contained vocals in English. The Tower of Power Horns played on the album. The group experimented with the songs on tour before recording them. ""Waltz for Isabel" is a tribute to Beckenstein's third daughter.

Critical reception

The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' deemed the album "a rather leaden excursion into R&B-flavored pop-fusion." The ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Puli ...

'' concluded that "beneath this somewhat tougher exterior beats the same faint musical heart, full of sweet melodies, perky rhythms and chatty solos—but every bit as empty of risk and guts as ever."

Track listing

# "Walk the Walk" (Julio Fernandez) – 4:20 # "Patterns in the Rain" (Foster Paterson) – 4:38 # "Breakfast at Igor's" (

Scott Ambush Scott Antel Ambush is an American musician, best known as the bass player of jazz fusion band 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, an ...

) – 5:23 # "Waltz for Isabel" (Beckenstein) – 4:43 # "South Beach" (Fernandez) – 5:13 # "Send Me One Line" (

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

) – 4:57 # "Bahia" (

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 ...

) – 5:08 # "Kindred Spirit" (

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 ...

) – 4:05 # "Birks Law" (Beckenstein) – 4:36 # "Same Difference" (Beckenstein, Fernandez) – 5:25 # "The Delicate Prey" (

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 d ...

) – 5:33

Personnel

Spyro Gyra *

– saxophones *

– keyboards * Julio Fernández – guitars *

– bass * Joel Rosenblatt – drums *

–

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, ...

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 timbr ...

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and propor ...

s Additional Personnel *

Howard Levy Howard Levy (born July 31, 1951) is an American multi-instrumentalist. A keyboardist and virtuoso harmonica player, Levy "has been realistically presented as one of the most important and radical harmonica innovators of the twentieth century. ...

–

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

(3) *

Marc Quiñones Marc Quiñones is a percussionist, a longtime player in salsa music, a former member of the Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band (1991–2014) and the Gregg Allman Band. He is of Puerto Rican ancestry. Born in The Bronx, New York, he b ...

– percussion (5, 7) *

Cyro Baptista Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. Career Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to ...

– percussion (7, 11) *

– lead and backing vocals (2, 6) * Lani Groves – backing vocals (6) *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper ...

– backing vocals (6) *

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 voca ...

– backing vocals (6) Tower of Power Horns (Tracks 1 & 3) * Stephen "Doc" Kupka – baritone saxophone *

Emilio Castillo Emilio Castillo (born September 24, 1950) is an American saxophone player and composer, best known as the founder of the band Tower of Power. Background In 1965, Emilio Castillo took to music after he and his brother Jack were caught stealing by ...

– tenor saxophone * David Mann – tenor saxophone * Greg Adams – trumpet, horn arrangements * Alan Chez – trumpet No Sweat Horns (Tracks 5, 7 & 10) * Scott Kreitzer – tenor saxophone, flute,

piccolo flute The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the s ...

* Randy Andos – trombone, bass trombone * Barry Danielian – trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

, horn arrangements

Production

* Jay Beckenstein – producer * Jeremy Wall – assistant producer * Phil Brennan – assistant producer, management * Larry Swist – assistant producer, recording, mixing *

Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

– executive producer * Larry Rosen – executive producer * Kevin Becka – assistant engineer * Steve Regina – assistant engineer * Dann Wojner – assistant engineer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' '' Come Away with Me''. Biograp ...

– mastering * Joseph Doughney – post-production technician * Michael Landy – post-production technician * Michael Pollard – production coordinator * Diane Dragonette – assistant production coordinator * Sonny Mediana – production director * Sharon Franklin – assistant production director * Andy Baltimore – creative director * Scott Johnson – art direction * Dan Serrano – art direction * Alba Acevedo – graphic design * Jackie Salway – graphic design * Martin LaBorde – front cover illustration * David A. Wagner – color photography ;Additional Studios * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York). * Post-Production at The Review Room (New York City, New York).

References

External links

Spyro Gyra official web site
{{Authority control 1993 albums Spyro Gyra albums GRP Records albums