''Freetime'' is the fifth album by

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 Beckenste ...

, released in 1981. At ''Billboard'' magazine, the album reached No. 41 on the Top 200 albums chart and No. 1 on that magazine's Jazz Albums chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Spyro Gyra *

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 Yo ...

– soprano saxophone (1, 2, 4, 5), alto saxophone (2, 3, 6, 7), percussion (1),

clay flute Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

(3), tenor saxophone (5) *

Tom Schuman Thomas William Schuman (born January 31, 1958) is an American jazz pianist, smooth jazz keyboardist and was the longtime co-leader, composer and arrangement, arranger of 13 Grammy nominated contemporary jazz group, Spyro Gyra. He has been the k ...

–

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(1-3, 5-7), synthesizers (1, 5, 6), acoustic piano (2, 5) *

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 de ...

–

polyphonic synthesizer Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophon ...

(1, 5), synthesizers (2), acoustic piano (3), additional synthesizers (6) *

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jaz ...

– guitars (1-3, 5-7), guitar solo (3) *

Chet Catallo Chet Catallo (born March 11, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work as a member of the band Spyro Gyra. Music career In 1978, Catallo joined the group Spyro Gyra while they were recording the album ''Morning Dance''. This record ...

– guitars (6, 7), guitar solo (6, 7) * Eli Konikoff – drums (1-3, 5-7) *

Gerardo Velez Gerardo "Jerry" Velez (born August 15, 1947) is an American musician. Best known for performing with American psychedelic rock musician Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock Festival in August 1969, Velez is a veteran percussionist and drummer, who has perfor ...

– percussion (1-3, 5-7) *

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 ...

–

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(2),

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 mari ...

(3, 5) Guest musicians *

Rob Mounsey Rob Mounsey (born December 2, 1952) is an American musician, composer, and arranger. Music career Mounsey was born in Berea, Ohio, and grew up in Seattle, Washington, spending a few years each in Findlay and Granville, Ohio. At the age of 17, ...

– polyphonic synthesizer (1, 5), synthesizers (2, 3), additional synthesizers (6) *

Richard Tee Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American jazz fusion pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as " I'll B ...

– acoustic piano (7), Fender Rhodes (7), acoustic piano solo (7) *

Steve Khan Steve Khan (born Steven Harris Cahn; April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Steven Harris Cahn was born in Los Angeles. His father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear any and all versions of his songs". He took piano lessons as a ...

– guitars (3) *

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 Hoope ...

– bass (1-3, 5-7) * Errol "Crusher" Bennett – percussion (1-3, 5, 6) * Richard Calandra –

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

s (4) *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock music, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was ...

– trumpet (1) * David Darling – cello (4) Horn section * Jeremy Wall – arrangements and conductor * Jay Beckenstein – alto saxophone * Lewis Del Gatto – baritone saxophone *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

– tenor saxophone * Tom Malone – trombone * Randy Brecker – trumpet *

Alan Rubin Alan Rubin (February 11, 1943 – June 8, 2011), also known as Mr. Fabulous, was an American musician. He played trumpet, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpet. Early life and education Rubin was born in Brooklyn. He began attending Juilliard ...

– trumpet Backing vocals *

Kasey Cisyk Kvitka Cisyk (April 4, 1953The Myth of Kvitka
The Ukrainian Week (11 April 2013) – March 29, 199 ...

* Will Lee * Rob Mounsey (also BGV arrangements) *

Valerie Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carol ...

Production

* Jay Beckenstein – producer * Richard Calandra – producer * Jeremy Wall – assistant producer * Michael Barry – engineer, mixing * Steve Baldwin – assistant engineer * Charles Conrad – mixing * Julian Robertson – mix assistant *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering at

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such n ...

(New York, NY) * David Heffernan – design, photo illustration

References

1981 albums Spyro Gyra albums MCA Records albums {{1980s-jazz-album-stub