This, the group's 20th studio album, finds the band exploring some new sounds with a few more electronic instruments and production tricks than usual (I thought about using the phrase "innovative sonic landscapes" this morning, but thought it to be too pretentious and reconsidered). While not abandoning their usual light Latin sound entirely, the band also delivers songs that sound much like Chris Botti, Yellowjackets, and Chuck Loeb. That's fine - the band has earned the right to do what it wants and not worry about catering to program directors on smooth jazz stations. This album spent 64 weeks on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart, peaking at #2. While I openly admit a preference for the band's earlier work, I really enjoy this album. It is definitely in the top half of their releases.
Today's useless trivia: In 2007, Spyro Gyra was awarded the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards (a.k.a. "The Canadian Smoothies"). Who knew there was such a thing?!?
Tracks: A fairly consistently album in terms of quality. However, I prefer the first 3 tracks and the last 4 tracks to the middle of the disc.
This was released as an "Enhanced CD" so let's check out the extras: First, we've got general promo stuff from the record label: a link to the label's webpage, contact info, catalog, and a letter from the label's CEO that incorrectly predicts "We feel that Enhanced CDs are the wave of the future for music lovers." As for content specific to the band, we get a band bio and a video that is in a format no longer supported by QuickTime, so I couldn't watch it.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None
Previously revisited for the blog:
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