Got the Magic is the twenty-fourth album by Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, New York, USA. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the genre...

 which was recorded and released in 1999

1999 in music

-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....

. The album depicted just one set of eyes (of a female) on a white screen.

Review

As one of the earliest and most popular purveyors of what came to be known as "smooth jazz", Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, New York, USA. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the genre...

 was an easy target for the jazz police as the format reached airplay ascendancy in the 1990s. Got the Magic shows many strength of the band but also serves up a couple of opportunities for the critics to take a swing at their radio-friendly commercial instants. Mid-to up-tempo concotions like "Silk and Satin" and "Havana Moonlight" make for some very pleasant listening, and the addition of old bandmate Dave Samuels

Dave Samuels

Dave Samuels is an American vibraphone player who has worked with various jazz and fusion artists, such as Spyro Gyra. Currently, he plays in an ensemble called The Caribbean Jazz Project, a Grammy-winning jazz-Latin music group...

' vibes on "Breezeway" and "Sierra" brings back the sound that attracted the group's audience in the first place. However "Spingtime Laughter", while a well-performed vocal by Basia

Basia

Basia Trzetrzelewska is a Polish singer-songwriter and record producer. She established a successful international recording career featuring characteristically Latin-flavoured jazz-pop crossover songs during the late 1980s and early 1990s and the late 2000s and 2010s, particularly in the United...

, would have been a catchy contemporary jazz piece wothout the silly lyrics. And why is it necessary to have tacked-on background vocalists repeating a song's as on "Love Comes" and on the title track?

Still, Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, New York, USA. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the genre...

's music has more depth and kick than most of their brothers and sisters in the smooth or contemporary genre. Jay Beckenstein

Jay Beckenstein

Jay B. Beckenstein is a saxophone player, smooth jazz artist and together with Jeremy Wall founded Spyro Gyra...

 once again delivers some fine saxophone playing, Tom Schuman lays down nice keyboard textures, and guitarist Julio Fernandez

Julio Fernandez

Julio Fernández may refer to:*Julio Ángel Fernández, Uruguayan astronomer who hypothesised the existence of what became known as the Kuiper belt*Julio M...

enlivens several pieces with his tasty fretwork (and Benson-like scatting on "Sierra"). Got the Magic is full of accessible melodies and polished playing, adding up to a very enjoyable pop-jazz outing.

Track listing

1. "Silk and Satin" (Chuck Loeb) - 5:31
2. "Breezeway" (Jeremy Wall) - 4:49
3. "Havana Moonlight" (Jay Beckenstein) - 4:54
4. "Springtime Laughter" (Jeff Beal/Joan Beal) - 4:51
5. "If You Will" (Jay Beckenstein/Chuck Loeb) - 5:16
6. "Got the Magic" (Julio Fernandez) - 4:26
7. "Teardrops" (Jay Beckenstein/Jason Miles) - 5:28
8. "Pure Mood" (Chuck Loeb) - 5:58
9. "Sierra" (Jay Beckenstein) - 5:08
10. "Love Comes" (Tom Schuman/Julio Fernandez) - 4:47
11. "R.S.V.P." (Scott Kreitzer/Randy Andos) - 4:27

Personell

• Jay Beckenstein: Saxophones
• Tom Schuman: Keyboards
• Julio Fernandez: Guitars
• Joel Rosenblatt: Drums
• Scott Ambush: Bass

Additional musicians

• Basia Trzetrzelewska: All vocals on "Springtime Laughter"
• David Charles: Percussion
• Dave Samuels: Vibes and marimba on "Breezeway" and "Sierra"
• Scott Kreitzer: Flute on "Silk and Satin", "Havana Moonlight" and "Got the Magic"
• Jeff Beal: Keyboards on "Springtime Laughter"
• Mike Ricchiuti: Additional keyboards on "R.S.V.P"
• Julio Fernandez, Carmen Cuesta & Phil Hamilton: Backing Vocals on "Pure Mood", and "Sierra"
• Julio Fernandez, Kay Gile, Billy Cliff & Andrika Hall: Backing Vocals on "Love Comes" and "Got the Magic"

No Sweat Horns

• Barry Danielian: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
• Scott Kreitzer: Tenor Saxophone
• Randy Andos: Trombone