1989's Point of View is a much more up-tempo collection than Spyro Gyra had delivered on their last several albums; only Dave Samuels' lovely vibes- and percussion-enhanced "Riverwalk" counts as a ballad, and even it has a moderately sprightly tempo.
The problem is that Spyro Gyra's slower and more impressionistic tunes have always been their most interesting, and the lack of ballads is a fairly big strike against Point of View.
Also, the too-concise arrangements -- only the woefully misnamed "Swamp Thing" breaks the six-minute barrier, and over half the songs don't even hit five -- keeps the group members, who are all fine soloists when they get the opportunity, from breaking out long enough to really build something interesting.
Not quite jazz, not quite pop, Point of View is a record made only for unobtrusive listening in the background of chain restaurants.
Even Kenny G. fans might find this stuff insipid.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slow BurnDave Samuels | Spyro Gyra | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 2 | FairweatherBenny Golson, Tom Schuman | Spyro Gyra | Play | 04:48 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | The Unknown SoldierJay Beckenstein | Spyro Gyra | Play | 05:21 | 12 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | Hannibal's BoogieJay Beckenstein | Spyro Gyra | Play | 05:55 | 13 MB | 37 MB |
| 5 | No LimitsJay Beckenstein | Spyro Gyra | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 6 | CarolinaRichie Morales | Spyro Gyra | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 7 | RiverwalkDave Samuels | Spyro Gyra | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 8 | Swamp ThingJeremy Wall | Spyro Gyra | Play | 06:26 | 14 MB | 40 MB |
| 9 | CounterpointJeremy Wall | Spyro Gyra | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 10 | GotchaOskar Cartaya | Spyro Gyra | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 48 mins | 110 MB | |||||
| 48 mins | 301 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jay Azzolina | Guitar |
| 2 | Jay Beckenstein | Composer, Producer, Saxophone |
| 3 | Chris Bubacz | Engineer |
| 4 | Oskar Cartaya | Bass, Composer |
| 5 | Julio Fernandez | Guitar (Rhythm) |
| 6 | Benny Golson | Composer |
| 7 | Jeff Katz | Photography |
| 8 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 9 | Richie Morales | Composer, Drums |
| 10 | Doug Rose | Assistant Engineer |
| 11 | Dave Samuels | Composer, Marimba, Synthesizer, Vibraphone |
| 12 | Tom Schuman | Composer, Keyboards |
| 13 | Spyro Gyra | Primary Artist |
| 14 | Roger Squitero | Percussion |
| 15 | Larry Swist | Engineer, Mixing |
| 16 | Jeremy Wall | Assistant Producer, Composer |
| 17 | Stephen Walters | Digital Design |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |