Dreams Beyond Control
Dreams Beyond Control is the seventeenth album by the American jazz group Spyro Gyra, released in 1993 by GRP Records. The group supported the album with a North American tour.
The album peaked in the top 5 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
Production
The album was produced by Jay Beckenstein. Alex Ligertwood, formerly of Santana, sings on "Patterns in the Rain" and "Send Me One Line". 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 deemed the album "a rather leaden excursion into R&B-flavored pop-fusion." The Boston Herald 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" – 4:20
- "Patterns in the Rain" – 4:38
- "Breakfast at Igor's" – 5:23
- "Waltz for Isabel" – 4:43
- "South Beach" – 5:13
- "Send Me One Line" – 4:57
- "Bahia" – 5:08
- "Kindred Spirit" – 4:05
- "Birks Law" – 4:36
- "Same Difference" – 5:25
- "The Delicate Prey" – 5:33
Personnel
- Jay Beckenstein – saxophones
- Tom Schuman – keyboards
- Julio Fernández – guitars
- Scott Ambush – bass
- Joel Rosenblatt – drums
- Dave Samuels – vibraphone, marimba, mallets
- Howard Levy – harmonica
- Marc Quiñones – percussion
- Cyro Baptista – percussion
- Alex Ligertwood – lead and backing vocals
- Lani Groves – backing vocals
- Will Lee – backing vocals
- Vaneese Thomas – backing vocals
- Stephen "Doc" Kupka – baritone saxophone
- Emilio Castillo – tenor saxophone
- David Mann – tenor saxophone
- Greg Adams – trumpet, horn arrangements
- Alan Chez – trumpet
- Scott Kreitzer – tenor saxophone, flute, piccolo flute
- Randy Andos – trombone, bass trombone
- Barry Danielian – trumpet, flugelhorn, horn arrangements
Production
- Dave Grusin – executive producer
- Larry Rosen – executive producer
- Jay Beckenstein – producer
- Jeremy Wall – assistant producer
- Phil Brennan – assistant producer, management
- Larry Swist – assistant producer, recording, mixing
- Kevin Becka – assistant engineer
- Steve Regina – assistant engineer
- Dann Wojner – assistant engineer
- Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound
- Joseph Doughney – post-production technician
- Michael Landy – post-production technician
- The Review Room – post-production location
- Michael Pollard – production coordinator
- Diane Dragonette – production coordinating assistant
- Sonny Mediana – production director
- Sharon Franklin – production directing assistant
- 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