Aug. 25, 1978 Gusto review: Spyro Gyra at the Tralfamadore Cafe
One of Buffalo’s best bands on the brink of its national
breakthrough.
Aug. 25, 1978
Spyro Gyra
The new
edition of Spyro Gyra rattled the rafters of the Tralfamadore Café Thursday
night with revisions of its old jazz-rock favorites and previews of the
high-energy creations that have been recorded for the band’s second album on
Amherst Records, due out late this fall. The group will hold forth at the Tralf
through Sunday night and perhaps Monday.
Opening
with “Heliopolis,” a cut from the new LP, they defined their latest sound with
a snap of the snare drum, a kick of the congas and the eerie rise of twin
synthesizers, all leading to the butterscotch joy of Jay Beckenstein’s
saxophone.
Where
once Spyro Gyra was five, now the band is a septet. Taking the basic core of
Beckenstein, bassist Jim Kurzdorfer and pianist Jeremy Wall, they’ve doubled
the keyboard power by adding Tom Schuman, doubled the percussion by hiring drummer
Eli Konikoff Jr. and conga drummer Gerardo Velez Jr. and perked the mixture up
further with the strong rhythm guitar of Fast Freddy Rapillo.
Although
the personnel changes were supposed to provide a foil for Beckenstein’s highly
charged solos, the sax nevertheless remains the mainspring of the band. The
most audible difference was the crunching precision of the ensemble riffs, the
breaks and the phrasing.
As always,
the drumming colored the group’s attitude. After the exquisite taste of Tom
Walsh and the powerhouse push of Ted Reinhardt, Spyro Gyra now works in shades
of Latin and funk. The two drummers provide plenty of heady texture and
percussionist Velez is an eye-catching showman. All that’s missing is the
broader variety Walsh used to bring to the group.
With Wall
and Schuman, it’s hard to tell who’s doing what in that pit of synthesizers, Fender
Rhodes pianos and organs. Occasionally, the contribution was not all it could
have been. One place was in “Shaker Song,” the group’s hit single, where
Schuman attempted to follow Beckenstein’s lyricism with a few of his fast
throwaway lines. In other numbers, that approach was just fine, but in “Shaker
Song,” it wasn’t enough. The new arrangement left Wall with less of the
spotlight, but he drew appreciation for a stunning solo in the new “Morning
Dance.”
The
entire first set passed before Rapillo got to exercise anything more than his
facility with popcorn riffs. Judging from his workout on David Sanborn’s “Butterfat,”
he deserves the right to be heard more often. The band’s unseen force,
meanwhile, is Kurzdorfer, who nonchalantly thunks inventive, elliptical lines
perfectly into the rhythm.
Beckenstein
remains as brilliant as ever. Maybe even more so. The new numbers, with their
ensemble dips and their funky drive, suggest the first album melodically, but
reach back farther for their fire, back to the days of old when Beckenstein
played Average White Band tunes with the remnants of the House Rockers.
“This is
a little like going back to the womb for me,” the saxophonist remarked as he
introduced the David Sanborn piece, which rides on a disco beat. The new Spyro
Gyra is a killer on this kind of song. When they pounced on Earth, Wind and
Fire’s “Slick” to end the second set, they left the place weak with delight.
All in all, Buffalo’s best band may be a little short on diversity in its newest
incarnation, but there’s more than enough freshness and energy to carry it
through.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE: "Morning Dance" didn't get
released until March 1979, but it went gold by September and the title track
topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary song chart.
Though Freddy Rapillo had
toured with Spyro Gyra in '78, he was replaced in the lineup by Rochester jazz
guitarist Chet Catallo by the time the recording sessions ended. Rapillo went
on to play with Rick James.
To get a taste of Spyro
Gyra in that moment, samples of four songs from their Sept. 9, 1978, gig at the
Bottom Line in New York City can be heard at
https://www.wolfgangs.com/music/spyro-gyra/audio/20050806-6673.html?tid=24651.
They include "Shaker Song," "Leticia," "Mead" and
"Pygmy Funk."
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