Morning Dance - Spyro Gyra (1979)

Quality or nostalgia: was younger me onto something, or just on something?

This is probably nobody’s favorite fusion record, yet it has all the hallmark qualities. Excellent musicianship, squared-off rock rhythms, repeating choruses of easily digestible melody.

Spyro Gyra had a good understanding of the commercial side of jazz that could move units, and you can argue about intentions but it doesn’t detract from the high quality.

so is it quality or nostalgia?

I think I was new enough to jazz when I came across this that nearly anything would have impressed me. But this really did impress me, and you can still hear the musicality of it. Anything that’s as undeniably a thing of its time like this going to sound cheesy in later contexts, but there’s still a lot of good material here.

bonus fact: this record features the guy who played guitar on Paul Simon’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, fwiw.

Tracks I Liked

Jubilee - this is the track that grabbed me all those years ago, and it still goes hard. The soundtrack to the best late-70s tv show that never existed.

End of Romanticism - a pretty romantic tune, all things considered.