The Deep End is the twenty-seventh album by Spyro Gyra, released on May 25, 2004. The album peaked at No. 3 on the jazz album chart at Billboard magazine.
Critical reception
Tom Hull dismissed the album as a "dud" in his "Jazz Consumer Guide" for The Village Voice in September 2004. In a commentary published on his website, he explained, "Spry funk, thick layers of guitar-keyb-sax that never let up, occasional tidbits of exotica, they don't aim for pablum, but they don't take risks either, so in the end they're as predictable as formula."
Track listing
"Summer Fling" (Jeremy Wall) – 4:58
"Eastlake Shuffle" (Julio Fernandez) – 5:02
"Monsoon" (Jay Beckenstein) – 7:00
"As You Wish" (Beckenstein) – 4:36
"Joburg Jam" (Beckenstein) – 6:10
"The Crossing" (Fernandez) – 7:17
"Wiggle Room" (Scott Ambush) – 6:48
"Wind Warriors" (Tom Schuman) – 6:15
"In Your Arms" (Schuman) – 4:46
"Chippewa Street" (Beckenstein) – 5:46
"Beyond the Rain" (Ambush) – 6:09
Personnel
Spyro Gyra
Jay Beckenstein – saxophones
Tom Schuman – keyboards
Julio Fernández – guitars, vocals (6) Scott Ambush – bass guitar
Guest musicians
Billy Kilson – drums (1, 4, 10) Joel Rosenblatt – drums (2, 3, 6–9, 11) Ludwig Afonso – drums (5) Cyro Baptista – percussion (1, 3, 6) Daniel Sadownick – percussion (1-4, 7, 10, 11) Dave Samuels – vibraphone (4, 5, 7, 11) David Charles – percussion (8, 9) Don Harris – trumpet (1, 10)
Production
Jay Beckenstein – producer
Jeremy Wall – producer (1) Julio Fernández – producer (2, 6) Scott Ambush – producer (7, 11) Tom Schuman – producer (8, 9) Doug Oberkircher – recording, mixing Eric Carlinsky – recording, assistant engineer Scott Hull – mastering at The Hit Factory (New York City, New York) Paul Blakemore – 5.1 surround sound mastering Colin Anderson – cover image Robert Hoffman – design Phil Brennan – management