Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. The band's music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop music. The band's name comes from Spirogyra, a genus of green algae which founder Jay Beckenstein had learned about in college.
Natalie Maria Cole was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut album Inseparable (1975), along with the song "This Will Be ", and the album's title track. Its success led to her receiving the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards, for which she became the first African-American recipient, as well as the first R&B act to win the award. The singles "Sophisticated Lady" (1976), "I've Got Love on My Mind", and "Our Love" (1977) followed.
Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute, penny whistle, tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone, and soprano saxophone.
Voyage was a French disco and pop group, consisting of André "Slim" Pezin (guitar/vocals), Marc Chantereau (keyboards/vocals), Pierre-Alain Dahan (drums/vocals) and Sauveur Mallia (bass), together with British lead vocalist Sylvia Mason-James, who sang on the group's first two albums, Voyage (1977) and Fly Away (1978).
David "Fathead" Newman was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s and early 1960s recordings by Ray Charles.
David Bryan Benoit is an American jazz pianist, composer and producer, based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Benoit has charted over 25 albums since 1980, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. He is also music director for the Pacific Vision Youth Symphony and the Asia America Youth Orchestra. Furthermore, crediting Vince Guaraldi as an inspiration, Benoit has participated both as performer and music director for the later animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip, such as the feature film, The Peanuts Movie, restoring Guaraldi's musical signature to the franchise.
Liz Story is an American pianist. She was born in San Diego, California, United States, and played classical music as a child. She studied at Juilliard School and was a student at Hunter College when she saw jazz pianist Bill Evans perform at a club in New York City. She dropped out of Hunter and studied jazz piano with Sanford Gold, whom Evans recommended.
David Peter Valentin was an American Latin jazz flautist of Puerto Rican descent.
Alex Cline is an American jazz drummer.
American singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson has released eleven studio albums, six compilation albums, one box set, 46 singles, three video albums, and 31 music videos.
Harold Vick was an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.
Richard Edward Tee was an American jazz fusion pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as "In Your Eyes", "Slip Slidin' Away", "Just the Two of Us", "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow ", "Crackerbox Palace", "Tell Her About It", "Don't Give Up" and many others.
Charles Louis Domanico was an American jazz bassist who played double bass and bass guitar on the West Coast jazz scene.
Ray Obiedo is an American contemporary jazz guitarist.
Rodney Franklin is an American jazz pianist and composer.
David Friesen is an American jazz bassist. He plays double bass and electric upright bass.
Thomas William Schuman is an American jazz pianist, smooth jazz keyboardist and was the longtime co-leader, composer and arranger of 13 Grammy nominated contemporary jazz group, Spyro Gyra. He has been the keyboardist for Spyro Gyra since he was 16 years old. He has performed on all of Spyro Gyra's albums to date and has written or co-written over sixty Spyro Gyra compositions since the album Catching the Sun. At the end of 2022, Schuman announced his resignation from Spyro Gyra, effective March 2023, in order to move to Europe.
John Frederick Robinson, known professionally as JR, is an American drummer and session musician who has been called "one of the most recorded drummers in history". He is known for his work with producer Quincy Jones, including Michael Jackson's multi-platinum Off the Wall album and the charity single "We Are the World". JR's drum fill kicks off Jackson's chart topper "Rock with You", and his drum solo opens the Steve Winwood album Back in the High Life (1986) to begin the number 1 song "Higher Love".
Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
Lincoln Goines is a double bassist and bass guitarist from Oakland, California.
