1989's
Point of View is a much more up-tempo collection than
Spyro Gyra had delivered on their last several albums; only
Dave Samuels' lovely vibes- and percussion-enhanced "Riverwalk" counts as a ballad, and even it has a moderately sprightly tempo. The problem is that
Spyro Gyra's slower and more impressionistic tunes have always been their most interesting, and the lack of ballads is a fairly big strike against
Point of View. Also, the too-concise arrangements -- only the woefully misnamed "Swamp Thing" breaks the six-minute barrier, and over half the songs don't even hit five -- keeps the group members, who are all fine soloists when they get the opportunity, from breaking out long enough to really build something interesting. Not quite jazz, not quite pop,
Point of View is a record made only for unobtrusive listening in the background of chain restaurants. Even
Kenny G. fans might find this stuff insipid. ~ Stewart Mason