"There are two different styles that flow back and forth from song to song on this cd. They are smooth jazz and modern jazz. The album starts off with a very heavy smooth jazz influenced piece, the title track, Heart Of The Night. The album takes a wild turn with Julio Fernandez's De La Luz, with a spanish feel. A huge detour, in a music style sense. Back to the two main music styles, Valentino's. A great heavy latin, but very modern jazz influenced piece. A Tom Schuman original, and heavy piano solos. There is one more smooth jazz piece. A tune by bassit, Scot Ambush. Rather a boring piece, but worth the listen. Believe, is a standout, because it's very happenin'. Midnight, sounds like it's going to just be a funky/rock piece, but it turns into a swing. You might not like this album at first. Give it a few listens, and it might grow on you. This is a rather diverse, but experimental album. Many Spyro Gyra fans hate it when you call Spyro Gyra a smooth jazz band. And for the most part, they're definately not, but on some occassions, there has been smooth jazz influenced songs. This is one of those occassions. Check this cd out, it's a pretty nice recording effort by Spyro Gyra."
A very good CD by a very good band...
Random Coolzip | 09/09/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"All of the tunes are melodic but groovie... great work by Jay and the guys!"
One of Spyro Gyra's best efforts.
Random Coolzip | Las Vegas, NEVADA United States | 09/05/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album starts off with a kick. The fast pumping tempo of Heart of the Night gets the blood pumping. Julio's De La Luz is an awesome song that brings out his vocal talents as well as his guitar work. Westwood Moon is my favorite song on this album. This is the pure Spyro Gyra sound that I love. Scott Ambush's bass work is incredible in this one. The rest of the album is pretty good but it does not compare to the first three cuts. Still worth the money to add to your collection."
A review of Spyro Gyra's Heart Of The Night.
James Houser | NY, NY | 06/10/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Heart Of The Night is a pretty well-played record by the group Spyro Gyra. It originally debuted in 1996. That wasn't a time when they produced their best work. This cd is a minor exception to that personal fact. All of the tracks sound like pure Spyro Gyra and are played with enthusiasm.My top 3 favorite songs from this piece are tracks 3,5, and 11. Westwood Moon is a melodic piece with a good beat and piano solo. Playtime is a nice contemporary jazz song with a crisp organ sound in it. J Squared is another good song with a terrific and hard-to-master saxophone part. Great playing by Jay.In conclusion, this is one of their more better modern releases. The sound on this one definetly sounds like today's smooth jazz. Some of the songs sounds tend to get repetitive, since they stick to the same noise on their instruments most of the time on this record. There is a nice manual included. Worth the purchase. Thank you for taking the time and generosity to read my review."