Terry Silverlight - self titled

Drummer Terry Silverlight was well known in the jazz-fusion scene in the 1970s, appearing at a young age with his brother, keyboardist Barry Miles. Silverlight is an amazing drummer with great technique. He is well regarded as a session player and he has made a career as such and also writing and arranging for television and movies. On this 1997 release, Silverlight seems to have aimed for the radio-friendly so-called “smooth jazz” and he achieves that aim by mixing his studio production techniques, his synthesizer programming with his blistering drumming. Many people would ask why such an amazing drummer chooses to program drums for his own recording, but I am sure that Silverlight being a also a composer/arranger/producer made a calculated decision that his drum programming technique would be more applicable to some of this material than playing live drums on it.  There are a couple of burning tracks, “On Fire” (sampled below) and “Magic Rainbow”. If you like Smooth Jazz the rest of the album is for you. Musicians are: Terry Silverlight on drums, synthesizers and programming, Barry Miles on piano, Jeff Ciampa on guitar and Robert Kenmotsu and Danny Wilensky on saxes.

Track Listing:

1. Someday Beneath the Sun

2. The Love of My Life

3. On Fire (sampled above)

4. Planet Rhythm

5. Magic Rainbow

6. Soul Mate

7. Taking Twos

8. Peace on Earth

9. Let There Be Silverlight

10. Redwinged Sparrow

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Barry Miles - Scatbird

“Scatbird" was released in 1972. Barry Miles known in some circles as “The Father of Fusion” created on this release an early true fusion statement very much representative of the music movement he developed under the name of "Syncretic Music" between 1964 and 1965, which became a chilling influence for many artists of the 70’s such as Return To Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Al DiMeola who made Miles an interactive part of his band for many years. This release was one of the pioneers of the Fusion movement that would follow. A couple of tracks "Scatbird" and "Latina" feature Miles vocalizing scatting wordlessly along with his keyboards, kind of allusive to the album title, but the real gems on this album are the fusion tracks "Suburban Shuffle", "Life-Cycle", "Arrows and Eagles" (sampled here) and "Skeleton Dance", which feature Miles at his best and a very young explosive drummer Terry Silverlight (Miles’ younger brother), who apparently was only 14 at the time of this recording. Musicians are: Barry Miles on keyboards, John Abercrombie on guitar, Frank Tusa on bass and Terry Silverlight on drums.

Track Listing:

1. Scatbird
2. Suburban Shuffle
3. Lyfe-Cycle
4. Arrows and Eagles (sampled here)
5. Skeleton Dance
6. Latina
7. First Love

Barry Miles - Fusion Is

In spite of its title, “Fusion Is”, released in 1979, is not as ‘fusionish” as its predecessors. Instead it is a bit mellower. But don’t underestimate the power of Miles playing. This is still a superb album full of fierce moments, but Miles incorporates more acoustic piano than before providing a different tone to these great compositions. Tracks "Tandoori" and "Country" remain truthful to Miles past fusion releases, while "Fllow Me", "Sunrise" and "Streams" are more acoustic, even incorporating acoustic guitar, kind of reminiscence of Return to Forever ‘s acoustic tracks. The album closes with the amazing be-bopish "Routes" containing great soloing from guitarist Vic Juris. Terry Silverlight’s drumming is as good as ever. Musicians are: Barry Miles on keyboards, drums and Vibraphone, Terry Silverlight on drums, John Burr on bass and Vic Juris on guitar.

Track Listing:

1. Tandoori

2. Follow Me

3. Country

4. Sunrise

5. Streams

6. Routes (sampled above)

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Barry Miles & Co. - Sky Train

“Sky Train” was released in 1977. This time Miles Fusion sound gets an uplift from the use of a full horn section, which complements Miles superb soloing on both the Moog synthesizer and on the Fender Rhodes electric piano. Miles also implements the clavinet on this release. Terry Silverlight’s drumming is explosive as it seems to be influenced by drummer Billy Cobham’s style. As with other Miles releases there’s a diverse set of compositional styles ranging from the superb Fusion tracks like “Sky Train” and “The Big A” to the amazing more be-bop oriented “Relay” ending with the incredibly crafted suite “Cityscape”. Personnel are: Barry Miles on piano, drums, keyboards and vibraphone, Terry Silverlight (his youngest brother) on drums, Vic Juris and Jeff Mironov on guitar, Anthony Jackson on electric bass, Eddie Gomez on acoustic bass, Rubens Bassini and Crusher Bennett percussion, Eric Kloss on alto sax, a brass section consisting of Randy Brecker, Tom Harrell, Burt Collins, Joe Shepley on trumpets, Tony Studd, Sam Burtis, David Taylor and Tom "Bones" Malone on trombones, Toni Price on tuba, Brooks Tillotson and James Buffington on french horn, Phil Woods as conductor. Finally this album was released in July 2009 thanks to the hard work of preservation by Wounded Bird Records.

Track Listing:

1. Sky Train (sampled above)

2. Old Man Jack

3. Relay

4. This Is Our Night

5. The Big A

6. A Waltz for You

7. Cityscape (The Fusion Suite)

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Barry Miles' Silverlight - Magic Theater

Barry Miles has been called "The Founder of Fusion Music", as he was developing the concept under the name of "Syncretic Music" between 1964 and 1965. His Fusion concept became a chilling influence for many artists of the 70’s such as Chick Corea and Al DiMeola who made Miles an interactive part of his band and recordings for many years. “Magic Theater” was released in July 1976. His astonishing soloing on the Moog and Fender Rhodes, combined with Terry Silverlight's (his younger brother) dynamic drumming make up a real dynamic duo, which became a unique sound. This album is a real explosive Fusion statement of the best kind. Musicians are: Barry Miles on drums, keyboards and vibraphone, Terry Silverlight on drums, Jeff Mironov and Bob Mann on guitar, Louis del Gatto on saxophone, Randy Brecker and Alan Rubin on trumpet and David Taylor and Michael Gibson trombone. “Magic Theater” has never seen the light of day on CD. Perhaps someone can shed the light, leave a comment and lead us to the vinyl.

Track Listing:

1. Rebate

2. Battle (sampled here)

3. Stargaze

4. Down to Mirth

5. Finger Ring

6. I've Touched Your Soul

7. Magic Theater

Barry Miles and Silverlight

Barry Miles began playing drums and piano at a very young age. As a teenager, he studied classical piano and soon switched instruments. His credits as a sidemen musician are countless but he’s probably most recognized for being called "The Founder of Fusion Music", as he was developing the concept under the name of "Syncretic Music" between 1964 and 1965. His Fusion concept became a chilling influence for many artists of the 70’s such as Return To Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Al DiMeola who made Miles an interactive part of his band for many years. Miles leaned heavily towards fusion as he led his own band for a few years but he didn’t live up to the great expectations of an overly well known jazz improviser. Nonetheless his solo records are testament of his amazing playing and his great compositional skills. He improvises with impeccable timing and precision. “Barry Miles and Silverlight” was released in 1974 and it is classic 70’s fusion, although several tracks venture into other musical styles, including some singing, which distract from the amazing fusion classics. Personnel are: Barry Miles on piano, Terry Silverlight on drums, Harvie Swartz on bass and Bill Washer on guitar. This album has never been released on CD, so perhaps somebody might want to leave a comment instructing where to get a hold of the vinyl.

Track Listing:

1. Buck Rogers

2. Cat

3. Loved You So Long

4. Gypsy Dance (sampled above)

5. Top Belle

6. Big Mack

7. Time and Space

8. Los Viajeros (The Travelers)

9. Sweet Love and Devotion

10. Silver Lightning