A Foreign Affair (Spyro Gyra album)

A Foreign Affair is an album by American jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra. The album is the story of five men and their love affair with music. The album contains a Hindi song Khuda sung by Arijit Singh, composed by Sandeep Chowta and co-produced by Chowta and Spyro Gyra. It is the first time a Western group has released a song with lyrics entirely in Hindi.[2]

A Foreign Affair
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 13, 2011 (2011-09-13)
Studio
  • Clubhouse Recording Studios (Rhineback, NY)
  • Menekeys Recording Studios (Union City, NY)
GenreJazz
Length60:47
LabelAmherst
ProducerSpyro Gyra
Spyro Gyra chronology
Down the Wire
(2009)
A Foreign Affair
(2011)
The Rhinebeck Sessions
(2013)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Track listing

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No.TitleMusicArtist(s)Length
1."Caribe"Jay BeckensteinSpyro Gyra5:27
2."Khuda"Shabbir Ahmed, Sandeep ChowtaArijit Singh4:44
3."Sweet Ole Thang"Bonnie BonaparteSpyro Gyra4:26
4."Falling Walls"Julio FernándezSpyro Gyra6:31
5."Shinjuku"Tom SchumanSpyro Gyra5:08
6."Chileno Boys"David Broza, Alberto RíosFernandez6:23
7."Samba for Two"SchumanSpyro Gyra5:18
8."Canção de Ninar"BeckensteinSpyro Gyra4:21
9."Antigua"BeckensteinSpyro Gyra6:29
10."Last Call"Fred Knoblock, Danny O'KeefeKeb' Mo'4:36
11."Dancing on Table Mountain"Scott AmbushSpyro Gyra7:24
Total length:60:47

Release and chart history

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The album was released on September 13, 2011. Upon release the album was positioned at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.[2]

Release history

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Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States September 13, 2011 CD Amherst
India Digital Sony [3]
United Kingdom February 13, 2012 CD In-Akustik

Critical reception

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AllMusic's Jonathan Widran opined that "the most interesting tracks are the beautiful, poignant vocal tracks by Keb' Mo' and Fernandez" and stated the band "still had something fresh to say while fearlessly entering their fifth decade of recording".[4] JazzTimes's Brian Soergel concluded the review stating "this is the CD that many casual Spyro Gyra fans have been waiting for".[5] Howard Dukes from Soul Tracks praised the songs in the album and stated "The ease in which the band amalgamates different international influences on A Foreign Affair is a reminder of why we call music the international language".[6]

Personnel

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Credits for A Foreign Affair are adapted from AllMusic[7] and Discogs.[8]

Spyro Gyra

Additional musicians

Production

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  • Leonard Silver – executive producer
  • Spyro Gyra – producers
  • Sandeep Chowta – co-producer (2)
  • Paul Antonell – engineer
  • Connor Milton – assistant engineer
  • Elijah Walker – assistant engineer
  • Martin Walters – mixing at Big Time Audio (Jonesborough, TN)
  • Adam Ayan – mastering at Gateway Mastering (Portland, ME)
  • Peter Ambush – cover illustration
  • Phil Brennan – design, photography, management

References

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  1. ^ Widran, Jonathan. "A Foreign Affair". Allmusic. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  2. ^ a b "Sandeep Chowta goes global". Anusha Vincent. The Times of India. October 24, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  3. ^ "Sandeep Chowta's 'A Foreign Affair' with Spyro Gyra". Madhusree Chatterjee. Planet Radiocity. September 13, 2011. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  4. ^ "A Foreign Affair Review by Jonathan Widran". Jonathan Widran. AllMusic. September 13, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  5. ^ "A Foreign Affair Review by Brian Soergel". Brian Soergel. JazzTimes. October 9, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "Spyro Gyra - A Foreign Affair (Advance Review)". Howard Dukes. Soul Tracks. October 9, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  7. ^ "Spyro Gyra – A Foreign Affair – Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. October 16, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  8. ^ "Spyro Gyra – A Foreign Affair – Credits". Discogs. September 13, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2014.