Tom Schuman - Extremities (1990)

Keyboards and the acoustic piano were the reigning pop-jazz instruments of the fall of 1990, with major releases ranging from veterans like Joe Sample and Bobby Lyle to up-and-comers like Makoto Ozone and Kim Pensyl. Perhaps the most long awaited of these releases was the solo debut of longtime Spyro Gyra keyboardist Tom Schuman. Extremities features SG saxman Jay Beckenstein as player and producer, but happily, Schuman's own playing shows a great deal more adventure and spunk than he is allowed in the band setting. He elegantly blends snazzy synth with sweet acoustic trimmings, playing it safe on a gorgeous cover of Minnie Riperton's "Loving You" while jamming on the fusion showcases and displaying a rich depth of the disturbing yet intriguing "Mood Swing." It took a long time, but Schuman's coming-out party was worth the wait. While he never did another solo recording, fans of SG were rewarded with several solo releases in the '90s by band vibist Dave Samuels and Beckenstein finally got around to his solo project, Eye Contact, in 2000. -- Jonathan Widran