Lyle Mays – Street Dreams

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Street Dreams is the second solo album by keyboardist Lyle Mays, released in 1988 by Geffen Records.

Lyle Mays’ second solo album ventures even further afield than his acclaimed first record, into areas not associated with Mays nor his employer Pat Metheny. This time, the personnel list is far more varied, with several guest luminaries from the world of jazz-rock, as well as a big band and full chamber orchestra on some selections. Again, the main thrust of the album is bound up in a lengthy suite with new age atmospheric elements, juxtaposing fleet Brazilian grooves with a chamber orchestra, voluble Mays piano solos, and electronic interpolations by Mays and Frisell reminiscent of early classical electronic music. The solo “Chorinho” is a running classical exercise on electric keyboards, almost a contemporary Bachianas Brasileiras (to borrow Villa-Lobos’ term) and a considerable feat of invention. The biggest surprise of all may well be “Possible Straight,” a brief, straight-ahead piece of big band hard bop, and “Before You Can Go” seems to be the token emulation of the Metheny groove. There’s a lot of inventive, mostly easygoing music here, though if one must choose, the level is not as consistently high as on Mays’ first album (Richard S. Ginell/AllMusic).

Track listing:
All tracks are written by Lyle Mays, except where noted

1. “Feet First” 4:24
2. “August” 5:02
3. “Chorinho” 4:17
4. “Possible Straight” Lyle Mays, Pat Metheny 3:20
5. “Hangtime” 4:21
6. “Before You Go” 6:53
7. “Newborn” 1:39
8. “Street Dreams 1” 1:42
9. “Street Dreams 2” 11:04
10. “Street Dreams 3” 3:07
11. “Street Dreams 4” 4:48
Total length: 50:37

Personnel:
Lyle Mays – piano, keyboards
Marc Johnson – bass (2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Steve Rodby – bass (1, 6), conductor (8, 9, 10, 11)
Peter Erskine – drums (5, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Steve Gadd – drums (1)
Steve Jordan – drums (4)
Bill Frisell – guitar (2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Glen Velez – percussion (8, 9, 10, 11)
Vicki Randle – percussion (8, 9, 10, 11), vocoder (6), voice (8, 9, 10, 11)
David Taylor – bass trombone (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Bob Malach – tenor saxophone (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11), flute (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Bob Mintzer – tenor saxophone (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11), flute (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Dave Bargeron – trombone (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Keith O’Quinn – trombone (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Chris Gekker – trumpet (8, 9, 10, 11)
Chris Seiter – trombone (4)
Laurie Frink – trumpet (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Robert Millikan – trumpet (1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Randy Brecker – trumpet (4)
Stephen Taylor – English horn (8, 9, 10, 11)
Liz Mann – flute (8, 9, 10, 11)
William Blount – bass clarinet (8, 9, 10, 11)
Mayuki Fukuhara – violin (8, 9, 10, 11), concertmaster (8, 9, 10, 11)
Masako Yanagita – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Robin Bushman – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Paul Peabody – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Marilyn Reynolds – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Mineko Yajima – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Erica Kiesewetter – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Eriko Sato – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Mitsuru Tsuboka – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Rob Shaw – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Martin Agee – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Laura Seaton – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Aloysia Friedmann – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Jill Levy – violin (8, 9, 10, 11)
Louise Schulman – viola (8, 9, 10, 11)
Jennie Hansen – viola (8, 9, 10, 11)
Stephanie Fricker – viola (8, 9, 10, 11)
Ron Lawrence – viola (8, 9, 10, 11)
Richard Locker – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)
Rosalyn Clarke – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)
Eric Samuels – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)
Joshua Gordon – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)
Jonathan Spitz – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)
Lutz Rath – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)
Erich Kory – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)
Astrid Schween – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)
Yari Bond – cello (8, 9, 10, 11)

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Released: 1988
Length: 50:37
Label: Geffen
Producer: Lyle Mays, Steven Cantor