- Source: Sky Islands (Caldera album)
Sky Islands is the second album by Jazz fusion group Caldera released in 1977 on Capitol Records. The album reached No. 18 on the Cashbox Top 40 Jazz Albums chart.
Critical reception
Jakob Baekgaard of All About Jazz, gave Sky Islands a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating. Baekgaard took note that "Caldera's musical vision is widescreen and cinematic, but the wondrous thing is that it never becomes too much, which has always been the danger of fusion. In some cases, the grand gestures can turn into mannerisms. Caldera keeps the wide soundscapes in check with organically earthy rhythms and a perfect balance between electric and acoustic. The result is a sound that is surprisingly contemporary and, rather than being a journey back in time, revisiting these records is just as much a peek into the future."
Alex Henderson of AllMusic, in a 3.5 out of 5 stars rating, found that "While Caldera's first LP was produced by Wayne Henderson, Sky Islands finds Strunz and del Barrio doing the producing with Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn -- who was a logical choice considering that EWF was among Caldera's many influences. At times, they tend to over-produce. But the writing is consistently superb, and all things considered, Sky Islands makes good on the promise of the band's previous album."
Covers
The album's title track was covered by Dianne Reeves on her 1987 self titled album and Ramsey Lewis on his 1993 LP Sky Islands.
A version of "Ancient Source" resulted from the collaboration between Herb Alpert and Caldera keyboardist Eddie del Barrio and appeared on Alpert's 1988 release Under a Spanish Moon.
Track listing
Personnel
Jorge Strunz — acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion
Eduardo del Barrio — acoustic piano, electric piano, synthesizers, Moog, Roland, Oberheim Polyphonic
Steve Tavaglione — flute, alto flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Mike Azeredo — congas, percussion
Carlos Vega — drums
Dean Cortez — electric bass
Hector Andrade — timbales, congas, percussion
Ernesto Herrera - lyricist.
= Guests
=Larry Dunn — synthesizer (solo on track 2)
Roberto da Silva — percussion
Dianne Reeves — vocals (tracks 1 and 2)
Chester Thompson — drums (track 4 only)
Ralph Humphrey — drums (track 1 only)
Ralph Rickert — flugelhorn (track 8 only)
Ray Armando — percussion
Steve Barrio, Jr. — percussion
Paul Shure — violin
Bonnie Douglas — violin
Harry Bluestone — violin
Marshall Sosson — violin
Nathan Ross — violin
Antol Kaminsky — violin
Jack Pepper — violin
Irma Neumann — violin
Janet Lakatos — viola
Louis Kievman — viola
Fredrick Seykora — cello
Selene Hurford – cello
Shusei Nagaoka – cover art