Spyro Gyra looks forward to 2017 and beyond, they show no sign of
slowing down. Over the last 40+ years, they have performed over five
thousand shows, released thirty-one albums (not counting “Best Of…”
compilations) selling over ten million albums while also achieving one
platinum and two gold albums. Although few acts have accomplished this
type of record, they have done it by constantly challenging themselves
as is evidenced by their last studio release “The Rhinebeck Sessions”
which was written and recorded over three days in the studio.
Born in Brooklyn, bandleader Jay Beckenstein grew up listening to the
music of Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins and Dizzy
Gillespie, and started playing the saxophone at age seven. Beckenstein
attended the University at Buffalo, starting out as a biology major
before changing to music performance (read classical and avant garde).
During summer breaks, he and an old high school friend, keyboardist
Jeremy Wall, played gigs together back on Long Island. Wall attended
college in California, and after both graduated, Beckenstein stayed in
Buffalo’s thriving music scene, where Wall eventually joined him.
In their earliest days, Spyro Gyra took their cues from Weather Report
and Return to Forever – bands whose creative flights were fueled by a
willingness to do things that had never been done before. “I believed
that we were springing from what Weather Report did,” says Beckenstein.
“I never thought in commercial terms. I just thought they were the next
step in the evolution of jazz, and that we would be part of it.”