Name: Spyro Gyra 50th Anniversary
Start: 2024-08-21T19:30:00-04:00
Location: Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club

"Spyro Gyra have been around a long time and this is their 31st album, disproving any thought that the band was a one-hit wonder or lacked longevity."
— 𝐉𝐀𝐙𝐙 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 '𝐕𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐩')
"𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐒𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐨 𝐆𝐲𝐫𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐚𝐳𝐳."
— 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐉𝐀𝐙𝐙
𝟏𝟑𝐱-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 & 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 𝐅𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐏𝐘𝐑𝐎 𝐆𝐘𝐑𝐀 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝟓𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲! With over 30 acclaimed albums, garnering Gold and Platinum Certification along the way, they’ve played over 10,000 concerts on six continents, and have maintained a standard of excellence that has sustained them on the “A list” of live attractions in jazz.
𝐅𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦𝐬, while also achieving 1 Platinum and 2 Gold albums. Spyro Gyra has done it by constantly challenging themselves.
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. 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.
“𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐣𝐚𝐳𝐳, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞, 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬,” 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬. “After being confined to classical music for so long, it was heaven. I was in the horn sections around town, backing some great vocalists.”
𝐒𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐨 𝐆𝐲𝐫𝐚, 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐝𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 “𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐬,” a forum wherein Beckenstein and Wall were joined by a rotating cast of characters. Tuesday just happened to be the night when most musicians weren’t playing other gigs to pay their bills. Around this time, a young keyboardist named Tom Schuman began sitting in when he was only sixteen years old. This young man, of course, remains a member to this day.
“𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝-𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠,” 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬. “We were the kings of self-indulgence, but eventually we earned our right to charge a quarter at the door. It was a complete shock when word of our psychosis got out and we started packing them in!”
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 – 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛 – prompted the owner to insist that Beckenstein come up with a name for his band. “It began as a joke. I said ‘spirogyra,’ he misspelled it, and here we are thirty years later. In retrospect, it’s okay. In a way, it sounds like what we do. It sounds like motion and energy.”
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.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩’𝐬 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐝𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐚𝐳𝐳 𝐣𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. These albums were the product of the band and a great number of the top session players in New York.
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 ‘𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞’ (𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟗) 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐂𝐀 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. There they stayed until MCA acquired noted contemporary jazz label GRP Records. 'Morning Dance' reached #11 in the UK Albums Chart, #27 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, and #47 in Canada. The song "Morning Dance" reached #1 on the US Adult Contemporary singles chart. The album was Certified Gold in 1979, then Platinum in 1987 by the RIAA.
The album 'Catching the Sun' was released on MCA in February 1980, becoming the #4 Jazz Album of 1980. 'Alternating Currents' (1985) and 'Breakout '(1986) would be among the Top 15 Jazz Albums on Billboard in 1986. Both 'Stories Without Words' and 'Rites of Summer' were among Billboard's top 15 Contemporary Jazz Albums of 1988. Spyro Gyra ended the decade as Billboard's most successful jazz artist of the 1980s.
In 2013, the band got together in the studio over a three-day period with the intention of capturing their innate ability to construct compositions through a jam approach, written and recording a whole new album, ‘The Rhinebeck Sessions’. The response was great, both on the radio and in the press.
In 2014, the band did an extended ‘Morning Dance’ tour, playing their landmark breakthrough album on its 35th anniversary which was also their 40th anniversary as a band. After that look backward, they then released a text of their work in the 2000’s, ‘The Best Of The Heads Up Years’. In 2019, there was a long anticipated release of their acclaimed album ‘Vinyl Tap’, in which they once again challenge themselves with something new, an album of all covers from the classic rock era.
𝐒𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐨 𝐆𝐲𝐫𝐚'𝐬 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞: '𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧' (𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟎), '𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨' (𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟐); '𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐬' (𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟑), '𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬' (𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒); '𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬' (𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓); '𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝' (𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟎); '𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦' (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔); '𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨-𝐆𝐨' (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟕); '𝐀 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬' (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟖); '𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐫𝐞' (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗).
“𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞,” 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧. “I’ve always felt that music, and particularly instrumental music, has this non-literal quality that lets people travel to a place where there are no words. Whether it’s touching their emotions or connecting them to something that reminds them of something much bigger than themselves, there’s this beauty in music that’s not connected to sentences. It’s very transportive. I would hope that when people hear our music or come to see us, they’re able to share that with us. That’s the truly glorious part of being a musician.”
𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟏𝟑𝐱-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 & 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 𝐅𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐏𝐘𝐑𝐎 𝐆𝐘𝐑𝐀 𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐲’𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟏, 𝟕:𝟑𝟎 𝐏.𝐌. are NOW On-Sale:
𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0100607B4341877E
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: https://www.facebook.com/events/1937077413374801/
𝐉𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐲'𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: https://jimmysoncongress.com/event/spyro-gyra-2/
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𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭: https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjazzblues/
𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐲'𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 & 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭: https://jimmysoncongress.com/events/ - 𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑰𝑵𝑮 2024 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾𝑺 𝑶𝑵-𝑺𝑨𝑳𝑬 𝑵𝑶𝑾!! (GIFT CARDS are available on Jimmy's Website or by calling Jimmy's Box Office at 1-888-603-5299)
𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧-𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐲'𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭: www.jimmysoncongress.com/subscribe to stay informed on Upcoming Shows, New Artist Announcements, Promotional Offers, Ticket On-Sale Dates, Special Performances, Sunday Jazz Brunch, and much more!! Thank you!!
𝐉𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐲'𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 allowing for advanced purchasing of tickets can be found on our website - https://jimmysoncongress.com/jimmys-inner-circle/ - thank you to all 800+ of our current members for your support!!
𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒, 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 & 𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒. Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club offers a rare and spectacular venue to host important corporate functions, weddings, intimate or large-scale social gatherings, private parties, and memorable celebrations!! If interested, please email: [email protected] or fill out Jimmy's Event Request Form at: https://jimmysoncongress.com/book-an-event/
𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬. Current job openings are available at: www.TheLabrieGroup.com.
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