Spyro Gyra

For the UK folk band, see Spirogyra (band).

For the type of algae, see Spirogyra.

Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the early 1970s in Buffalo, NY. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the scene. Among their most successful hit singles are "Shaker Song" and "Morning Dance", which received significant play on popular music radio stations, and is still frequently heard nearly 30 years later on jazz and easy listening stations.

Their music, which has been influential in the development of smooth jazz, combines jazz with elements of R&B, funk and pop music. Although generally considered to be more "jazz" than "smooth", Spyro Gyra's music has been criticized for being light-weight and for emphasizing melody over improvisation. They have nevertheless been praised as skilled instrumentalists and for their live performances, which average nearly 100 per year.

With the exception of alto saxophonist, songwriter and founding bandleader Jay Beckenstein and keyboardist Tom Schuman, the personnel has changed somewhat over time as well as between the studio and the live stage.

Personnel

As of late 2006, Spyro Gyra was:

• Jay Beckenstein - saxophones
• Tom Schuman - piano, keyboards
• Julio Fernandez - guitars
• Scott Ambush - bass
• Bonny Bonaparte - drums, percussion

History

Appearance on the Buffalo club scene

Spyro Gyra emerged around Jay Beckenstein and keyboardist Jeremy Wall, who had met and formed a band during their high school years. Although they headed in different directions during college—Beckenstein to the State University of New York in Buffalo and Wall to Cal Arts—they spent summers together playing outdoor concerts, and Wall moved to Buffalo soon after graduating.

Beckenstein had been working in clubs in Buffalo since his junior year of college, backing various vocalists. Wall teamed up with Beckenstein, and the two started playing instrumental music—mostly covers of R&B songs—together. In Beckenstein's description of the Buffalo club scene of the time:

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.

Over a year, their work evolved into Spyro Gyra. Wall has commented that their sound was a "gutbucket of rhythmic tradition. We did simple music and esoteric stuff. It all came together, this oddball mix, until we found a middle ground, our own groove".

The name Spyro Gyra is a misspelling of spirogyra, a kind of algae on which Beckenstein had written a college biology paper years earlier. He recalls:

Before a gig in a Buffalo club that was called Jack Daniels, the owner twisted my arm for a band name. As a joke, I remembered the paper and said, 'Spirogyra'. He misspelled it 'Spyro Gyra,' advertised it that way, and it stuck.

As an established band

Much of Spyro Gyra's music has been aired on The Weather Channel's Local On The 8s.

Discography

Albums

Title	Year of Release	Label
Spyro Gyra	1978	Polydor
Morning Dance	1979	Amherst
Catching The Sun	1980	Amherst
Carnival	1980	Amherst
Freetime	1981	Amherst
Incognito	1982	Amherst
City Kids	1983	Amherst
Access All Areas (live)	1984	Amherst
Alternating Currents	1985	Amherst
Breakout	1986	Amherst
Stories Without Words	1987	Amherst
Rites Of Summer	1988	GRP
Point Of View	1989	GRP
Fast Forward	1990	GRP
Three Wishes	1992	GRP
Dreams Beyond Control	1993	GRP
Love And Other Obsessions	1994	GRP
Heart Of The Night	1996	GRP
20/20	1997	GRP
Road Scholars (live)	1998	GRP
Got The Magic	1999	Windham Hill Jazz
In Modern Times	2001	Heads Up
Original Cinema	2003	Heads Up
The Deep End	2004	Heads Up
Wrapped in a Dream	2006	Heads Up
Good to Go-Go	2007	Heads Up

Compilations/box sets

Title	Year of Release	Label
Collection	1984	GRP
The Best of Spyro Gyra - The first ten years	1997	GRP
Retrospective	1997	GRP
The Very Best of Spyro Gyra	2002	GRP

Awards and Nominations

Spyro Gyra has received the following Grammy nominations:

• 1980: Best Jazz Fusion Performance for "Catching the Sun"
• 1982: Best Rhythm & Blues Instrumental Performance for "Stripes"
• 1982: Best Jazz Fusion Performance for "Incognito"
• 1983: Best Jazz Fusion Performance for "City Kids"
• 1984: Best Jazz Fusion Performance for "Access All Areas"
• 1985: Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "Shakedown"
• 1985: Best Jazz Fusion Performance for "Alternating Currents"
• 2007: Best Pop Instrumental Album for "Wrapped in a Dream"

Spyro Gyra was awarded the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards in 2007.

External links

• Official website