Spyro gyra celebrates 50 years
- Spyro Gyra was formed in Buffalo, New York in 1974. When a bar owner asked for the band's name, co-founding member and saxophonist Jay Beckenstein replied, "Spirogyra", a type of algae he had learned about in school. The bar owner wrote doen, "Spyro Gyra", but the name stuck. The original band members were Beckenstein, keyboardist Jeremy Wall, bassist Jim Kurzdorfer, drummer Tom Walsh, and keyboardist Tom Schuman.
- The band released their debut self titled album in 1977. The track, "Shaker Song," became one of the band's signature songs, receiving lots of airplay on Adult Contemporary radio stations. The song reached No. 90 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The band's second album, 'Morning Dance' released in 1979,reached No. 27 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, and the title track reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. The album was certified gold in 1979, then reached platinum status in 1987 by the Recording Industry Association of America. Overall, the band has released 29 albums, and were nominated for four Grammys. The group was also recognized with the George Benson Lifetime Achievement by Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards.
- The band has toured reguarly in it's five decade history. However, the personnel has changed between recording and touring. Jay Beckenstein has been with the band since it's founding. Tom Schuman played with the group since it's founding, as well, but the band announced on Facebook that he planned to move to Europe and would play his final shows with the band in February 2023. Jeremy Wall left the touring lineup in 1978, but would continue to compose for the band. Tom Walsh would also leave that year, and Jim Kurzdorfer left the band in 1980 (He died of cancer on April 26, 2011.).
- Thruout the decades, Spyro Gyra has had numerous guests artists perform on tour and in the recording studio. Past Spyro Gyra members include Dave Samuels, Manolo Badrena and Chet Catallo. Guest artists on their recordings and tours include Randy and Michael Brecker, Hiram Bullock, Will Lee, Steve Jordan and Marcus Miller.
- For more information, go to spyrogyra.com
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