Who is spyro gyra

The Caribbean sound came with the help of vibes and marimba master Dave Samuels, a New York city musician who was playing in town in a local club date. But Spyro stuck it out and soon caught the attention of Lenny Silver, who owned a local record store chain as well as Amherst Records. He offered them a distribution deal, and the first album went on to sell 70, units.

Boney James started dancing along with the other million or so people who eventually bought the album. Radio was open-minded at the time, but we never could have imagined that success.

Best of all, there were so many other textures on that album, listeners knew we were far from one dimensional. They connect with it now as they did then, looking back on a special evening or event. The music was always played at a high level, for sophisticated folks, and I think everyone always got the feeling they were seeing a tight, well-rehearsed ensemble who really cared. Like, wow, what you guys did was so much more intriguing than some of the stuff they hear today.

All I ask is to be judged not by style, but by content. Art manifests itself in a multitude of styles and contexts. There was no calculated effort to sell millions of records, sell out concerts throughout the world, and inspire a whole new generation of musicians seeking an eclectic road of their own.

When Beckenstein and Wall first started jamming back in Buffalo, they just did it because it was a blast, pure and simple.

They made lyrical, jazzy music for a few folks at Jack Daniels, developed a high energy live gig, one thing led to another, and suddenly, instrumental music was never quite the same.

The fun was suddenly not just theirs, but ours as well. Well, the answer has never been more obvious. Band History. In , Samuels left the touring band, but he continued to play in the studio. The holiday album A Night Before Christmas followed in In , Spyro Gyra released their 31st album, Down the Wire. The group returned two years later with Foreign Affair , which found them drawing upon their world music influences.

It landed at number two on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and included guest appearances by Keb' Mo' and Arijit Singh , who appeared on the track "Khuda" singing in Hindi. The Rhinebeck Sessions arrived in and featured drummer Lee Pearson , who had replaced the departing Bonaparte in Pearson then left, replaced by Lionel Cordew in In , Spyro Gyra released Vinyl Tap , which found them reworking many of their favorite tracks from the vinyl era, including songs by Blind Faith , Cream , and jazz saxophonist Oliver Nelson , among others.

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Spyro Gyra Credit Spotify. Founded in by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra have consistently been one of the commercially successfully pop-jazz groups of the past 30 years. The band became a full-time venture in and has been touring ever since.

Beckenstein and his longtime friend, keyboardist Jeremy Wall, had been leading a group with a revolving membership; every one of the many members in the band were loosely involved in the local jazz and rock scenes. Around , the group was beginning to gel and cultivate a following.

A club owner who wanted to advertise an upcoming appearance by the band asked Beckenstein for the group's name. The saxophonist told him "Spirogyra," a word he learned in a college biology course. Not long afterward, the group added keyboardist Tom Schuman.