Around this time, a young keyboardist named Tom Schuman began sitting in when he was only sixteen years old. Tuesday just happened to be the night when most musicians weren’t playing other gigs to pay their bills. 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. Wall attended college in California, and after both graduated, Beckenstein stayed in Buffalo’s thriving music scene, where Wall eventually joined him. During summer breaks, he and an old high school friend, keyboardist Jeremy Wall, played gigs together back on Long Island. Beckenstein attended the University at Buffalo, starting out as a biology major before changing to music performance (read classical and avant garde). 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.īorn 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.
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. As Spyro Gyra looks forward to 2020 and beyond, they show no sign of slowing down.