In 2024, Jay Beckenstein and band started its observation of the fiftieth anniversary of the band. What started as a diversion, something that was just for fun (and twenty-five cents at the door) continues its evolution into 2025. It began inauspiciously when Beckenstein and a few musician friends in Buffalo, NY organized a get together on their shared night off from working in bands that actually made money. It was a simple, humble idea with a name that was likewise simple and humble, “Tuesday Night Jazz Jam”.

Spyro Gyra

Dakota

The Johnson City Jazz Festival proudly presents the iconic jazz supergroup Spyro Gyra as part of the 7th annual Johnson City Jazz Festival.

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The Johnson City Jazz Festival presents SPYRO GYRA

East Tennessee State University

Spyro Gyra returns to the Bilheimer Capitol Theatre for two shows with Lee Ritenour! After two sell-outs last year, Spyro Gyra is back! Spyro Gyra is known for their stimulating live performances and knack for crafting danceable melodies. The group have issued a steady stream of high-charting albums like 1979's gold-certified Morning Dance. Radio hits like Shaker Song, Catching the Sun, It Doesn’t Matter, A Winter Tale, and Unwritten Letter keep the band an audience favorite. To date, they have logged more than 10,000 shows on six continents and released 35 albums, garnering platinum and gold records along the way. Spyro Gyra rose from humble beginnings in Buffalo, New York in 1974 to their current international prominence in the jazz world. Every year, they continue to exhibit how to remain among a relative handful of artists who will be able to say that they have worked constantly in their 50 year career in the year 2024. Their energy and joy in concert match their unmatched musicality.

Spyro Gyra & Lee Ritenour

Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre

Spyro Gyra has long been known to its peers in the contemporary jazz world as a “well oiled road machine” due to its relentless schedule of nearly 50 years of performing. To date, they have logged more than 10,000 shows on six continents and released 35 albums, garnering platinum and gold records along the way. Spyro Gyra rose from humble beginnings in Buffalo, New York in 1974 to their current international prominence in the jazz world. Every year, they continue to exhibit how to remain among a relative handful of artists who are able to mark 50 years in the business next year. Their energy and joy in concert mirror their unmatched musicality.

Spyro Gyra's 50th Anniversary

The Paramount Theatre

In 2024, Jay Beckenstein and band observe the 50th anniversary of what started as a diversion, something that was just for fun (and twenty-five cents at the door). It began inauspiciously when Beckenstein and a few musician friends in Buffalo, NY organized a get-together on their shared night off from working in bands that actually made money. It was a simple, humble idea with a name that was likewise simple and humble, “Tuesday Night Jazz Jam”.

Spyro Gyra 50th Anniversary

When saxophone player Jay Beckenstein was at the University of Buffalo, he majored in biology before switching to music performance. One biology lesson stuck: he remembered a freshwater green alga with spiral bands of chloroplasts. He and childhood friend Jeremy Walls settled in Buffalo after graduation and began jamming with other musicians on Tuesday nights. They called those evenings Tuesday Night Jazz Jams. When their popularity rose and they added a high-schooler named Tom Schuman to join them, club owners insisted on a real name. Beckenstein remember that biology lesson and called the group Spyro Gyra. “It began as a joke,” Beckenstein said some years ago. “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.”

Spyro Gyra

Jun 29, 2025

Spyro Gyra

Apr 1, 2025

The Johnson City Jazz Festival presents SPYRO GYRA

Spyro Gyra