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Not long afterward, the group added keyboardist Tom Schuman. The owner misspelled the word as Spyro Gyra, and the band fell into place, featuring Beckenstein, Wall, Jim Kurzdorfer, and Tom Walsh. The saxophonist told him "Spirogyra," a word he learned in a college biology course. A club owner who wanted to advertise an upcoming appearance by the band asked Beckenstein for the group's name. 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.Īround 1974, the group was beginning to gel and cultivate a following. The roots of Spyro Gyra lie in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. They have also earned over ten Grammy nominations, for albums including 1980's Catching the Sun, 1990's Fast Forward, and 2009's Down the Wire. Known for their stimulating live performances and knack for crafting danceable melodies, the group has issued a steady stream of high-charting albums like 1979's gold-certified Morning Dance, 1981's Freetime, and 2001's In Modern Times. Taking inspiration from bands like Weather Report and Return to Forever, Spyro Gyra broke through in the mid-'70s, combining R&B and elements of pop and Caribbean music with jazz. Led by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra are one of the most consistently commercially successfully pop-jazz groups to emerge out of the fusion era.