(RAHWAY, NJ) -- Smooth Jazz New Jersey presents jazz fusion legends Spyro Gyra on their 50th anniversary tour Saturday, September 14, 2024 at Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center with shows at 5:30pm & 8:00pm. 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 performing over 5 decades.
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 was created in the mid 1970’s, when musicians and former band mates Jeremy Wall and Jay Beckenstein reunited after college. The two men began experimenting with R&B covers, mostly instrumental, and eventually they teamed up with Tom Walsh and Jim Kurzdorfer to form Spyro Gyra, in Buffalo, New York, which at the time had a growing jazz scene. Spyro Gyra began performing around town, eventually reaching into cities outside of the area, and the band eventually added additional musicians to their performances as they continued to grow in popularity. After some additional changes to the lineup, in 1977, Spyro Gyra released their self-titled debut. The album eventually rose to become one of the top 40 Jazz Albums in 1978, and launched a series of successful albums for the next two decades.
Tickets are $80 and available for purchase online. Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center is located at 360 Hamilton Street in Rahway, New Jersey.
Spyro Gyra’s unique brand of jazz fusion has enabled them to last through the decades, with continued success well into the new millennium. Thus far, Spyro Gyra has been recognized with a number of Grammy nominations, including nods for Best Jazz Fusion Performance (1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985); Best Pop Instrumental Performance (1985); and Best Pop Instrumental Album (2008, 2009, and 2010.) The band also received the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. In total, Spyro Gyra has so far released more than thirty albums, selling more than ten million copies.
After decades of presenting Smooth Jazz in New York either as a Producer for NY based Marquee Concerts, or as a Promoter, the founder of the CD101.9 Smooth Cruise is bringing live “Contemporary Jazz” and R&B to New Jersey.
Rich Engel a New Jersey resident has for decades, been involved with Smooth Jazz in NY with a particular concentration on the “Smooth Cruise” a two-hour music sailing on the Hudson River, with a view of the New York City skyline.
With the advent of Covid 19, the Smooth Cruise ended operations after the summer of 2019. Recognizing that approximately half of the passengers on the Smooth Cruise New York were making the trip from N.J. to see the top names in Adult Contemporary Jazz and R&B, it seemed apparent that a void existed.
With too few venues in New Jersey offering live nationally recognized Smooth Jazz and R&B artists, the creation of Smooth Jazz New Jersey now exists. The mission is to bring live nationally recognized contemporary Jazz and R&B music to venues in New Jersey.
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