The Hits Just Keep On Comin' (Free subscription) | 11/16/2008
News item: Two radio stations in Milwaukee are playing wall-to-wall Christmas music already. My 95.7 and 99.1 The Mix both started up during the day on Halloween. In Detroit, three stations are all-Christmas already, in Kansas City two, and in places such as Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, Fargo, Green Bay, and Grand Rapids, one [...]
westcoastmusic (Free subscription) | 11/15/2008
Jim Peterik - Grammy¨ winning singer, songwriter and guitar/keyboardist - has unveiled his first smooth jazz project, Jim Peterik's Lifeforce. As the founding member of both Survivor and The Ides Of March, he has been responsible for eighteen Top 10...
The COLOSSUS OF RHODEY (Free subscription) | 11/13/2008
... another one of my fave Spyro Gyra tunes. This one, "Cockatoo," my high school band director could play by heart (he's a sax player) and possibly even better than the multi-talented leader of S.G., Jay Beckenstein....
The COLOSSUS OF RHODEY (Free subscription) | 11/13/2008
... ah -- the jazz-fusion group Spyro Gyra from my mid-late teens. Man, if I only could have played like Jay Beckenstein here ... and man, is that soprano sax solo starting at about 4:09 just KILLER or what? From...
TechFlash (Free subscription) | 11/07/2008
"What we've found, and this is pretty kick-ass, is that we don't really have too much of a demographic, really. When you get right down to it, (with) video games a lot of times, it comes down to the 18- to 34-year-old male. We're kind of way outside of that paradigm. We get e-mails from 70-year-old women, who are like, 'Oh, get some Spyro Gyra in there!' And we're like, 'No, but thanks for writing...
JazzHQ (Free subscription) | 10/30/2008
Spyro Gyra has released its very first holiday recording this season with A Night Before Christmas. The set finds the very original and ecelectic contemporary jazz ensemble tackling some yuletide favorites, including "O Tannenbaum," "Let It Snow," "Christmastime Is Here," "Baby It's Cold Outside," "Silent Night," and "Carol Of The Bells." The group's leader and saxophonist, Jay Beckenstein, says that...
blue girl (Free subscription) | 10/18/2008
The Skimmer's not much of a music guy. And never really understood the depth of my love and obsession until a few years ago. We were having a garage sale and The Skimmer was up early putting the last of...
Wolfgangs Vault (Free subscription) | 10/15/2008
Listen to Spyro Gyra performed at Bottom Line on September 9, 1978
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 09/30/2008
'Twas A Night Before Christmas, and all through the land, everyone was listening ... to a world-famous band. With apologies to Clement Moore, the title of Spyro Gyra's first all-out holiday release delivers on its promise of good cheer. Founded in the mid-'70s by Jay Beckenstein and Jeremy Wall, Spyro Gyra has consistently remained among the most popular and forward-thinking instrumental groups. Its...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 09/08/2008
WILLINGBORO, NJ -- People clapped their hands and danced as the sounds of Cintron resonated through Mill Creek Park yesterday at the 27th annual Willingboro Jazz Festival. "I like the Latin jazz," Mount Laurel resident Albert Rocha said. His wife Hisae added, "You can dance or listen. Even the kids like it...
JazzHQ (Free subscription) | 08/26/2008
As the seasons change and the end of the year draws near, even the most forward thinking and cutting-edge artists take a nostalgic moment to count their blessings. Spyro Gyra has spent more than three decades pushing the boundaries and definitions of jazz beyond the commonly accepted parameters. In so doing, they continue to forge an edgy, enduring sound that incorporates some of the best elements...
The Disney Blog (Free subscription) | 07/23/2008
Ten new acts have been added to the mix of performers for the 2008 Food & Wine festival Eat To The Beat concerts at Epcot. Eight of last years acts will be returning. It’s definitely time for some new blood and the new acts are quite an eclectic group. They are: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, [...]
Guest Music Bloggers (Free subscription) | 07/17/2008
Guitarist Robert Robert recently released his 2nd smooth jazz CD, City Lights, which has been well received by his fans, and selling well at live events. One of his songs, “Monaco,” can currently be heard on smooth radio around the nation. Harris grew up in Detroit, Michigan. It was there his musical aspirations started [...]
Baltimore Sun (Free subscription) | 05/28/2008
Baltimore's smooth-jazz lovers have been left scanning the radio waves for a new station, after last week's surprise switch by WSMJ-FM (104.3) to a "rock alternative" format.
Chekhov's Mistress (Free subscription) | 05/17/2008
Not successfully anyway. David Remnick at the New Yorker tries to put together a list of the 100 Essential Jazz Albums . His preface is pretty much all admission that it's a futile exercise, that 100 albums isn't enough and that the list is narrowly focused on past masters. That's not to say his list is bad; in fact it's broadly representative of my jazz collection (a paltry 200 or so jazz albums!)...
