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.
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Beckenstein attended the State University at Buffalo, starting out as a biology major before changing to music performance. We just happen to be walking on a slightly more forgiving tightrope.”īorn in Brooklyn, 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. There are always surprises that way, but our openness to those surprises is what makes this band what it is. And when you’re improvising in front of a crowd, you’re really walking down that wire. It’s about both satisfying yourself and satisfying your audience. “There are always balances to be found – between the individual player and the group, between the songwriter and the player. “That’s what has kept this band going,” says Beckenstein.
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While the stakes might not be as high for a jazz band improvising in a recording studio or in front of a live audience, SPYRO GYRA’s Jay Beckenstein understands the passion that drives a person and makes “life on the wire” so appealing.įor more than three decades, the band has maintained a position at the forefront of modern jazz by successfully managing not just one, but several feats of creative dexterity. The patriarch of the famous aerialist family certainly knew what he was talking about after a lifetime of thrilling, edge-of-the-seat performances for his audiences.