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Jay Barnet Beckenstein (born May 14, 1951) is an American saxophonist, composer, producer, and the co-founder of the band Spyro Gyra. He owned BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York.
Spyro Gyra / ˌspaɪroʊˈdʒaɪrə / is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. The band's music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop music. The band's name comes from Spirogyra, a genus of green algae which founder Jay Beckenstein had learned about in college.
Born in Brooklyn, bandleader Jay 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. Beckenstein attended the University at Buffalo, starting out as a biology major before changing to music performance (read classical and avant garde).
Alto (and sometimes soprano) saxophonist Jay Beckenstein founded the highly successful crossover jazz outfit Spyro Gyra in 1974 and led the group throughout more than a quarter-century tenure. Beckenstein…
Jan 30, 2020 · Spyro Gyra, an interview with Jay Beckenstein. October 2019 saw the release of Spyro Gyra’s first album of new material in six years. Once again, they have upset expectations by recording an album of all cover songs. In a nod to drawing heavily from their earlier pop and rock influences, it’s called Vinyl Tap.
BearTracks Recording Studio was a recording studio complex in Suffern, New York, owned by Jay Beckenstein of Spyro Gyra and built in the early 1980s. Operating from 1982 at 926 Haverstraw Road in Suffern, the studio is no longer in business.
Jay Beckenstein plays Cannonball Saxophones. I was born April 28th, in the not too distant past, in Frederick, Maryland to Webster and Jeanette Lofton Ambush. I was preceded by my sister Cassandra, and followed by brother Peter and sister Tracy.
