Spyro Gyra Heads to Bull Run Restaurant Sunday, April 15, 7 PM

April 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Shirley, MA--The legendary Bull Run Restaurant, built in 1740 and once known as the “Stagecoach Inn” will present Spyro Gyra on Sunday, April 15 at 7 PM. Tickets at $45.00 in advance and $50.00 day of show are on sale now at www.bullrunrestaurant.com or by calling 978-425-4311 or 877-536-7190.  A small ticketing service charge applies to all tickets on line as well as at the door.   This concert is wheelchair accessible.

Bull Run is located at 215 Great Road, in the historic country town of Shirley, Massachusetts, about one hour northwest of Boston.  An arrival at Bull Run seems a bit like arriving at country oasis of Chef Isaac Carter's greeat food, drink and top-notch music.

As Spyro Gyra contemplates upcoming milestones to its storied career, it’s tempting to fall back on the Grateful Dead lyric, “What a long strange trip it’s been” to describe it. During that time, they have performed over five thousand shows, released twenty-nine albums (not counting “Best Of…” compilations) selling over ten million albums while also achieving one platinum and two gold albums.  These upcoming milestones include 2012, which will be thirty-five years since their first album release and 2014 will be forty years as a band.  They show little sign of wanting to slow down either, gaining Grammy® nominations for each of their last four albums.

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). During summer breaks, he and an old high school friend, keyboardist Jeremy Wall, played gigs together back on Long Island. Wall attended college in California, and after both graduated, Beckenstein stayed in Buffalo’s thriving music scene, where Wall eventually joined him.

"Not many people know it, but Buffalo was like a mini Chicago back then, with a smoking blues, soul, jazz, even rockabilly scene, of all things," Beckenstein muses. "After being confined to classical music for so long, it was heaven. I was in the horn sections around town, backing some great vocalists."

Spyro Gyra, whose odd name has since become world famous, was first known simply as “Tuesday Night Jazz Jams,” a forum wherein Beckenstein and Wall were joined by a rotating cast of characters. Tuesday just happened to be the night when most musicians weren’t playing other gigs to pay their bills. Around this time, a young keyboardist named Tom Schuman began sitting in when he was only sixteen years old. This young man, of course, remains a member to this day.

"Don't forget the interminable Dead-like solos we were taking," Beckenstein cracks. "We were the kings of self-indulgence, but eventually we earned our right to charge a quarter at the door. It was a complete shock when word of our psychosis got out and we started packing them in!"

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