Spyro Gyra in Des Moines

Spyro Gyra is an American jazz-fusion band formed in Buffalo in 1974 by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein. Its instrumental music draws on jazz, funk, R&B and pop, and the band is best known for “Morning Dance,” “Shaker Song” and albums including Morning Dance and Catching the Sun. Spyro Gyra performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1986, and that concert was later released on video. The live album Road Scholars documented performances recorded in 1997, while a 2013 appearance at the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival showed the band carrying the same repertoire into a later touring era. The concert format centers on instrumental ensemble playing, led by Beckenstein’s saxophone and longtime member Tom Schuman’s keyboards, supported by guitar, bass, drums and percussion. Improvisation sits inside the composed melodies, keeping Jay Beckenstein and Tom Schuman at the center of the performance.