Spyro Gyra in Fort Lauderdale

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.

Jeff Lorber is an American keyboardist, composer and producer who formed Jeff Lorber Fusion in Portland, Oregon, in 1977. His melodic jazz-funk and contemporary fusion became known through records including Wizard Island and Galaxian, as well as the composition “Rain Dance.” Jeff Lorber Fusion later won a Grammy Award for the album Prototype. Jeff Lorber Fusion has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival and, decades later, at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta. Touring lineups in the group’s revived era have included bassist Jimmy Haslip and saxophonist Eric Marienthal, both established collaborators on its recordings. Jeff Lorber leads the electric ensemble from keyboards, supported by saxophone, bass and drums. In Seattle he has played Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, while his Tokyo engagements have included Blue Note Tokyo.