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Feature article
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Spyro Gyra brings its smooth jazz blend to ETSU
By staff report
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Jazz fusion band will headline ETSU’s 2009 homecoming concert
Legendary jazz group Spyro Gyra will headline East Tennessee State University’s 2009 Homecoming Concert on Tuesday.
Show time is 7:30 p.m. in the D.P. Culp University Center’s Martha Street Culp Auditorium.
The concert is also part of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts 2009-10 Art Series.
Originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, N.Y., Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that has released more than 25 albums, with more than 10 million copies sold.
Among the band’s hit singles are “Shaker Song” and “Morning Dance,” which received significant play on popular music radio stations and are still frequently heard nearly 30 years later on jazz and easy listening stations.
Spyro Gyra’s music, which has been influential in the development of smooth jazz, combines jazz with elements of rhythm and blues, funk and pop music.
With the exception of alto saxophonist, songwriter and founding bandleader Jay Beckenstein and keyboardist Tom Schuman, the band’s lineup has undergone some changes over the years. In addition to Beckenstein and Schuman, today’s members include Scott Ambush, Julio Fernandez and Bonny B.
Spyro Gyra has received 11 Grammy Award nominations in various categories and was awarded the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Smooth Awards in 2007.
Also performing at the homecoming concert will be ETSU’s own Jazz Doctors. Members of the Jazz Doctors have played together as a featured group for the past several years, appearing at jazz festivals, special events and extended club work as the house band at different venues. The group’s leader, Dr. David Champouillon, a Bach Trumpets Performing Artist, is professor of trumpet and jazz studies and head of the brass and jazz areas in the ETSU Department of Music.
Tickets are $10 for general admission balcony, $15 for reserved floor, $20 for reserved premium and $30 for VIP reserved center seating with a post-concert artists reception.
For more information or to order tickets, call Champouillon at 423-439-6955 or e-mail champoiu@etsu.edu, or call Anita DeAngelis at 423-439-5673 or e-mail her deangeli@etsu.edu.
--------GoTriCities--------
Spyro Gyra
WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 10
WHERE: ETSU’s D.P. Culp University Center, Johnson City
COST: $10-$30
CONTACT: 423-439-4276
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