Spyro Gyra and related artists

Spyro Gyra signed to Lenny Silver's independent Amherst Records (named after the Buffalo suburb where Silver lived). Silver owned a successful chain of record stores in upstate New York called Record Theater, which obviously pushed the band's first r...more

Spyro Gyra signed to Lenny Silver's independent Amherst Records (named after the Buffalo suburb where Silver lived). Silver owned a successful chain of record stores in upstate New York called Record Theater, which obviously pushed the band's first record for several weeks. The promotional efforts paid off. The group's self-titled debut album in 1977 garnered enough attention and sales for MCA to take over the group's contract for its new imprint, Infinity Records. When Infinity folded in 1981, the group became an MCA act. It was the group's second album, Morning Dance, released in 1979 that broke the band nationally and eventually took it to platinum status. The band made several more albums for MCA, but none had the commercial impact of the discs they made in the beginning. In 1990, MCA closed its jazz division and moved the acts to its subsidiary, GRP. They remained with GRP until 2001, when they moved again to Heads Up Records. The band continues to record and tour today, but only Jay Beckenstein remains from the original line-up....less