| Q. |
Is Spyro Gyra going to come out with another video? |
| A. |
We have just released “Live At The North Sea Jazz Festival.” It is available at our shows and will be available from our website soon.
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| Q. |
Why haven't you played in ____________ lately? |
| A. |
To answer this, you need to understand how a concert happens. A
concert promoter or club owner decides to put an artist in some venue
and promote a show, that is, provide sound and lighting, advertise the
show, pay the band, stagehands, other personnel among other expenses.
He or she does this based on an idea that enough people will buy
tickets to make the risk worthwhile. An artist cannot just decide to
play somewhere, they need to be invited by someone willing to take a
financial risk. When an artist like Spyro Gyra, who plays all over the
world, hasn't played where you are, it's probably because they haven't
been asked. This may be because the local promoter doesn't know how big
the audience is for that band there. When this happens, don't blame the
band. Ask your local promoter to consider bringing the band to town.
When he or she hears this from enough people, it will probably happen.
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| Q. |
Where did the name Spyro Gyra come from? |
| A. |
When the band started out in Buffalo NY, there was no name for the
group. The beginnings of the band grew out of a weekly jam session at a
club in Buffalo named Jack Daniel's. Since it was very informal, the
weekly session was known only as "Tuesday Night - Jazz Jam". As the
popularity grew, the club owner wanted to put a name of the group on a
new sign that he had just bought for the front of the club. One late
night, that owner was asking Jay to decide on a name for his sign. Jay
jokingly said, "Call it spirogira." Spirogira is an algae that Jay had
remembered from biology class that is commonly known as "pond scum." The
next week, that name was on the sign incorrectly spelled as "Spyro Gyra."
In short, it was a joke.
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| Q. |
Do you guys still live in Buffalo? |
| A. |
The group moved its base of operations to the suburbs of New York City
in 1981 where it remains today. Three of the guys live in the New York area and the other
two live in the D.C. area.
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| Q. |
Where can I find sheet music for your songs? |
| A. |
We will soon have the songs from "Original Cinema" "In Modern Times"
and "Got The Magic" available for download from this site. If you would
like to see some of the earlier songs made available, please direct your
requests to: Harlem Music, 1762 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14208 USA.
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| Q. |
What happened to Dave Samuels? |
| A. |
Dave had been getting increasingly busy in 1994 with another group,
the Caribbean Jazz Project. He wanted to make it his main focus and so
left the group to pursue this new group. Dave continues to contribute to
Spyro Gyra albums as a guest musician.
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| Q. |
Is Dave going to rejoin Spyro Gyra in the future? |
| A. |
While never is a long time, it seems that the current situation is
working out well for both Spyro Gyra and Dave, so it seems unlikely to
change in the near future. Newer fans may not know this, but Dave wasn't
an official member of the group for its early years, but instead was a
guest on the first seven albums. So, in a sense, the departure of Dave
from the touring group represents something of a return to its roots for the band.
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| Q. |
I was wondering and have been for some time what the meanings of some of
Spyro Gyra's song titles are. Could you tell me what these mean:
"Cashaca"; Why "Carnaval" with an "a"?; "Soho Mojo"; Who's "Binky" in
"Binky's Dream No.6"?; "Cayo Hueso"; Who's "Hannibal" in "Hannibal's
Boogie"?; "4MD"; Who's "Pipo" in "Pipo's Song"?; Who's "Igor" in
"Breakfast at Igor's"?; and lastly, "Bahia". |
| A. |
"Cachaca", not "Cashaca", is a Brazilian liquor. "Carnaval" is the name
of the the festival in Brazil similar to Mardi Gras. Jay Beckenstein was
living in the Soho section of New York when he wrote "Soho Mojo". "Binky"
was a member of the road crew. "Cayo Hueso" is another name for Key West,
Florida. "Hannibal" was a famous general from Africa who conquered
Southern Europe with the help of elephants carrying the army's provisions
across the mountains. "4MD" is short for "for Miles Davis". "Pipo" was
the nickname of Julio Fernandez's father. "Igor's" is a bar in New
Orleans with short order food. "Bahia" is a state in northern Brazil.
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| Q. |
On "Access All Areas" CD it says that one selection was omitted. Can you tell me which one?
Was it "Old San Juan"? |
| A. |
Yes, it was "Old San Juan".
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| Q. |
Why are "Graffiti" and "Collection" no longer available? "Collection" says that the version it
has of "Mallet Ballet" was released on a promo-only "EP Spyro Gyra Live". Can you tell me
what that is? |
| A. |
"Collection" and "Graffiti" are no longer available because the songs
that appear on those releases now belong to two different record
companies, GRP and Amherst. A "promo only EP" is a collection of songs
which was never available for sale, i.e. only for promotion, that are
less than a full album.
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