Smooth Sounds of the Season

The renowned jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra brings its indelible and timeless brand of “adult contemporary” music to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington for a pre-Christmas concert. The group got its start more than 35 years ago in Buffalo, NY, still its home base, as simply “Tuesday Night Jazz Jams,” and has made nearly 30 original albums since, including one platinum and two gold, plus several “best of” compilations. Their most recent CD, released just this year, is A Foreign Affair, a blend of the band’s signature smooth sound with Latin rhythms. That sound starts with Brooklyn-born founder and saxophonist Jay Beckenstein. It’s a mellow yet edgy style that has been emulated by countless other sax players. Beckenstein is joined by Tom Schuman on keyboards, Julio Fernandez on guitar, Scott Ambush on bass, and Bonny Bonaparte on drums. Of Spyro Gyra’s instrumental music, Beckenstein says, “Whether it’s touching people’s emotions or connecting them to something that reminds them of something much bigger than themselves, there’s this beauty in music that’s not connected to sentences. It’s very transportive.” The concert features many holiday standards as well as the band’s best-known pieces. Perhaps not since Bella Fleck and the Flecktones came through our area have we had this brand of fun-to-listen-to music in our backyard. A Night Before Christmas with Spyro Gyra takes place at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, MA, on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $60, $45, or $40 for members. For tickets and information, go to www.mahaiwe.org, or call the box office at 413-644-9040. Information on the band, with audio and video clips, can be found on the official website www.spyrogyra.com, and clips can also be found on YouTube.