Legendary jazz group Spyro Gyra will present East Tennessee State University’s 2009 Homecoming Concert on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 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.

Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, N.Y.

With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, it is among the most prolific and commercially successful groups on the jazz scene. Among the band’s successful 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 R&B, funk and pop music.

Its members have been praised as skilled instrumentalists and live performers. With the exception of alto saxophonist, songwriter and founding band leader Jay Beckenstein and keyboardist Tom Schuman, the band’s lineup has changed somewhat over time.

Spyro Gyra has received 11 Grammy Award nominations in various categories and was awarded the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards in 2007.

Also performing will be ETSU’s own Jazz Doctors. Members of The Jazz Doctors, all of whom have established national reputations as successful performing and recording artists, 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, now on sale by calling 423-439-4276, 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, contact Champouillon at 439-6955 or champoui@etsu.edu, or Anita DeAngelis, director of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, at 439-5673 or deangeli@etsu.edu.

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