Jazz band plans trip to Middle East this summer
But that’s exactly what’s on the schedule for Spyro Gyra this summer. They will be playing at a summer resort in southern Israel at the end of August. “It really wasn’t something that I wanted to do,’ said Jay Beckenstein, the leader and founder of Spyro Gyra. “But we’ve played there a few times in the past and really had a good time. This year I received a fax from the concert promoter asking us if we could do him a favor by going there. I felt I owed him because of all the favors he had done for me in the past.
“I wasn’t sure what the other band members wanted to do so we took a blind ballot and I was really surprised that everyone was in agreement that we should go. We all felt it was the least we could do to show our support for them. Of course, we still have to tell our wives that we’re going,’ he joked.
Incidentally, one of Beckenstein’s favorite stories involved a previous stay in Israel. Beckenstein said he was staying with a friend when some former Israeli soldiers stopped by. Soon, he said, Spyro Gyra’s hit song “Morning Dance’ came on the radio. The soldiers expressed disgust at the song, barely containing their contempt for the joyful tune.
Puzzled, Beckenstein said he asked why they didn’t like the song.
“They didn’t have anything against the song,’ Beckenstein said.
“They explained that the army played it every morning to get them up and moving, and they really came to hate it. So, I couldn’t blame them for being upset.”