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Jay Beckenstein

Jay Beckenstein (born in Brooklyn, New York) is a saxophone player, smooth jazz artist and together with Jeremy Wall founded Spyro Gyra. He also owned a studio in New York that was called BearTracks Studios.

He also played the saxophone solo on American progressive metal band Dream Theater's "Another Day", from the album Images and Words and single version of song "Through her Eyes", from the album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He also played a solo part in "Take Away My Pain" on the live album Once in a Livetime as well as "Another Day" during the performance of Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York.

Jay's mother was an opera singer and his father's love of jazz introduced him to Charlie Parker and Lester Young when he was a baby. He started playing the piano at age 5 when he moved to Farmingdale, LI. He was given his first saxophone at the age of 7. He received a BA in music from the University at Buffalo in 1973.

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Take Five With...

Take Five with Jay Beckenstein

Read "Take Five with Jay Beckenstein" reviewed by Mark Scoop Malinowski


Status: Jazz artist. Founding member of the group Spyro Gyra. DOB: May 14, 1951 In: Brooklyn, N.Y. First Jazz Memory: “I met Cannonball Adderley when I was 12. He did a school performance around where I lived and I was just blown away." Inspirations: “The greats of jazz. My mother [Lorraine] was an opera singer and my father [Leonard] was a huge jazz fan, he just loved jazz. He turned me on ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A Foreign Affair

Amherst Records
2012

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Eye Contact

Sunnyside
2000

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