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This year’s Johnson City Jazz Festival will feature the iconic jazz supergroup Spyro Gyra at the ETSU Martin Center on Tuesday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the annual Johnson City Jazz Festival.

In 2024, Jay Beckenstein and band observed the 50th anniversary of what started as a diversion, something that was just for fun (and twenty-five cents at the door). It began inauspiciously when Beckenstein and a few musician friends in Buffalo, N.Y., organized a get together on their shared night off from working in bands that actually made money. It was a simple, humble idea with a name that was likewise simple and humble, “Tuesday Night – Jazz Jam.” Fast forward 50 years and this jazz super group has released over 30 albums, garnering gold and platinum along the way. They’ve played over 10,000 concerts on six continents. Spyro Gyra has maintained its standards of excellence and that has sustained them on the “A list” of live attractions in jazz for 50 years.

This year’s Johnson City Jazz Festival will also be part of a major fundraising effort for regional jazz musicians impacted by Hurricane Helene. Working with the Jazz Foundation of America, a non-profit focused on assisting Jazz, Blues, and Roots musicians impacted by America’s natural disasters, a portion of each ticket sold will benefit the Jazz Foundation of America for a fund that will be directed specifically to Asheville’s jazz community.

Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, Jan. 24.