ABBA

Konikoff, Eli (1952 – Present)

Drummer and songwriter who joined Spyro Gyra during the recording of 1979’s Morning Dance, supplanting Ted Reinhardt. He remained with them through the 1984 live album, Access All Areas. He co-penned “Cockatoo”, which appeared on Catching the Sun, one of two LPs they issued in 1980. The other was Carnaval, on which Eli is credited with drums and percussion and for writing “Dizzy” with Tom Schuman. They also collaborated on the title track of 1981’s Freetime.

Other songwriting credits include “100%”, which he co-wrote with one of Spyro Gyra’s guitarists, Chet Catallo. The two of them split the band in 1984 and appeared on T Lavitz’s Extended Play. Eli wound up playing drums for Stan & the Ravens and Phil DiRe’s outfit, Blue Monday. In 1989, he was a member of The Dick Bauerle Group, which released …Measure for Measure, and reflected lyrically with fellow bard, James Richmond, on “Face in the Mirror”. His “Gamma Ray” appeared on the albums Heading for the East and Heading for Tomorrow.

In 1990, he made a precipitous appearance on Jeff Jarvis’s CD, When it Rains. You can also hear him on The Best of Spyro Gyra: The First Ten Years and The Very Best of Spyro Gyra. In 2006, he was a member of Prime Time Funk, and co-scribed “One Life to Live” for their Ready and Willing CD. On 26^th April 2009, he sat in with Chet Catallo & The Cats for a special concert commemorating the life of Ralph Ortiz at Rochester, New York’s Water Street Music Hall. Some of his compositions can be found in the sheet-music book, The Best of Spyro Gyra.

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