Breaking News from Steve Smith
Vital
Information has recently completed a new CD tentatively titled
Vitalization. We have 12 new tunes that are all written by band members,
Tom Coster (keyboards), Baron Browne (bass), Vinny Valentino (guitar), and me on
drums and konokol (Indian vocal percussion). The music was recorded in Los
Angeles, December 5-14.
On three of the
tunes, we have the extraordinary London based percussionist Pete Lockett as a
special guest. I incorporated Indian rhythms and ideas into some of the tunes
and I wanted Pete to come to LA and enhance the music by performing on tabla,
kanjira, and konokol.
Pete is a master
Indian drummer and we've played a few duo and trio concerts over the years,
which gave me the idea to have him sit in with Vital Information. Both medleys at the top of this page have some Indian rhythms from two songs on Vitalization.
One of my
favorite sax players, Bill Evans, is also a guest and appears on four tracks.
Bill has toured with Vital Information as a special guest in 2003 but he
hasn’t been in the studio with us. Bill and I also tour together in both
Steps Ahead and Soulbop, so it was natural to have him sit in on the
recording. The tune "The Bottom Line" is one of the tunes with Bill joining us.
Enjoy a short preview of these tunes at the top of this page. Vitalization will be released on June 5, 2007. Our new label, Hudson Music, will be distributing the CD through drum shops and music stores, which they feel the best way to reach the core of our fans. You will also be able to purchase the CD on our Web site:
www.vitalinformation.com
Background
Steve Smith and Vital
Information has become a
formidable jazz/fusion juggernaut whose longevity surpasses all of the major
fusion groups. The all-star lineup of
Tom Coster
(keyboards), Baron
Browne (bass),
Vinny Valentino
(guitar) and Steve Smith (drums)
serve up a veritable banquet of sounds, from slamming funk and syncopated second
line grooves to seriously swinging, uptempo B-3 burners, South Indian Carnatic
inspired jams and sizzling fuzoid romps.
The group’s founder and drummer,
Steve Smith,
has a resume that stretches from
Ahmad Jamal, Zakir Hussain,
The Buddy Rich Big Band and
Steps Ahead to
Andrea Bocelli and
Journey. (www.myspace.com/stevesmith)
It is no surprise that he won Modern Drummer Magazine's #1 All Around Drummer
award five years in a row and was voted one of the Top 25 Drummers of All Time.
In 2002 Smith was voted into the Modern
Drummer Hall of Fame.
In the last ten years, Smith has led or co-led fifteen
different jazz or jazz/rock projects for the Tone Center label. His educational
Hudson Music DVD "Steve Smith - Drumset Technique and History of the U.S. Beat"
is a best seller in the music educational market. Steve is also the bandleader
of Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy, a straight-ahead jazz group
dedicated
to playing music honoring the
legacy of many of the great jazz drummers (www.myspace.com/stevesmithjazzlegacy).
Steve Smith is one of the most constantly evolving drummers on the scene today.
Smith is quick to point out that a key to the band’s remarkable
versatility is its bassist,
Baron Browne. "Baron brought a
real serious groove element to the band," says Smith of his rhythm section
partner. "He’s my favorite bass player to play with because he can play all the
styles and he always makes the music feel so good. Baron plays great swing,
great funk and groove, he can read anything, play in any odd time signature plus
he can play over changes really well. It’s hard to find bass players who can do
all of that." Browne has worked in the past with
Gary Burton,
Billy Cobham,
Jean-Luc Ponty,
Steps Ahead
and Tom Jones, he is also the
bass player in Steve Smith’s straight-ahead jazz group Steve Smith’s Jazz
Legacy.
Unique multi-keyboardist
Tom Coster,
whose versatility ranges from Hammond B3 to accordion, was playing with
Gabor Szabo
and Rahsaan Roland Kirk long
before he came to prominence in Santana,
a stay that lasted nine years. He has recorded many solo albums and has been a member of Vital Information since 1986. Tom also tours with
Billy Cobham and
Bill Evans.
Vinny Valentino is the newest member
of Vital Information. Vinny began touring in a progressive rock band while still
in high school. At age 16, influenced by the music of
George Benson,
Vinny began pursuing jazz as a career. He recalls, "The turning point for me was
hearing George Benson in concert; I had never heard anybody play like that. It
was an eye-opening experience." Vinny and his mentor George have since developed
a close friendship. George Benson refers to Vinny as "a young genius with
brilliant tone and fresh ideas."
Vinny earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies at Howard
University. Vinny has shared the stage or recording studio with such jazz greats
as Gary Bartz,
Randy Brecker,
Bill Evans,
John Pattitucci,
Richard Bona,
Bob Moses, George Benson,
Steve Gadd,
Dennis Chambers, and
Jimmy McGriff.
Vital
Information recorded four albums for Columbia records, Vital Information
(1983), Orion (1984), Global Beat (1986), Fiafiaga
(Celebration) (1988) and two recordings for Blue Note; Vitalive!
(1991) and Easier Done Than Said (1992). On Intuition Music, they
released Ray Of Hope (1996) followed by the group’s 1998 recording, Where We
Come From, which was a new beginning for Vital Information.
The band had
decided to reintroduce themselves to their musical roots and the result is a rootsy amalgam which ran the stylistic gamut from James Brown funk to Booker T &
The MGs, Memphis soul to searing Tony Williams Lifetime-inspired fusion while
making further allusions to jazz icons like Buddy Rich, Jimmy Smith, Wes
Montgomery and Ornette Coleman along the way. As a result, Where We Come was
voted Best Contemporary Jazz Recording Of 1998 by the Association For
Independent Music.
That Americanized formula became more clarified on 2000’s
Live Around The World, and their group chemistry solidified on 2001’s
Show ‘Em Where You Live, which was released on Tone Center in the USA and
Intuition in Europe. On the band’s 11th album, Come On In, Vital Information
continues to hone its "U.S. music" direction while staking out some adventurous
new territory. The seasoned veterans cover a lot of bases on Come On In
and do it all in such convincing fashion. The band has 10 new compositions they
have been playing live and are preparing to record their 12th album
in December, 2006.
There isn’t a
more flexible and disciplined band of killer players on the jazz scene today
than Vital Information.
www.vitalinformation.com
