VI Regroups

It's official! Vital Information will be touring the Midwest and the East Coast during late March and April of 2006.

This will be the first time in more than a year that the band will be playing the U.S. jazz club circuit. Vital Information has been quite busy playing many overseas tour-dates and selected West Coast and East Coast extended club appearances.

The individual band members have also had full schedules performing with other bands. Last year, drummer/band leader Steve Smith toured with Buddy’s Buddies and the Steps Ahead reunion group. Guitarist Frank Gambale toured with the Chick Corea Elektric Band and Billy Cobham’s Spectrum. Keyboardist Tom Coster toured with Bill Evans and Billy Cobham and bassist Baron Browne toured with Buddy’s Buddies and Tom Jones.

“It has been well over a year since we’ve played this circuit," said Steve Smith of the Spring tour. "We are all looking forward to playing some of our favorite clubs, ones we’ve never played before, and seeing our long-time fans and new fans.”

The VI tour is refreshing in that it will cover areas of the U.S. that often miss out on top jazz performers. To this point, Steve says "I have many friends who are big name jazz musicians and they focus most of their touring in Europe because it is just more lucrative. Vital Information is committed to staying in touch with the U.S. fans and playing at these intimate venues. The vibe is always exciting and we make it work financially by selling CDs, traveling by van and taking only one road-crew person.”

How does a veteran band keep it so fresh night in and night out?

Steve explains, “Vital Information has been together, recording and touring for 23 years and this current line-up has been together for seven years now. We’ve been able to keep the same line-up for so many years mainly because we have so much fun playing together.

The music continues to be fresh to us because we’re constantly updating the arrangements and our set lists. We have a large catalog of tunes to choose from and we’re working on new material as well.”

The tour starts in St. Cloud, MN, on March 28 and concludes on April 14 in Schenectady, NY. Get the most updated tour information by going to the Vital Information tour page. 
 

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