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9 Questions with Steve
Smith - click
here to read the interview on the Musician's Friend site.
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Submit a Question to
Steve Smith |
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Do you have a
question you'd like to ask Steve? Fire away! E-mail your
question to
questions@vitalinformation.com . Steve can't answer
questions personally, but he'll answer as many as he can in
future
issues of The Vital Informer. |
Steve Marcus Tribute
-
Steve, Buddy's Buddies, and the
Buddy Rich Big Band, plus guest musicians and speakers, will pay
tribute to the great man and great tenor sax player who held first-chair
for an incredible 12 years in the Buddy Rich Big Band.
Sunday, May 28
Tribute to Steve Marcus
7:30pm - St. Peters Lutheran Church
619 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10022
212.935.2200
Click
here to read Steve's thoughts on the great Steve Marcus.
Recent Reviews
- here are some reviews of Steve and the band. Special thanks to
Modern Drummer, LA Weekly, and AllMusic for these
stories.
STEVE SMITH &
VITAL INFORMATION
"COME ON IN"
(Tone Center)
* * * * (Four Stars out of Five)
Steve Smith continues to focus on combining traditional American music
style with a universal rhythmic spotlight centered on the swing pulse.
Throughout Come On In, he bends the
groove freely while connecting with the melodies and rhythmic changes.
He also tries his hand at ethnic percussion here, with two tracks
performed on Udu drum.
Smith has reached a polyrhythmic mastery
that few drummers today possess. Most notable in this batch of tunes is
the multicultural “Baton Rouge,” featuring South Indian motifs and Smith
soloing effortlessly in 5/4. This band has reached a level of
sophisticated musical communication that’s nearly spiritual.
- Mike Haid, Modern Drummer
CALENDAR * PICKS OF THE WEEK
January 21 - 27, 2005
Jazz - Steve Smith & Vital Information
When you hear Steve Smith’s drumming, you get the feeling of an old
soul.
Anybody with good hands and a quick mind can
"learn" New Orleans, bop, rock and every other kind of rhythm, as he did
at Berklee and what-all. But the fullness and wholeness of his sound,
whether he’s driving or teasing, makes you think all those courses were
just ways of refreshing his genetic memory; the word fusion slights a
man who makes multiple eras live at once in his body.
Stints with Jean-Luc Ponty,
Montrose, Journey and so many others (musicians want him)
have really been preludes to or sidetracks from his own Vital
Information, which has been churning a polyrhythmic groove for over
two decades, and released its 11th (!) album last year.
Smith, bassist Baron Browne, keyboardist Tom
Coster and guitarist Frank Gambale know one another, and make that
knowledge count. At Catalina Bar & Grill, Tues.-Sun., Jan. 25-30.
- Greg Burk, LA Weekley
Come on In
Steve Smith/Vital Information
Rating: 4 Stars
Label: Tone Center
Steve Smith's Vital Information has
evolved from being a fusion band into one that is closer to soul jazz.
He had led units under the Vital
Information name for 21 years when he recorded Come On In, a
tight quartet album featuring guitarist Frank Gambale (of Chick Corea's
Elektric Band), keyboardist Tom Coster (who also plays accordion)
and bassist Baron Browne. The music includes some grooves worthy of Joe
Zawinul, straight-ahead sections, catchy themes, and plenty of funky
rhythms that avoid being predictable, plus a heated up-tempo blues "A
Little Something."
Smith is mostly in the background, content
to propel and inspire his sidemen into playing some of their finest
music. This set, which crosses many musical boundaries, reveals Steve
Smith's Vital Information to be one of the most underrated bands
in modern jazz and serves as an excellent introduction to the group's
music.
- Scott Yanow, AllMusic
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