Record Reviews

STEVE SMITH / VITAL INFORMATION ~ VITALIZATION HUDSON 101 (Barcode: 884088156442) ~ USA ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2006 Released: 2007 This is the twelfth album by the American Jazz / Fusion drummer Steve SmithFind albums by this artist and his quartet Vital InformationFind albums by this artist, which includes veteran keyboardist Tom CosterFind albums by this artist, bassist Baron BrowneFind albums by this artist and the new guitar player Vinny ValentinoFind albums by this artist. Several guest musicians also take part in the recording, including the excellent saxophonist Bill EvansFind albums by this artist. The album presents twelve original compositions, all by the group members, often co-composed by more than one person. Vital Information has been active since the early 1980s and is one of the steadiest and most consistent American Fusion bands and Steve Smith is one of the most respected and revered American drummers with an impressive resume and practically limitless experience. The album presents an interesting twist on two of the tracks, which is the result of Smith´s studies of Indian rhythms, which he utilizes by using konnakol (Indian vocal, i.e. sung, percussion). The rest of the material is completely straight forward Fusion stuff, perfectly executed by all the musicians, with a lot of Funky beats and incredible feel. The music is quite nice, but does not offer anything that the genre did not present earlier on. Basically the album epitomizes Fusion (and particularly American Fusion) as a genre that got out of wind decodes ago and has been threading in one place since. In spite the fact that there are incredibly talented musicians involved, the music offers more of the same time after time. Perhaps Fusion is still a viable environment for live music, but on record it lost its impact long time ago. Fusion fans will find this definitely interesting and worth listening to; as for the rest of the music loving community, it is always great to play this music while driving an open car in hot climates.

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend