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Two CD Set!
Can be signed and personalized by Steve

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$20 (plus S&H)



Streaming links for both albums:

Click here for Time Flies!
Click here for A Prayer for the Generations!

DOLBY ATMOS versions:

Click here!
Steve Smith & Vital Information: Time Flies

Vital Information is back! Celebrationg the band's 40th Anniversary, the band has released it's new CD "Time Flies" with a companion CD "A Prayer For The Generations." Released as a two CD set signed by Steve Smith, you can order it here!

Also available (see the left column): streaming links and DOLBY ATMOS versions!

Featuring:

Steve Smith – drums
Manuel Valera - keyboards
Janek Gwizdala – bass

Special Guests


George Garzone - tenor sax
Mike Mainieri - vibraphone

 Disc 1
Time Flies
Disc 2
A Prayer For The Generations 
1. Emergence 1. One Down, One Up
2. Tempus Fugue-It 2. A Prayer For The Generations Part 1
3. Time Flies 3. A Prayer For The Generations Part 2
4. Darn That Dream 4. A Prayer For The Generations Part 3
5. Un Poco Loco 5. A Prayer For The Generations Part 4
6. Self Portrait 6. A Prayer For The Generations Part 5
7. Inception 7. A Prayer For The Generations Part 6
8. Choreography in Six 8. A Prayer For The Generations Part 7
9. No Qualm 9. A Prayer For The Generations Part 8
10. Ugly Beauty  
11. What Is This Thing Called Love?  
12. Erdnase  
 
 


Four CD Set!
Can be signed and personalized by Steve

(choose during checkout)
$20 (plus S&H)

Steve Smith & Vital Information: The Complete Columbia Recordings

Wounded Bird Records has released the first four Vital Information albums in a four CD set. The music was originally recorded for Columbia Records from 1983-1988. The albums have been newly mastered from original Ľ” masters. Steve Smith explains, “I searched my storage unit and found unmastered, Ľ” safety copies of all four albums. My mastering engineer, Jim Brick of Absolute Audio, had the tapes baked and transferred onto digital. Jim did such an amazing job with the new mastering of the albums that they sound far better than the original releases.”

The first album, called Vital Information, was recorded in January of 1983, shortly after Steve had finished recording the Journey album Frontiers. As the long-time drummer of the group Journey, Columbia Records signed Smith as a solo artist. Smith went to work recording a group of musicians he had been playing with since the early 70s at the Berklee College of Music, which became the first incarnation of Vital Information. The first album features Mike Stern and Dean Brown on guitars, Tim Landers on bass, David Wilczewski on sax with Steve Smith on drums. As Vital Information developed through extensive live touring and studio savvy, the next three albums, Orion, Global Beat, and Fiafiaga (Celebration), feature a plethora of virtuosic and talented players including Andy Narell on steel pans, Ray Gomez, Barry Finnerty and Frank Gambale on guitars, Tom Coster, Kit Walker and Jay Oliver on keyboards, Lenny Castro, Mike Fisher and Armando Peraza on percussion and Kai Eckhardt on bass. In the process of searching for master tapes, Smith found two, unreleased, bonus tracks from Global Beat: “Jave and a Nail Revisited,” a drumset and percussion improvisation with Smith and percussionist Mike Fisher, and “Forget Me Not,” a medium tempo melodic piece featuring solos by guitarist Mike Stern and pianist Tom Coster. Both tracks are included in the new Wounded Bird collection.
 Disc 1
Vital Information
Disc 2
Orion 
1. Looks Bad Feels Good  1. Future Primitive 
2. Questionable Arrivals  2. Thank You Mr. Edison 
3. V.G.  3. The Strut
4. Vital Information  4. Orion
5. All That Is  5. Blade
6. Stoughton to Stockholm Samba  6. The Adventures of Hector and Jose
7. 13th Month  7. Shadows Past
  8. Blues to Bappe II
   
Disc 3
Global Beat
Disc 4
Fiafiaga (Celebration)
1. One Flight Up 1. Please Don't Fee Bad
2. Island Holiday 2. The Chant
3. Johnny Cat 3. Maltese Connection
4. Novato 4. Celebration (Fiafiaga)
5. Sunset 5. Babaluwaiye (The Creator)
6. Jave and a Nail 6. Sunday Afternoon
7. Jave and a Nail Revisited 7. The Perfect Date
8. Global Beat 8. Whenever You're Ready
9. Black Eyebrows 9. 50/50
10. In a Low Voice  
11. Traditions in Transition  
12. Blues to Bappe I  
13. Forget Me Not  
 
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CD Signed by Steve
(not personalized)

$15 (plus S&H)

 


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Steve Smith and Vital Information NYC Edition
Heart of the City (CD)


Vital Information NYC Edition is back!

Steve Smith's band, whose lineage goes back more than 30 years, has released it's burning new album, "Heart of the City." It features 12 tunes performed by six amazing musicians: Baron Browne (bass and vocals), Mark Soskin (piano and Rhodes), Vinny Valentino (guitar), Andy Fusco (alto sax), and George Brooks (tenor and alto saxes).

All copies are signed and will be shipped immediately! And make sure to grab a copy of Vitalization plus Jazz Legacy 1 and 2 - each for just $10 PLUS a 10% discount when you purchase any two products in the store
!
1. Mr. P.C. 7. I Love You 
2. Rhythm-A-Ning 8. I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande) 
3. Eight+Five 9. City Outskirts West
4. Bugalulu 10. Open Dialogue
5. Heart of the City 11. Charukeshi Express
6. City Outskirts East  12. Cherokee (Indian Love Song) 

 


CD Signed by Steve
(not personalized):

$15.00 (plus S&H) 



Vinyl Signed by Steve
(not personalized):

$22.00 (plus S&H) 



Play along versions available!
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Steve Smith and Vital Information NYC Edition
Viewpoint (CD or Vinyl!)

2015 Release

10 new tracks, including three drum solo pieces, plus two LIVE bonus tracks!


Viewpoint (BFM Jazz) is the new release from Steve Smith and Vital Information NYC Edition!

This band is the culmination of three of Steve Smith’s touring and recording bands known as Buddy’s Buddies, Jazz Legacy and Vital Information. Viewpoint features a combination of musical styles these groups have performed as well as three members from each of the bands.

The band features Steve Smith, Baron Browne on bass, Andy Fusco on alto saxophone, Mark Soskin on piano and Fender Rhodes, Vinnie Valentino on guitar and special guest Walt Weiskopf on tenor sax.

The CD features 10 new tunes, including three drum solo pieces and two bonus live tracks!



SPECIAL VINYL EDITION - INCLDUES FREE DOWNLOAD!

Steve has a limited number of vinyl copies available! Experience this beautiful recording on high-quality vinyl - and you still get a download version for your electronic device (including two bonus tracks!)

Get either the CD or the vinyl edition with a free download using the buttons on the left.

Click here to read a great review of this CD!
 
 

CD + DVD Price:
$15.00 (plus S&H)



or click the link below to downlaod the audio portion only on iTunes for $9.99.

LIVE! One Great Night
2012 Release
CD + DVD Package (filmed in B&W)
DVD includes all tracks plus a BONUS Track!


Live! One Great Night (BFM Jazz) captures Vital Information in its natural habitat: On stage in front of an enthusiastic audience of music lovers with the band in high gear, pulling out all the stops for the entire set.

This recording is a superb example of the creative development in Vital Information’s music. Most of the compositions on Live! One Great Night were originally recorded on the studio albums Come On In and Vitalization. If you compare the performances on this release to the original recordings, you will hear significant musical growth both individually and collectively.

Our music allows for individual expression and re-invention. Every night on the bandstand we want to surprise each other with new
ideas and in the process keep our audience “in the moment” with us.

On November 7, 2007 Vital Information was nearing the end of a year of extensive world touring. The band played a date at a small venue in Oregon, and we agreed to a webcast, which at the time was a novel idea. Five years later, as Vital Information approaches its 30th Anniversary, I was looking for some documentation of our various periods and I remembered that night in Oregon. After numerous emails and phone calls I was able to track down the recording of the concert. As a bonus we also found video footage of our webcast.

After listening to the performances I was thrilled to hear that the group played an exciting set, not studio “perfect,” but alive and spontaneous, with creative grooves, inspired interaction and expansive improvisation. I felt that including a DVD of the concert added an extra dimension to this package and while editing the video, we decided to add one more song to the DVD program.

I feel that Live! One Great Night is an insightful documentation of the group’s development. Our keyboardist, Tom Coster, has been in VI since 1986 and Baron Browne has been our bass player since 1998. Guitarist Vinny Valentino joined us in 2006 and had been playing with the group just over one year at the time of this recording.

The results of this collaboration are raw and exhilarating. This line-up of Vital Information has continued to play together and evolve over the last fi ve years. But, by going back and hearing this performance in the formative year of the quartet, it feels as though we’ve uncovered an unexpected gem.

Enjoy,

- Steve Smith

Track Listing for the CD/DVD
1. Cat Walk  6. The Trouble With 
2. Time Tunnel  7. Interwoven Rhythms-Dialogue 
3. Interwoven Rhythms-Synchronous  8. The Closer 
4. Seven and a Half  9. Jimmy Jive 
5. Khanda West  10. Positano (bonus track on the DVD) 
   
 


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VITALIVE!
2009 Release
Must-have special remastered version with a bonus track and all-new liner notes!


Vital Information recorded live in 1989. Frank Gambale, guitar; Larry Grenadier, bass; Larry Schneider, sax; Tom Coster, keys, Steve Smith, drums; guest Tom Coster, Jr., keys.

"Vitalive!" is a documentation of a group that I had for a short time in the late 1980s - this configuration was the most "jazz" version of Vital Information to date. Joining long-time Vital Information members Tom Coster on keyboards and Frank Gambale on guitar, were a young 20 year-old Larry Grenadier on acoustic bass and the seasoned jazz veteran Larry Schneider on saxophone. With myself on drums the band coalesced into a unique "jazz/rock" unit with a sound that stands the test of time. Originally released on VeraBra/Intuition Records in Europe and Manhattan/Blue Note for the USA, Vitalive! has been out of print since the mid 90s. This new version has been re-mastered with a marked improvement in sound and includes an added a bonus-track that I found in the vaults."ť - Steve Smith, 2009
1. One Flight Up 7. Johnny Cat
2. Looks Bad, Feels Good 8. The Perfect Drive
3. Jave and a Nail 9. Island Holiday
4. What Lies Beyond 10. Europa
5. I Should Care 11. Mac Attack (alt. take)
BONUS TRACK!
6. Mac Attack  
 


Special Price!
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Steve Smith & Vital Information: Vitalization
2007 Release

Click here to open the preview page with extended and unedited liner notes.
1. Interwoven Rhythms - Synchronous 7. J Ben Jazz
2. Get Serious 8. You Know What I Mean
3. The Trouble With 9. Groove Time
4. The Bottom Line 10. The Closer
5. Seven and a Half 11. Jimmy Jive (for Jimmy Smith)
6. Interwoven Rhythms - Dialogue 12. Positano
 


Your Price:
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Steve Smith & Vital Information: Come On In
2004 Release

With the jazz fusion quartet's 11th album, Come On In, Tom Coster, Frank Gambale, Baron Browne and Steve Smith 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.

Click here to open the preview page, with extended and unedited liner notes!

Click on the underlined titles to hear a sample of that song!
1. Time Tunnel 7. A Little Something
2. Come On In 8. From Naples to Heaven
3. Beneath the Surface 9. Baton Rouge
4. Cat Walk 10. Fine Line
5. Around the World 11. High Wire
6. Soho  
 


Your Price:
$12.00 (plus S&H)

Steve Smith & Vital Information:
Live From Mars
2001 Release

This is a band bootleg usually available only at gigs. Frank Gambale, Tom Coster, Baron Browne, and Steve Smith recorded live during the 'Show 'Em Where You Live' tour at Mars Music in Somerville, MA. on November 18, 2000. The group burns through material from 'Show 'Em...' and more.
1. Mr. T.C. 5. Drum Improv
2. Swamp Stomp 6. Happy House
3. Cranial Jam 7. Soul Principle
4. Listen Up! 8. Over and Out!
 


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Steve Smith & Vital Information:
Show 'Em Where You Live

2001 Release

A development on the direction established on Where We Come From. This album is very high energy, adventurous and “jazz-funk-fusion” oriented. Frank Gambale, Tom Coster, Baron Browne, and Steve Smith return with their unique blend of jazz fusion performing mostly original compositions, as well as their rendition of Jimmy Heath's 'Gingerbread Boy' and more.

Click here for liner notes and credits!

1. Cranial #1 Right Now 9. Sideways Blues
2. Mr. T.C. 10. The Blackhawk
3. Shagadelic Boogaloo 11. Cranial #4 Where We Live
4. Cranial #2 The Jinx 12. The Fire Still Burns (for Jimi)
5. Soul Principle 13. Cranial #5 Awaken the Hoodoo
6. Our Man in Louisiana 14. Cranial #6 Mata Hari
7. Cat and Mouse 15. Gingerbread Boy
8. Cranial #3 Azul 16. Cranial #7 Brake Failure
 


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Steve Smith & Vital Information:
Live Around The World
Where We Come From Tour 1998-1999

2000 Release

This is a double-CD featuring Frank Gambale on guitar, Tom Coster on keys, Baron Browne on bass, and Steve Smith on drums. It was recorded live in Australia, Canada, Holland, and the U.S. during 1998/99. Fifteen live tracks and two new studio bonus tracks. Click here to read the liner notes!

1. Dr. Demento 9. It's a Jungle Out There (studio bonus track)
2. Moby Dick 10. The Drum Also Waltzes
3. Swamp Stomp 11. Take Eight
4. Cranial Jam 12. Listen Up!
5. Happy House 13. Europa
6. Fortaleza 14. Do You Read Me?
7. First Thing This Morning 15. Over and Out!
8. The Perfect Date 16. Mr. PC
  17. Soulful Drums (studio bonus track)
 


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Steve Smith & Vital Information:
Where We Come From

1998 Release

A transition recording for Vital Information, the band re-invented itself with a rootsy amalgam which ran the stylistic gamut from James Brown funk to Meters/Booker T & The MGs 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. Where We Come From won the Indie Award in 1998 for "Jazz Recording of the Year." The eighth release from Vital Information with Frank Gambale on guitar, Tom Coster on Hammond B-3, Jeff Andrews on bass, and Steve Smith on drums! Along with the groups original tunes, they cover Led Zeppelin's 'Moby Dick', Ornette Coleman's 'Happy House' and a previously unrecorded Jaco Pastorius composition 'Blow Fish Blues.'

Click here to read the liner notes!

1. Dr. Demento 9. Craniac Trilogy - Part 3: The Implant
2. Moby Dick 10. Bob
3. Craniac Trilogy-Part 1: Transport 11. Cranial Joy: Completion
4. Listen Up! 12. Happy House
5. Swamp Stomp 13. Cranial Meltdown: Dementia
6. Craniac Trilogy - Part 2: The Extraction 14. Blow Fish Blues
7. First Thing This Morning 15. Sitting Ducks
8. Take Eight 16. One in a Lifetime
  17. 008
 


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Steve Smith & Vital Information:
Ray of Hope

1996 Release

Frank Gambale, guitar; Jeff Andrews, bass; Tom Coster, keys; Steve Smith, drums. The recording just before Vital Information made a transition into being more of a “Soul-Jazz” oriented group. Strong group compositions including Over and Out, Ray Of Hope and Clouds. Jeff Andrews shines on the Horace Silver tune Peace and his own composition Fit To Be Tied. In general, this recording is Vital Info’s “smoothest” sound.
1. Clouds 7. Ray of Hope
2. Celebrate Life 8. Maxed Out
3. Rio-Lize 9. All My Love, Always
4. Lorenzo's Soul 10. Peace
5. Sacred Treasure 11. Fit to be Tied
6. Sixth Sense 12. Over and Out!
 


Your Price:
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Steve Smith & Vital Information:
Orion
1984 Release

The second Vital Information album. Dean Brown and Eef Albers play some stunning guitar together on this fusion masterpiece. Dean Brown and Eef Albers, guitar; Dave Wilczewski, sax; Tim Landers, bass; and Steve Smith, drums.
1. Future Primitive 5. Blade
2. Thank You Mr. Edison 6. The Adventures of Hector and Jose
3. The Strut 7. Shadows Past
4. Orion 8. Blues to Bappe II
 


SOLD OUT!
This title is currently
out of print.

Steve Smith & Vital Information
1983 Release

Solo debut of Steve Smith and Vital Information, recorded in 1983. Dean Brown and Mike Stern on guitars; Dave Wilczewski on sax; Tim Landers on bass; and Steve Smith on drums.
1. Looks Bad Feels Good
2. Questionable Arrivals
3. V.G.
4. Vital Information
5. All That Is
6. Stoughton to Stockholm
7. 13th Month
 
   
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