Steve Smith
(Journey/Steps Ahead) - drums
Manuel Valera
(Dafnis Prieto/John Patitucci) – keyboards
Janek Gwizdala
(Peter Erskine/Mike Stern) - bass
Drummer
Steve Smith has been touring and recording with
his group Vital
Information since 1983. In 2023 Steve Smith
celebrated the 40th Anniversary of his group by
releasing a newly recorded double CD entitled
TIME FLIES. Their 2025 album, NEW PERSPECTIVE,
features songs that Steve Smith has previously
recorded over the course of his career with
Journey, Steps Ahead and Vital Information but
with new arrangements that are vastly different
from the original recordings. Included in NEW
PERSPECTIVE are three Journey songs, “Who’s
Crying Now,” “Open Arms,” and “Don’t Stop
Believin,’” a Steps Ahead tune written by
Michael Brecker called “Sumo,” three Vital
Information classics that have been reworked:
“The Perfect Date,” Charukeshi Express,” and
“Eight+Five,” plus two new compositions, “Three
Of A Kind,” and “Josef the Alchemist.”
The newest line-up of Vital Information features
two virtuoso musicians with vast experience.
Keyboardist
Manuel Valera, is
a Guggenheim Fellow and Grammy nominated artist,
born and raised in Havana, Cuba, now living in
NYC. Manuel plays and records with many of the
New York jazz elite like Antonio Sanchez, Dafnis
Prieto and John Patitucci.
Electric
bassist
Janek Gwizdala,
originally from London, currently living in Los
Angeles, records and tours with Peter Erskine,
Mike Stern and Randy Brecker and is one of
today’s most in-demand bass players. Both new
members of Vital Information are bandleaders, in
their own right, and recording artists with
multiple recordings to their names.
The
new trio version of
Steve Smith & Vital Information
collectively creates a powerhouse sound.
Although the band is rooted in the
straight-ahead swing of bebop, at times the
group explores exotic time-signatures from the
world of South Indian Carnatic music and have
arranged adventurous funk-driven renditions of
jazz standards. Seeing Steve Smith & Vital
Information live in concert is a perfect
opportunity to experience their high-level
musicianship, sense of joy onstage and
collective virtuosic improvisation.
Steve
Smith had this to say about Vital Information’s
philosophy:
“Our music allows for
individual expression and re-invention. We
thrive on swing, groove and creativity. We want
to surprise each other every night on the
bandstand with new ideas and in the process keep
our audience ‘in the moment’ with us.”
Steve Smith began playing drums when he was
nine, growing up in the Boston area. After high
school he attended the Berklee College of Music,
studied with Alan Dawson and Gary Chaffee, and
worked with Jean-Luc Ponty during 1976-77,
playing on Ponty’s landmark album Enigmatic
Ocean. His seven years as the drummer with
Journey (1978-85) was the time the group
recorded their enduring body of work. In
addition to leading Vital Information during the
past 41 years, he has been part of several Buddy
Rich tribute bands, worked with Steps Ahead, and
played with such adventurous jazz musicians as
Mike Stern, Dave Liebman, Ahmad Jamal, Larry
Coryell and Hiromi among many others.
Steve Smith was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 2017 and has won numerous
Modern Drummer Readers Polls
including being named one of the Top 25 Drummers
of All Time. On September 20, 2023 Steve Smith
was inducted into the
Zildjian Cymbal Hall of Fame
as part of the Zildjian 400th Anniversary
celebration.
www.vitalinformation.com
