There are two fascinating parallel paths to take in understanding the ever fascinating whirlwind stirred up by legendary drummer Steve Smith. There’s the Journey guy/Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose stints with the legendary band ran from their 1978-85 heyday, their second go-round with Steve Perry (1995-98) and closer to our time, 2015-2020. Then there’s the jazz fusion powerhouse who celebrated forty years leading Steve Smith & Vital Information which originally launched in the early 70s and marked four decades of recording with 2023’s appropriately titled Time Flies. During this era, he’s also been a member of Steps Ahead.
Now featuring Grammy nominated Cuban born pianist/keyboardist Manuel Valera and electric bassist Janek Gwizdala, Smith & Vital information’s fascinating album New Perspective is like a marvelously fun, crazily peripatetic, mostly fast, furious and fiery but occasionally sweet and gentle romp through a hefty sprinkling of the drummer’s greatest hits.
On the Journey side, the trio artfully re-invents the three smashes from Escape that have never left pop consciousness – a retro soul, heavily percussive jam of “Don’t Stop Believin’ that could make stadiums rock like the original; a gorgeous, easy swinging waltz arrangement of “Open Arms” featuring some of Valera’s most sensitive piano work; and wildly improvisational “Who’s Crying Now” that builds in grooving intensity.
One could listen to these three on repeat and feel like they’ve consumed a full album, but there’s tons more explosive magic mined on the refashioned Vital Information classics, ranging from he fast moving bustle of “The Perfect Date” and the exotic barnburner “Charukeshi Express” (featuring Snith’s dynamic South Indian konnakol vocal percussion) to “Eight-Five,” another grand showcase for Valera’s otherworldly and intensely percussive piano improvisations.
The trio only delves into one Steps Ahead tune, but it’s a trippy, freewheeling delight – Michael Brecker’s “Sumo,” which has a wide-open space for Gwizdala to work his own solo magic between Valera’s snappy synth excursions. This is an extraordinary album with obvious appeal to fans of both sides of Smith’s career – and with any luck, may lead him to do full on sets of Journey and classic Vital Information songs in the future!
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