Bemsha Swing Minus Guitar

Bemsha Swing minus guitar

From the Steve Smith and Vital Information NYC edition CD, Viewpoint, this is the Thelonious Monk composition “Bemsha Swing,” minus guitar.  The band features Steve Smith, Baron Browne on bass, Andy Fusco on alto saxophone, Mark Soskin on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Vinny Valentino on guitar.

Bemsha Swing Minus Drums

Bemsha Swing minus drums

From the Steve Smith and Vital Information NYC edition CD, Viewpoint, this is the Thelonious Monk composition “Bemsha Swing,” minus drums.  The band features Steve Smith, Baron Browne on bass, Andy Fusco on alto saxophone, Mark Soskin on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Vinny Valentino on guitar.

The Chicken minus drums

This is the the funk jazz standard, “The Chicken” minus the drum track.  Made famous by Jaco Pastorius and composed by Pee Wee Ellis.

The Chicken minus keyboards

This is the the funk jazz standard, “The Chicken” minus the keyboard track.  Made famous by Jaco Pastorius and composed by Pee Wee Ellis.

The Chicken minus guitar

This is the the funk jazz standard, “The Chicken” minus the guitar track.  Made famous by Jaco Pastorius and composed by Pee Wee Ellis.

The Chicken minus bass

This is the the funk jazz standard, “The Chicken” minus the bass track.  Made famous by Jaco Pastorius and composed by Pee Wee Ellis.

The Chicken

This is the complete recording of the funk jazz standard, “The Chicken.”  Made famous by Jaco Pastorius and composed by Pee Wee Ellis.

Groove Time minus drums

From the Steve Smith and Vital Information recording Vitalization, this is the track Groove Time.  This track features Tom Coster on keyboards, bassist Baron Browne and Vinny Valentino on guitar.

Upon close listening, you’ll notice that the aptly titled “Groove
Time” and “Jimmy Jive” are the same tune, written by Tom Coster, with two contrasting treatments. For “Groove Time” the band incorporates some Washington, DC “Go-Go” rhythms into the arrangement and for “Jimmy Jive” the band embraces a greasy Jimmy Smith approach. Tom dedicates the latter version to the late B3 master.

You Know What I Mean minus drums

From the Steve Smith and Vital Information recording Vitalization, this is the track You Know What I Mean.  This track features Tom Coster on keyboards, bassist Baron Browne and Vinny Valentino on guitar.

“You Know What I Mean” is quintessential Vital Information. This composition, written by the entire band, is based on some of Smith’s funkiest drumbeats to date. For this tune, Steve combines many different approaches and concepts of funk.

At the beginning we hear the snaky and slippery style of 70s San Francisco funk, he eventually morphs this with some second line feel and later swings hard with a backbeat — some NYC “swunk” — and Baron Browne is with him every step of the way, the two musicians working as one. In his guitar solo Valentino maneuvers the shifting ground by taking chances and landing on his feet.

After Bill Evans’ haunting soprano saxophone enters, Smith introduces a feel reminiscent of Al Foster’s drumming with Miles Davis. This unique approach implies half time and double time simultaneously, giving the soloist lots of room.

Gilad’s melodic congas and Vinny’s wickedly funky guitar serve to further enhance this extraordinarily grooving interlude. Finally, all of the melodic lines reappear, twisting around one another before Evans and Coster trade some angular phrases and take us home.

Seven and a Half minus drums

From the Steve Smith and Vital Information recording Vitalization, this is the track Seven and a Half.  This track features Tom Coster on keyboards, bassist Baron Browne and Vinny Valentino on guitar.

The tune “Seven and a Half,” is based on a tribal sounding drum rhythm that Smith came up with in 15/8, which South Indian musicians call 7 1/2. This drum theme, which Lockett doubles in perfect unison on the kanjira, reappears each time with an altered ending repeated three times before resolving to beat one, what the Indian musicians call a “tihai.”

Unfortunately, tunes written in odd times sometime contain mechanical grooves that never seem to rise above merely stating the “uneven” time signature. However, with Vital Information, this is clearly not the case — this tune grooves hard.

In fact, Smith and the band make the Indian concept of playing in 7 1/2 downright funky. They collectively accomplish this by playing through the “ones” and concentrating on their entire soloing statements instead of the exotic time signature. Note the scorching “rock-guitar” solo after Smith’s outrageous solo; it’s actually a synth solo by Coster!