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Gambale/Hamm/Smith: The Light Beyond
by Todd S. Jenkins
Half of Vital Information unites with a former chops-metal icon to produce their second masterfully hewn fusion disc. Gambale and Smith are true giants of the fusion industry, and Hamm proved long ago that he was up to more than backing hair-god guitarists like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. From the very first notes the astonishing empathy and gifts of these three men are in your face. This is a 5K run through a musical mine field, the players deftly ...
Continue ReadingVital Information: Live Around The World: Where We Come From Tour 1998-1999
by Todd S. Jenkins
It’s always refreshing to hear good fusion and contemporary jazz groups in live performance, away from the sometimes chafing studio glister of their recordings. This collection is an especially valuable treasure, documenting a spellbinding tour by one of fusion’s hottest supergroups. The members of Vital Information consistently astound listeners with their seasoned intuitiveness and mind-boggling virtuosity. Keyboardist Tom Coster honed his chops with the likes of Cobham and Santana; drummer Steve Smith has a formidable rock-jazz resume (including Journey and ...
Continue ReadingVital Information: Live Around the World: The 'Where We Come From' Tour 1998-1999
by Scott Andrews
Drummer Steve Smith (Journey, Stanley Clarke) founded Vital Information in the early 80s. With Frank Gambale on guitar (Jean-Luc Ponty, Chick Corea), Tom Coster on organ (Billy Cobham, Santana), and Jeff Andrews on bass, Vital Information returned to the style of their 60s and 70s fusion and instrumental rock influences like Miles Davis, and The Meters, on their 1996 CD Where We Come From. This effort also marked a change in sonic direction, focusing on Coster's Hammond B3 organ, supported ...
Continue ReadingGambale/Hamm/Smith: The Light Beyond
by John W. Patterson
If I had to find patterns or echoes of another guitarist in Gambale’s chordal progressions, breakdowns, and eruptions into vitriolic riffs of ostinatos and legatos, all being sweep-picking showcases – I’d have to say I keep hearing Mahavishnu John McLaughlin’s style in his Mahavishnu Orchestra daze of fusion. Listen to opening cut, “Katahdin” for evidence. And next track, Gambale surprises me with signature Allan Holdsworth voicings; those dream-laden, chordal noodlings and odd maneuvers of scale. This gives Hamm room to ...
Continue ReadingFrank Gambale - Stuart Hamm - Steve Smith: The Light Beyond
by Glenn Astarita
Fusion and Rock superheroes, guitarist Frank Gambale, bassist Stuart Hamm and drummer Steve Smith reunite for their second “Tone Center” release, titled - The Light Beyond. Throughout, the musicians meld strong, memorable compositions with aggressive soloing and cagey dialogue. On the opener “Katahdin”, Gambale utilizes his impressive and well documented – sweeping technique – intermingled with thoughtful lines, legato and suspenseful themes while Hamm and Smith hammer out the rhythms with effortless control amid vivacious interplay. The composition, “Yang” might ...
Continue ReadingTom Coster: Ivory Expedition
by Dave Hughes
This CD presents two albums recorded by Tom Coster in 1981 and 1983. These sessions took place just a few years after Coster's six-year stint with Santana. Many hints of the music Coster composed and performed with Santana show through on some songs, such as the ballads "Magical Moments" and "I Give My Heart to You", although guitarist Joaquin Lievano (fresh from three years of high-octane fusion shredding with Jean-Luc Ponty) often lends the tunes a harder-edged fusion bite than ...
Continue ReadingTom Coster: Ivory Expedition
by Ed Kopp
Back in the early '80s, when I was a beer-swilling, poverty-stricken, disco-hating, post-college naif, my favorite kind of music was jazz-fusion. My early-80s self was particularly smitten by Tom Coster's first two solo records. I regretted having to sell those albums to a graduate student prior to one of my many cross-town moves. When I learned this summer that Fantasy was reissuing both albums on a single CD, I thought it might be fun to see if the music still ...
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