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Frank 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 ...
Vital Tech Tones: VTT2
by John W. Patterson
Ever find yourself wandering the record store or surfing the cyber coffers for jazz fusion with edge, with virtuosity, and vitality? Yeah, there’s enuff dross out there playing at being fusion but is infected with smooth jazz fuzak virus. You know the stuff, a waste of $18 or $19 bucks, better as a coaster than for ...
Gambale/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 ...
Tony McAlpine, Bunny Brunel, Dennis Chambers: Cab
by Ed Kopp
Remember that old Star Trek episode where an alien race is able to move around the Enterprise at an infinitely quicker pace than Kirk and company? Listening to Cab, you might wonder whether Tony MacAlpine, Bunny Brunel and Dennis Chambers aren’t members of that same alien race. This trio spawns a turbo-charged blend of jazz and ...
Scott Henderson, Steve Smith, Victor Wooten: Vital Tech Tones
by John W. Patterson
Mike Varney wanted a powerhouse release to inaugurate his “Tone Center” fusion offshoot of Shrapnel Records. He of course thought of some of the very best artists to pull together for this project. I need not go into detail over each artist’s abilities. One or two words says it all — awesome monsters. For those of ...
Smith/Goodman/Levy/Burbridge: The Stranger's Hand
by David Adler
A common shortcoming of today’s chops-oriented fusion is its tendency to playfully mimic every musical style under the sun without ever articulating a coherent, genuine style of its own. Such is the case with this fusion supergroup, of which drummer Steve Smith of Vital Information and Steps Ahead is the leader. He’s joined by violinist Jerry ...
Steve Smith and Buddy's Buddies
By Steve Smith and Buddy's Buddies
Label: Tone Center
Released: 1999
Steve Smith and Buddy's Buddies: Steve Smith and Buddy's Buddies
by David Adler
Drummer Steve Smith, of Journey and Steps Ahead fame, leads a quintet featuring Buddy Rich alumni through a set of jazz charts. Coming from 80s rock and fusion, Smith tends toward flash and heavy-handedness (like Rich himself, some would say). Add Anthony Jackson on electric bass and you have a rhythm section that sounds like what ...
F.Gambale, S.Hamm, S.Smith: Show Me What You Can Do
by John W. Patterson
I'm upfront, in the middle, and lastly a fusion fan. Why? Jazz fusion is what brought me into the world of prog and all the rest of it. That said, biases in the clear now, listen up. Gambale and the gang tear it up! Stu Hamm is Levinesque-thundering, Stanley Clarke-kicking bass. Vital Information's Steve Smith's drumming ...
