If you’re a drum freak, you know about the in-the-pocket-chops of Steve Smith, who’s made a name for himself as THE go to drummer, playing with Jean Luc Ponty, Journey, Steps Ahead, Stanley Clarke and Ahmad Jamal, to name just a few. His own cooking little band, Steps Ahead, always sells out in LA’s clubs, and here, the team of Smith, Baron Browne/b, Vinny Valentino/g and Tom Coster/key (what? No alliteration to his name? Replace him with Herbie Hancock!!!) is caught at a cozy gig in that venerable jazz mecca, Ashland Oregon, for a cooking evening of kicking out the jams.
The pulse of most of the material from this 07 set has a fusion funk groove, not unlike a night with HH’s Headhunters, with material like “Cat Walk” or “The Trouble With” creating deep rivers of flowing rhythm, while a James Brown hipster “Seven and a Half” displays deft interplay between the keyboards and guitars. Some swirling effects are flying around the room on the “Interwoven Rhythms” which eventually segue into some nice chops displayed by everyone around, while the shuffle boogie of “The Closer” will be a dream come true for all of the kids in the local high school band. Nice extroverted machismo on display here.
BFM Jazz cd/dvd
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