Seminal progressive crossover band "seven steps to the green door" from Germany is back with the new album "THE?LIE" -and surprise us with the second part of their concept trilogy "THE?BOOK", in which authors and band deal critically with religious fanaticism.
The Seven were a rock group from Syracuse, New York. They were a rock group with elements of jazz and funk. This super obscure album from 1970 features funky horns, percussion and tight vocal harmonies along the lines of Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Santana and Rare Earth. Six groovy originals and three covers Heat Wave (Martha & The Vandellas), Tell Her No (The Zombies) and Song For My Father (Horace Silver). An Upstate New York act, the group's roots go back to an outfit called The Upsetters. They were made up of members from Jeff & The Notes and Jimmy Cavallo & The Houserockers, etc.. Guitarist John Latocha left the group and was replaced by Bob Canastraro.
German band Seven Steps To The Green Door was formed in 2004 by keyboardist and saxophonist Marek Arnold (Toxic Smile, UPF, Flaming Row, Cyril) and drummer Ulf Reinhardt. They released their debut album "The Puzzle" in 2006, a production that saw them awarded the 1st prize in two different categories at the German Rock and Pop Awards.
Their second album "Step in 2 My World" was released in 2008, a production where the band explored more in depth the use of poly-rhythmic sounds, complex vocal harmonies and jazz-oriented instrument details in their compositions, but also an album with room for compelling compositions with more of a ballad-oriented expression…
Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963-1964 is an anomaly among the retrospective sets that have been issued from the late artist's catalog. It does not focus on particular collaborations (Miles with Coltrane, Gil Evans, the second quintet), complete sessions of historic albums (Bitches Brew, In a Silent Way, and Jack Johnson), or live runs (Plugged Nickel and Montreux). Instead, it is a portrait of the artist in flux, in the space between legendary bands, when he was looking for a new mode of expression, trying to find the band that would help him get there. These seven CDs begin after the demise of bands that included John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Wynton Kelly, after his landmark Gil Evans period, and even after his attempts at creating a new band with everyone from Frank Strozier and Harold Mabern to Sonny Rollins and J.J. Johnson.