Steps Ahead Steppin' Out

The legacy of Mike Mainieri’s and the late Michael Brecker’s Steps Ahead, one of the most inventive groups in 1980s jazz-rock, was delightfully rekindled in a reunion band at Ronnie Scott’s in London this summer. Here’s a stirring orchestral angle on the group’s classic material, rearranged by Michael Abene for Cologne’s famous WDR Big Band, with the sleekly swinging vibraphonist Mainieri still in the driving seat. Don Grolnick’s laconic, Wayne Shorter-like Pools and the soul-funky Blue Montreux fire up scalding tenor-sax forays from Bill Evans (one of the best Breckeresque specialists in this idiom, and the album’s solo star), while the beautiful, country-tinged Self Portrait gets a sumptuous.

Tenor saxophonist Bob Berg channeled the bold dynamics of hard bop to emerge as one of contemporary jazz's most expressive and resourceful improvisers, honing a richly articulated sound bolstered by flawless technical command. Born in New York City on April 7, 1951, Berg grew up in Brooklyn, initiating piano lessons at age six. At 13, he moved to alto saxophone, first discovering jazz when a high school teacher introduced him to the music of Cannonball Adderley and Horace Silver.