This is the album to get immediatly if you are into Vital Information or fusion in general. Absolutly the best album from the band, totally mindblowing. Exceptional release. Perfect musicianship from all the guys in the band, Coster and Gambale above all the rest. Incredible jazz-fusion performances! Every track here is a marvel.
This tenth recording from the now legendary quartet reminds listeners that, while smooth jazz often gets better press, there are still fans of honest to God inventive electric fusion who will eat up this type of powerfully rocking and energetic project. Bassist Baron Browne joined the core trio of Steve Smith (drums), Frank Gambale (guitar), and Tom Coster (keyboards) in 1998, and provides a rollicking bouncy energy throughout on tunes like the feisty Herbie Hancock ode "Soul Principle" and the '60s soul-jazz-flavored "Cat and Mouse" (featuring some of Coster's slyest Hammond B-3 lines).
American electric bass guitarist Anthony Jackson has been playing with European musicians for quite some time – note his collaboration with the Turkish-born pianist Fahir Atakoglu in the 2000s. Here he teams with Greek musician and fellow bass guitarist/composer Yiorgos Fakanas for a set of retro-jazz fusion music that is far from typical. Armed with a large ensemble of contemporary all-stars and lesser known Europeans, Jackson and Fakanas create new music reflective of '70s New York supercharged funk à la the Brecker Brothers, and the mid-period John McLaughlin style of classically oriented jazz that incorporates horns, acoustic strings, and synthesizers. With keyboardist Mitch Forman, guitarist Frank Gambale, and drummer Dave Weckl, the band expands horizons past strictly European traditional or ethnic strains.
The fifth and final recording by the original version of Chick Corea's Elektric Band is not quite up to the level of the past few sets due to some forgettable compositions. The keyboardist/leader, guitarist Frank Gambale, and saxophonist Eric Marienthal create some fine solos and the ensembles (with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl) are tight, making this a worthwhile but not essential release from the top fusion group.
This phenomenal French bassist leads a fine European group through some burning instrumentals. With special guests Mike Stern, Frank Gambale, Bireli Lagrene on guitar; Toots Thielemans, harmonica; Billy Cobham, drums and Mino Cinelu on percussion.
The drummer with the very successful rock group Journey for seven years, Steve Smith left the band in 1985 to devote his career to jazz and specifically his group Vital Information. This CD is taken from their tour of August 1989 and features Smith's unit (which also includes Larry Schneider on reeds, guitarist Frank Gambale, keyboardist Tom Coster, and bassist Larry Grenadier) playing a strong set of group originals plus the standard "I Should Care" (a straight-ahead feature for Coster and the rhythm section). Although Coster uses electronics on some of the pieces, much of his date is simply high-quality acoustic jazz; even the funkier material swings.
Centrifugal Funk is the second and final studio album by the Mark Varney Project (MVP), released in 1991 through Legato Records; a remastered edition was reissued in 2004 through Tone Center Records. This incarnation of the group is a collaboration between guitarists Frank Gambale, Brett Garsed and Shawn Lane. It consists primarily of covers of existing jazz fusion compositions, save for one track performed by Lane—"Lane's Blitz"—which he later dismissed as an impromptu warm-up rather than a planned solo, and thus his dislike for it. Varney, however, disputes Lane's version of events.