Mike and I, along with Kevin Beel (a good friend of the MRB and fellow drummer) and Tony Ceglio (Tony and I work together at Cheetah Building Products) decided to take a little road trip to go check out Steve Smith and Vital Information. Steve Smith, who used to play for Journey, is an outstanding drummer, author, and clinician. He plays with several bands including Vital Information and Buddy's Buddies (A Buddy Rich tribute band). Steve and Vital Information recently kicked off a tour promoting their latest CD and one of their early stops was Gilly's in Dayton, Ohio. So off we went.

What a great little trip we had. We got to Dayton around 5:00 PM and stopped to pick up our tickets at Gem City Records, a local music store. We did some CD shopping while we were there and picked up a few great CDs. With Kevin's help, I got one CD of Steve Smith and Buddy's Buddies and another CD (2 CD set) of the Ray Brown Trio live in New York and Paris. Both excellent picks and I highly recommend them. Tony then took us to a great restaurant, The Pine Club, for a memorable meal. We all got the filet minon and it was fantastic. After an excellent meal we headed for the club with much anticipation.

There was a short line when we got there so we got excellent seats and got in a little early. Steve was roaming around and we got to say hi. We got to talk with him for a few brief moments. Steve knows my brother Dave DiCenso (Steve recently went to see Dave play with Hiromi in Oakland, CA) and also knows my brother-in-law whom he used to play in a band with back in Rockland Massachusetts. It was kind of cool making that small connection with Mr. Steve Smith. More importantly, the show....

The show was terrific. What a great band made up of four outstanding musicians. They played some great music and the crowd was into it. We were treated to two wonderful sets and a 1 song encore. They played quite a few tunes from their latest CD, Come On In. Another great CD I highly recommend. Highlights for me included, of course, Steve's playing. He did some really cool things including a hi-hat solo and playing a 16th note roll with one stick against the other, one stick in his hand the other balancing on his ankle of his leg as he held it up in the air. Very entertaining. More enjoyable was his playing with the music, bringing a mix of swing, brush work, funk, double bass drum work, etc. I loved the sounds of his toms, tuned very musically and he made the most of them. Just a great player.

Baron Browne, whom Dave DiCenso just recorded some tracks with, was one out-of-sight bass player. He swung just as well as he funked, and let me tell you, he could funk it up. He took a solo that even the band was blown away by. Steve Smith commented after Baron's solo that he was "savin' it for Dayton". Wow!

Frank Gambale and Tom Coster each added so much to the band. They both improvised so wonderfully, in all styles that the band played. I really enjoyed Tom's personality that came out in his playing. He was very enjoyable to watch. One of the things that stood out for me was that these guys were often looking at each other while they were playing, appreciating each other's contributions, encouraging each other with a hoot or a smile, etc. It was just great.

The whole way home we listened to many of the CDs we bought. Mike did a wonderful job driving us to and fro and we arrived back in Terre Haute around 2:00 AM. There are a few pictures below. Check out our links page where you will find a link to Steve Smith's website from which you can find lots of information on the band, their recordings, and much more.