Steve Smith & Vital Information - Live One Great Night 2012 {with DVD5 NTSC}

Format: flac + cue + log

Genre: Jazz

Original Release Date: 2012

Label: BFM Jazz

Live! One Great Night (BFM Jazz) captures Vital Information in its natural habitat: On stage in front of an enthusiastic audience of music lovers with the band in high gear, pulling out all the stops for the entire set.

This recording is a superb example of the creative development in Vital Information’s music. Most of the compositions on Live! One Great Night were originally recorded on the studio albums Come On In and Vitalization. If you compare the performances on this release to the original recordings, you will hear significant musical growth both individually and collectively.

Our music allows for individual expression and re-invention. Every night on the bandstand we want to surprise each other with new ideas and in the process keep our audience “in the moment” with us.

On November 7, 2007 Vital Information was nearing the end of a year of extensive world touring. The band played a date at a small venue in Oregon, and we agreed to a webcast, which at the time was a novel idea. Five years later, as Vital Information approaches its 30th Anniversary, I was looking for some documentation of our various periods and I remembered that night in Oregon. After numerous emails and phone calls I was able to track down the recording of the concert. As a bonus we also found video footage of our webcast.

After listening to the performances I was thrilled to hear that the group played an exciting set, not studio “perfect,” but alive and spontaneous, with creative grooves, inspired interaction and expansive improvisation. I felt that including a DVD of the concert added an extra dimension to this package and while editing the video, we decided to add one more song to the DVD program.

I feel that Live! One Great Night is an insightful documentation of the group’s development. Our keyboardist, Tom Coster, has been in VI since 1986 and Baron Browne has been our bass player since 1998. Guitarist Vinny Valentino joined us in 2006 and had been playing with the group just over one year at the time of this recording.

The results of this collaboration are raw and exhilarating. This line-up of Vital Information has continued to play together and evolve over the last fi ve years. But, by going back and hearing this performance in the formative year of the quartet, it feels as though we’ve uncovered an unexpected gem.

Enjoy - Steve Smith