The group’s founder and drummer, Steve Smith, has a history that stretches from Journey and Steps Ahead to The Buddy Rich Big Band, Ahmad Jamal, Zakir Hussain and Hiromi. Steve has recently been voted 2012’s #1 Fusion Drummer in Modern Drummer Magazine. Over the years Smith has won a number of Modern Drummer reader’s polls including #1 All-Around Drummer – five years in a row.
In a musical world where keeping a working band has proven difficult for many bandleaders, drummer-bandleader Steve Smith has managed to keep two bands working for the past decade. Smith’s jazz-rock band Vital Information, has been working and recording for 30 years, while his straight-ahead group Jazz Legacy (which began as a Buddy Rich alumni group called Buddy’s Buddies) has been touring and recording since 1999. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for this prolific bandleader, who has made a career out of amalgamating the many twists of his musical calling, to create a new band, Vital Information – NYC Edition, which Smith refers to as, “The best of both worlds!” The lineup of Vital Information – NYC Edition brings together members of both bands: saxophonist Andy Fusco (from Jazz Legacy) guitarist Vinny Valentino
