構成数 | 2枚

合計収録時間 | 02:29:22

Steps Ahead: Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Mike Mainieri (vibraphone); Don Grolnick (piano); Eddie Gomez (bass); Steve Gadd (drums). Additional personnel: Kazumi Watanabe (guitar). Recorded live at The Pitt-Inn, Tokyo, Japan on December 15 & 16, 1979. Includes liner notes by Mike Mainieri. Digitally remastered by Todd Gerard (Gerard Sound Lab, New York, New York). Personnel: Kazumi Watanabe (guitar); Michael Brecker (saxophone, tenor saxophone); Don Grolnick (piano); Mike Mainieri (keyboards, vibraphone, percussion); Steve Gadd (drums). Audio Mixer: Neil Dorfsman. Audio Remasterer: Todd A. Gerard. Liner Note Author: Mike Mainieri. Recording information: Pitt-Inn, Tokyo Japan (05/15/1979-05/16/1979). On this stunning two-disc set, the original lineup of Mike Mainieri's legendary fusion band Steps Ahead--then known as just Steps--performs to an enthusiastic crowd at the Pitt-Inn in Tokyo in December, 1979. Fresh from an extended run at the Brecker Brother's Seventh Avenue South club in New York, Mainieri, Michael Brecker, Eddie Gomez, Don Grolnick, and Steve Gadd tear up the stage with powerful grooves, blistering solos, and magnificent interaction. One listen to the dazzling power that this group conjured in performance and there is no doubt that it constituted the cream of the crop of electric jazz in its heyday. Brecker and Gadd shine brilliantly on tracks like the opening "Tee Bag" and Grolnick's furious samba "Fawlty Tenors," the latter featuring Gadd in an explosive cadenza. Grolnick is his usual tasteful self on his own swinger "Uncle Bob" and the beautiful solo "Momento." Mainieri gets his feature with the classic "Lover Man," taken here with a caressing glide. Other familiar tunes include Joe Zawinul's intricate "Young and Fine," the sultry ballad "Soul Eyes," and the Joe Henderson standard "Recordame." Two major highlights of the set, however, are Brecker's burner "Not Ethiopia" and Mainieri's brilliantly tuneful "Sara's Touch."

録音 | ステレオ (Live)