Vital Information

The members of jazz fusion group Vital Information – often referred to as Steve Smith and Vital Information – first met in 1971 while playing in Boston, Massachusetts-based college band Bridgewater State College Big Band. The group was initially comprised of Steve Smith, bassist Tim Landers, and saxophonist Dave Wilczewski (sax). Not initially a full-time project, the band members pursued other musical avenues including stints with jazz greats like Al Di Meola (Steve Smith) and Freddie Hubbard (Dave Wilczewski). The group members would get together and jam each year, but they didn’t start taking things seriously until 1977 when they began writing songs, playing live shows, and developing their own sound. Steve Smith joined AOR/classic rock band Journey in 1978 and was a member of the band as they became one of the most popular rock bands in the world. This fame gave him the opportunity to bring Vital Information to Journey’s label, Columbia Records, in hopes of getting the group signed. Columbia released the group’s debut album, Vital Information, but added Steve Smith’s name before the group name in order to capitalize on his success in Journey. For their debut, the band also included guitarists Dean Brown and Mike Stern along with the core trio. The group released their sophomore album Orion in 1984, a year before Steve Smith left Journey. Vital Information’s third album, Global Beat, was released in 1986, the first of their albums to be credited to just Vital Information. Steve Smith continued to lead the band as the original core trio drifted apart and new members joined. The band’s sound would veer in different directions depending on the album. From funk and world music to jazz fusion, they kept evolving even after public interest had waned. Steve Smith formed a New York-based version of the band, which he called Vital Information NYC Edition, who released the albums Viewpoint (2015) and Heart of the City (2017).

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