| Name | Artist | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Pools | Steps Ahead | 11:15 | Album Only | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
Islands | Steps Ahead | 6:24 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Loxodrome | Steps Ahead | 5:26 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
Both Sides of the Coin | Steps Ahead | 6:10 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Skyward Bound | Steps Ahead | 4:03 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
Northern Cross | Steps Ahead | 5:49 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
Trio (An Improvisation) | Steps Ahead | 7:31 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| Total: 7 Songs |
Album Review
The debut domestic recording by Steps Ahead (following three sets only released in Japan) features the 1982 version of the group: vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, pianist Eliane Elias (a young unknown at the time), bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Peter Erskine. The music is essentially high-quality funky fusion, with Brecker typically blowing up a storm, Mainieri often playing the synthivibe, and Elias showing some early individuality. Best known among the seven originals are Don Grolnick's "Pools" and Mainieri's "Islands." The inventive but pretty accessible set concludes with "Trio," a fairly free improvisation featuring Brecker, Gomez, and Mainieri.
Customer Reviews
Favorite
Steps Ahead was one of the first albums that I fell in love with in college. Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine and Mike Mainieri were able to create an original sound using a group with a fairly standard instrumentation, but the arrangements..... Pools, Islands, hell they are all great songs. Intricately woven together by master musicians which included the now famous Eliane Elias years before her solo career took off.
Fantastic Record
For someone like me, who graduated high school in 1983 (the year the record was released) and went on to study jazz composing and arranging and pursue a career in music, this is an absolutely seminal recording. Although I don't doubt that the age at which I came into contact with this recording is one reason I still love it, I think it is a really important record, and to me signals the beginning of the mature period in Michael Brecker's writing and playing.
Plus, what a band! And not simply an all-star assemblage, as so often happened in jazz during the 80s (primarily for marketing purposes), but a truly cohesive unit.
This is a great record, I recommend it highly.
Biography
Formed: 1979
Genre: Jazz
Years Active: '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s
Top Albums and Songs By Steps Ahead
| Name | Album | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Safari | Modern Times | 7:02 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
Oops | Modern Times | 6:24 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Radio-Active | Modern Times | 8:53 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
Self Portrait | Modern Times | 6:04 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Now You Know | Modern Times | 6:29 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
Modern Times | Modern Times | 6:20 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
In a Sentimental Mood | Live In Tokyo 1986 (Remastered) | 4:36 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
Old Town | Modern Times | 6:19 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
Beirut | Live In Tokyo 1986 (Remastered) | 9:57 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
10 |
Trains | Live In Tokyo 1986 (Remastered) | 9:27 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
