Customer Reviews

Steps Ahead

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first US release by this super group. Mike Mainieri - vibes, Michael Brecker - tenor sax, Eddie Gomez - bass, Peter Erskine - drums, Elaine Elias - piano. This is great acoustic jazz that has all the raw energy and power of the best electric jazz. Great compositions are topped by the late (and VERY MUCH missed) keyboard giant Don Grolnick's "Pools". Although I recommend all the Steps albums, I think this particular production is extraordinary in that it doesn't rely on heavy multi-tracking or layers of electronica (which the latter productions use brilliantly by the way). It's a very well recorded session of a hot jazz band playing and improvising on wonderful arrangements of great tunes.

Mike Brecker, Elaine Elias, Peter Erskine, Eddie Gomez, and Mike Manieri all star on this first "Steps Ahead" album. They were forced to change their name from Steps to avoid a lawsuit from a similarly named company. Anyway, the music is absolutely fantastic, all players really stretch and obviously enjoy themselves. Along with Smokin' in the Pit, this would be my top pick for this group, counting only the Brecker including releases. Highly recommended.

I heard Steps for the first time in 1983 on their first American tour right as this album was released. They were pure dynamite on stage and this album captures the great material that they played then. It is a shame that this release is still not available domestically, as it is the finest of their American albums. Brecker has never sounded better and the groove that Erskine laid down on "Pools" remains a model for classic jazz drumming! 10 Stars for this one!

What a difference a drummer makes. I love Steps with Steve Gadd, but the change to Peter Erskine on this record is like going from a luxury car to a sportster. The crisp style of Erskine fits in really nice with the music.

I don't want to repeat what everyone else has already said, so I'll just agree that all the players are in top form on this one.

I certainly encourage listeners to hear the Steve Gadd incarnation of this group as well, or even better check out Three Quartets by Chick Corea.

This group was the follow-up to Steps, founded by Mike Mainieri. The group consists of the following members: Mike Mainieri, Michael Brecker, Eliane Elias, Eddie Gomez and the wonderful Peter Erskine on drums. Except for the last cut all songs are well-crafted, written by different members of the group, with the exception of the lovely "Pools", written by the late Don Grolnick. Best cut in my opninion is "Islands", with lovely solos by Mike Mainieri and Eliane Elias and the usual perfect flowing drumming of Peter Erskine. Nice bonus is the pristine recording quality. Highly recommended.

This is one of the best records in the history of Jazz "Fusion". My "paisano" Eddie Gomez is on fire on this record. The great, great Michael Brecker and the whole band is simply incredible. This is a most have if you like Modern Jazz. Talk about musician's peaking. I love this cd it's timeless.

I was so excited when I finally found this album available on CD after twenty-five years. I was a sophomore in high school when this album first came out. At first it sounded rather alien and bizzare to me, but after a few hearings I was hooked. "Steps Ahead" remained my favorite jazz album all through high school.

All of the musicians are incredible. And they have a very unique sound. I think of how Eddie Gomez (the bassist) was constantly bending and warping pitch, or the way the other musicians would phase in and out of tonality. They knew what they were doing. This stuff was cutting edge.

On a more serious note, I have to say I was very sorry to hear that Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone) died a few years ago from leukemia. The world lost an amazing musician. I guess it's a sobering reminder of how frail we are, regardless of our gifts and talents.

Years ago, I confided in a friend who played in a jazz band that I was looking for jazz CDs with good vibraphones, and he recommended this. He added, "Listen to the first cut, `Pools,' it will blow you away." Well, I listened, and it did. Mike Mainieri's vibraphone soloing on "Pools" is the best kind of free-flowing improvisation from this beautiful instrument, yielding an absorbing pleasure trip. Tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker amazingly matches Mainieri in quality on "Pools" to make this 11-minute plus composition magnificent from start to finish. The second song, "Islands," is almost as good. Mainieri's vibes sparkle again on this track, as well as on "Skyward Bound" and "Northern Cross." Brecker time and again displays a great technical proficiency on the sax, and the rhythm section is great. The group is really together except on the oddball improvisation finale "Trio." Fans of pianist Eliane Elias should note she made her first album appearance here, before she launched her very successful solo career. Her radiant improvisation work on "Islands" is her highlight. Beyond my predilection for the great vibraphone work, this eponymous U.S. debut is one of the best modern jazz albums I know.

Especially I admired the last tune,Trio (An Improvisation). The music is really something-it is one of the most ideal Trio music,I think. At the beginning of Eliane Elias`s part is very exciting, it makes me feel to see as if the world of the tune is going to develop just in front of me! Good music should be very,very visually attractive, and this is surely makes you feel so.

STEPS, later became Steps Ahead, have been a cult musician band for quite awhile. They brought to the musical community something really new and valid through an almost ten years period across the 80'. They took from the point Weather report left, along with Yellow Jackets, and took over for very exciting territories, developing a special fascinating blend of straight-electric-afro jazz that turned direction album after album in a unique interesting way. The group started almost by the case, just touring japan where there was demand for this kind of modern "fusion", cutting there the very first juicy more jazz oriented cds (rare gems today), then grew up and became very big so to develop this very first great official piece of music. The members of this group changed almost album after album but the two main assets have been until 4-5 years ago the vibist Mike Mainieri and saxman Michael Brecker that quit recently for other projects, leaving room for a more aggressive rock oriented trend. Musicians involved in this group through the years are the cream of contemporary music: E. Gomez, E. Elias, W. Bernhardt, T. Levin etcetera!! Get this piece of modern beautiful fresh music and start seekin' for Steps Ahead!!