Steve Smith & Vital Information

Steve Smith, the former drummer for the iconic rock band Journey, one of Modern Drummer Readers Poll’s Top 25 Drummers of All Time and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, has been touring and recording with his jazz group Steve Smith & Vital Information since 1983.  The newest line-up of Vital Information features two virtuoso musicians with vast experience.

Keyboardist Manuel Valera, is a Guggenheim Fellow and Grammy nominated artist, born and raised in Havana, Cuba, now living in NYC. Manuel plays and records with many of the New York jazz elite like Antonio Sanchez, Dafnis Prieto and John Patitucci.

Electric bassist Janek Gwizdala, originally from London, currently living in Los Angeles, records and tours with Peter Erskine, Mike Stern and Randy Brecker and is one of today’s most in-demand bass players. Both new members of Vital Information are bandleaders, in their own right, and recording artists with multiple recordings to their names.

Their 2025 release, New Perspective, features songs that Smith has previously recorded but with arrangements that are vastly different from the original recordings, including three songs by Journey (Open Arms, Who’s Crying Now, Don’t Stop Believin’) one from Steps Ahead (Sumo by Michael Brecker) three from Vital Information (The Perfect Date, Charukeshi Express, Eight+Five) plus two new original compositions. Rooted in the straight-ahead swing of bebop, the group explores exotic time-signatures from the world of South Indian Carnatic music and they have arranged “adventurous funk-driven renditions of jazz standards.”

STEVE SMITH – drums & konnakol
MANUEL VALERA – piano
JANEK GWIZDALA – electric bass