Thursday, February 18 / 7:00 p.m.

Steve Smith's Vital Legacy
featuring
Steve Smith, drums
Vinny Valentino, guitar
Baron Browne, bass
Andy Fusco, saxophone
Mark Soskin, piano

Tickets $23 at door or in advance.
CLICK HERE to order online.

In a musical world where keeping a working band has proven difficult for many bandleaders, drummer Steve Smith has managed to keep two bands working for the past decade.

Smith’s jazz-rock band Vital Information, has been working and recording for 27 years, while his straight-ahead group Jazz Legacy (which began as a Buddy Rich alumni group called Buddy’s Buddies) has been touring and recording since 1999.

Therefore, it makes perfect sense for this prolific bandleader, who has made a career out of amalgamating the many twists of his musical calling, to create a new band, Vital Legacy, which Smith refers to as, “The best of both worlds!”

The lineup of Vital Legacy brings together members of both bands -- saxophonist Andy Fusco (from Jazz Legacy) guitarist Vinny Valentino (from Vital Information), pianist Mark Soskin (from Jazz Legacy), bassist Baron Browne (from Jazz Legacy and Vital Information), and Steve Smith manning the drums.

“We used to have a sax player in Vital Information, in fact, Bill Evans played on our most recent recording (Vitalization)," said Smith. "So to have saxophonist Andy Fusco playing melodies and solos on the Vital Information tunes simultaneously adds another dimension, while also bringing back a sound from our formative years."

The “best of both worlds” is a theme for Steve Smith’s career that has taken him from rock stardom with the band Journey to the legendary fusion band Steps Ahead, to supporting musical icons Ahmad Jamal, Zakir Hussain, and Jean-Luc Ponty.

Smith’s constantly evolving drumming career has earned him Modern Drummer Magazine's All-Around Drummer Award five years in a row, which led to him being voted one of the Top-25 drummers of all time. In 2002, Smith was also voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.

Check out the following videos of Steve Smith's performance during 2009 Berks Jazz Fest:
Time Tunnel
Seven and a Half
JBen Jazz (with Andy Fusco)
The Trouble With (with Andy Fusco)

Thursday, February 25 / 7:00 p.m.

The Art of Strings
featuring
John Blake, violin
Jimmy Bruno, guitar
Gerald Veasley, bass

Tickets $15 at door

It's finally going to happen again.

The Jazz Base is pleased to welcome back The Art of Strings for an encore performance featuring three legendary Philadelphia musicians -- John Blake on violin, Jimmy Bruno on guitar and Gerald Veasley on electric bass.

The dynamic trio got together for the first --  and last time -- two years for a special performance at the Jazz Base. It was an amazing show that showcased the virtuoso talents of all three musicians. Jazz Base fans have been asking when the Gerald, John and Jimmy -- all very busy with their individual projects -- would get together again.

Well, the wait is over.

"I'm glad our individual schedules worked out so we could get together again to perform as a trio," said Veasley. "It's a real pleasure to work with John and Jimmy. When we did the show two years ago, it was a wonderful collaboration. All three of us are looking forward to the show."

Over the last 30 years, Blake has attained a unique position as the premier mainstream jazz violinist in the world. His resume resembles that of no other string player. Blake presents what critic David Hollenberg calls “a state-of-the-art display of current level of jazz violin.”

Blake has augmented his work as an instrumentalist, composer, and producer by becoming an author, teacher, and lecturer, passing on his unique and hard-won knowledge. He presents hundreds of workshops annually to musicians on all levels.

Bruno is a master jazz guitarist and jazz educator. One of the most critically acclaimed jazz guitarists performing today, Bruno came to prominence as a jazz musician in the 1990s, after a successful 20-year career as a sought-after commercial guitarist and session musician.

Thursday, April 22 / 7:00 p.m.

Blues Night
Walter Trout
featuring
Michael Leasure, drums
Sammy Avila, B3 Hammond
Rick Knapp, guitar

Tickets $20 at door or in advance
CLICK HERE to order online

Walter Trout's music is hard to label.

Is Trout's music too blues for rock -- or too rock for blues?

To label Walter Trout's music is to limit it. With more than 35 years of touring and recording under his belt, this New Jersey native has been "loved and hated, accused and vindicated, packaged and presented for everyone to see."

Being at a live performance with Trout approaches temporary insanity -- the excitement, the unknown, the experimentation. Truly tantalizing sounds on par with those infamous Eric Clapton licks and Stevie Ray Vaughan riffs, are testament to Trout's talent. His music speaks to your soul, warms your heart and has your foot tapping. Trout brings the blues to life and invigorates rock in a manner all too rare these days.

Whether an improvisational jam or a carefully arranged song, Walter Trout's thirst for musical satisfaction is seemingly unquenchable. Equally capable of spontaneous serendipity as well as pre-planned perfection, this guitarist is truly in the midst of an all-encompassing love affair with the music he creates.

CLICK HERE to view video.