City Steps (CD) by Steve Veale

0781619951920. New condition. CD. It's ironic that the CD insert has a picture of Veale holding an acoustic guitar, since the multi-instrumentalist (bass, keyboards) hits his stride on the electric sounds of the fusion vibe his best tunes express. Nonetheless an attractive mix of electric art and easy pop-funk, the collection darts in many different directions, much like a travelogue which takes us from a frisky "Boardwalk Bounce" to the open spaces of "Sedona" and even hopping over the Atlantic for "Kenya Calling." For all his talents, Veale seems most comfortable darting around melodies which are easy to swallow but break away from the tried and true just enough to remain unique. So while a piece like "Coconut Grove" is smooth saxing all the way, Mike Avila's somewhat avant-garde piano solo on "Mogambo" offers a taste of that Yellowjacket flair. The only real drawback-the lack of live drums and the tendency to rely on machine generated backbeat-was probably an economic compromise. Fortunately, it's not enough to distract from the bouncy charms of a most impressive debut. Next time, with a higher budget, Veale will no doubt climb to even further heights which straddle the pop-meets-fusion borderline. ~ Jonathan Widran, Rovi