Steve Smith

Biography

Steven Bruce Smith (born August 21, 1954) is an American drummer best known as a member of the rock band Journey across three stints: 1978 to 1985, 1995 to 1998 and 2015 to 2020. Modern Drummer magazine readers have voted him the No. 1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row. In 2001, the publication named Smith one of the Top 25 Drummers of All Time, and in 2002 he was voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Journey on April 7, 2017.

Early life

Smith received his first drum kit at age two and in 1963 he began taking formal lessons with local Boston area drum teacher Bill Flanagan, who played in big bands in the swing era. Smith got his first "real" drum set when he was 12 years old. On many nights, Steve could be heard practicing in a small shed in the back yard of his Harvard Street home. Smith performed in the usual school band program and garage bands while in his teens, including Clyde, a South Shore sensation, but also began to broaden his performing experience by playing in a professional concert band and the big band at local Bridgewater State College.

Career

Smith graduated from high school in 1972, and at 19 he joined the Lin Biviano Big Band, playing with them for two years. After high school, Smith attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with Alan Dawson. In the early 1970s, he studied with Freddie Gruber. He recorded and toured with jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty in 1977–78. He was the drummer on the Focus album Focus con Proby (1978) and played with Ronnie Montrose. From 1978 to 1985, he was the drummer for the rock band Journey. He left the band in 1985 but returned in 1995 for the band's comeback album Trial by Fire. In the interim, he played with Journey offshoot the Storm. In 2015, he rejoined Journey again, but was terminated from the group (along with bassist Ross Valory) in March, 2020.
Since 1977, Smith has led his own jazz group, Vital Information. Drummer Neil Peart of Rush invited him in 1994 to perform on Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich, a tribute album to Buddy Rich, who inspired both drummers. Smith recorded the song "Nutville" and was invited for the sequel tribute album, Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich, Vol. 2, for which he recorded "Moment's Notice". He recorded two albums with Buddy's Buddies, a quintet composed of musicians who played with Rich. In 2007, Smith and Buddy's Buddies were renamed Steve Smith's Jazz Legacy. The band pays tribute to many great jazz drummers in addition to Buddy Rich. In 1989, Smith headlined the Buddy Rich Memorial Scholarship Concert held in New York City, performing a duet with drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith. Smith released two albums, Very Live at Ronnie Scott's Set One & Set Two, for Tone Center, recorded at Ronnie Scott's club in London.
In 2001 Modern Drummer magazine named Smith one of the Top 25 Drummers of All Time. During the following year, he was voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. In 2003, his DVD Steve Smith Drumset Technique – History of the U.S. Beat was voted the No. 1 Educational DVD of the year.
Smith has worked as a session musician for Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli, Elisa, Vasco Rossi, Zucchero, Savage Garden, Bryan Adams, Zakir Hussain and Sandip Burman. Additionally, he has played with jazz musicians such as Steps Ahead, Wadada Leo Smith, Tom Coster, Ahmad Jamal, Dave Liebman, Larry Coryell, Victor Wooten, Mike Stern, Randy Brecker, Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale, Stuart Hamm, Dweezil Zappa, Anthony Jackson, Aydın Esen, Torsten de Winkel, George Brooks, Michael Zilber, Steve Marcus, Andy Fusco, Kai Eckhardt, Lee Musiker, Howard Levy, Oteil Burbridge, Jerry Goodman, Tony MacAlpine, Hiromi Uehara and Bill Evans.

As leader

1999 Steve Smith & Buddy's Buddies (Tone Center)
2003 Reimagined, Vol. 1: Jazz Standards (Bluejay)
2003 Very Live at Ronnie Scott's London, Set 1 (Tone Center)
2003 Very Live at Ronnie Scott's London, Set 2 (Tone Center)
2005 Flashpoint (Tone Center)

As member/co-leader

With Journey

1979 Evolution
1980 Departure
1980 Dream, After Dream
1981 Captured
1981 Escape
1981 Live in Houston 1981: The Escape Tour
1983 Frontiers
1986 Raised on Radio (tracks 2, 10, 11)
1996 Trial by Fire
1998 Greatest Hits Live
2017 Escape & Frontiers Live in Japan

With Vital Information

1983 Vital Information
1984 Orion
1987 Global Beat
1988 Fiafiaga
1991 Vitalive!
1992 Easier Done Than Said
1996 Ray of Hope
1998 Where We Come From
2000 Live Around the World
2001 Live from Mars
2002 Show 'Em Where You Live
2004 Come on In
2007 Vitalization
2012 Live! One Great Night (BFM Jazz)
2015 Viewpoint (BFM Jazz)
2017 Heart of the City (BFM Jazz)
2023 Time Flies (Drum Legacy)
2025 New Perspective (Drum Legacy)
With Steps Ahead

1986 Live in Tokyo 1986
1989 N.Y.C.
1992 Yin-Yang
2016 Steppin' Out
With Vital Tech Tones - with Scott Henderson and Victor Wooten

Vital Tech Tones (Tone Center, 1998)
VTT2 (Tone Center, 2000)
With Steve Smith's Jazz Legacy

2008 Live on Tour, Vol. 1
2009 Live on Tour, Vol. 2
With others

1987 Players with T. Lavitz, Jeff Berlin and Scott Henderson
1990 Ten (all tracks except 5, 8 & 11), Y&T
1990 The Storm, The Storm
1998 Cause and Effect with Larry Coryell and Tom Coster
2016 Groove: Blue with Tony Monaco and Vinny Valentino (Q-Rious)

As sideman

With Jeff Berlin

1985 Champion
1998 Crossroads
With Frank Gambale

1987 A Present for the Future
1991 Note Worker
1998 Show Me What You Can Do
2000 The Light Beyond
2002 GHS3
With Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith

2004 Yo Miles: Sky Garden
2005 Yo Miles: Upriver
2010 Yo Miles: Lightning
2010 Yo Miles: Shinjuku
With Neal Schon

1982 Here to Stay with Jan Hammer
1989 Late Nite
1995 Beyond the Thunder
1997 Electric World
2012 The Calling
2015 Vortex
With others

1977 Focus con Proby, Focus
1977 Enigmatic Ocean, Jean-Luc Ponty
1984 Reckless, Bryan Adams (appears on Heaven)
1986 Edge of Insanity, Tony MacAlpine
1989 Richie Kotzen, Richie Kotzen
1989 Metropolis, Turtle Island String Quartet
1991 Emotions, Mariah Carey
1994 Thonk, Michael Manring
1995 Spirito DiVino, Zucchero
1997 Pipes & Flowers, Elisa
1999 The Stranger's Hand, with Jerry Goodman, Howard Levy, and Oteil Burbridge
2000 Room Full of Fools, Kevin Coyne
2001 Count's Jam Band Reunion, Larry Coryell
2001 Defying Gravity, Vinnie Moore
2001 Chromaticity, Tony MacAlpine
2004 Andrea, Andrea Bocelli