He counts his blessings at having spent an amazing career with a remarkable group of musicians who succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.With the last-minute removal of the rarely seen “Subway Funeral”, Thursday’s song selection was as predictable as ever the band has stuck to a similar setlist for each of their tours since the release of A City by the Light Divided in 2006. VALORY, who spent most of his life as a member of Journey, has no regrets. VALORY left Journey in 2020 and the band members worked out their issues in a peaceful mediated settlement. He is stepping out from behind his bass and, for the first time in his more than half-century as a professional musician, representing his vision and his compositions. He plays keyboards, guitar, and, of course, many basses in a display of cultivated virtuosity across a palette far broader than could be found in his work with Journey. The nine tracks on the album represent the full maturity of VALORY’s musical gifts, cutting a broad swath through the instrumental territory the music travels. The studio became his laboratory and the compositions his experiments.įrom the Latin-fired intensity of “Wild Kingdom” to the ethereal dirge of “No One Wins a War,” the raucous party on “Low Rider” or the brilliant reprise of Santana’s “Incident of Neshabur,” the album presents an evolved artist fully in command of his vision, a lifetime of experience behind the project, augmenting his core associates with guest musicians such as Gregg Errico of Sly & the Family Stone, drummer Steve Smith, and saxophonist Marc Russo. He cast specific musicians to specific parts. The basic concept was to find the heart of the material and expand upon it until VALORY could refine and shape the music’s path to his supreme satisfaction. Different ideas were tried and discarded, remodeled and refurbished. Sometimes spending years jamming on these ideas, the pieces took shape slowly. He cultivated individual numbers like sprawling projects, experimenting with different arrangements played by an assortment of musicians. VALORY developed a repertory company of musicians over the years that came together at his studio. The album was produced by VALORY and co-produced by Jacob Stowe and Eric Levy. After a lifetime in music, VALORY scrupulously etched ALL OF THE ABOVE. In between tour dates, he pulled together a tight-knit group of collaborators and slowly began to finish what he started. As a member of Journey, VALORY concentrated on shaping the rhythm section and contributing his baritone vocals to the background blend.ĭuring the band’s second coming following the 1995 reunion album Trial By Fire, VALORY began sorting through his files and polishing up some of his old notes. ROSS VALORY always had pieces of music tucked away that he had written, although songwriting contributions to Journey slipped away after the first three “experimental” albums. Big, Y&T, and Aerosmith), but also offers an affirmation of resolve to move forward, the sunlight of optimism illuminating the process. He pulled it out to fashion a piece that not only recalls the passing of collaborator Tom Size (accomplished engineer known for his work with Mr. VALORY had the basic parts kicking around since shortly after leaving the Steve Miller Band in 1972, a bluesy set of chords that roll into each other mellifluously, something he had jammed on a lot over the years. The track builds to a ripping, climactic solo by red-hot guitarist Miles Schon, drummer Prairie Prince and keyboardist Eric Levy. Penned by VALORY, the all-instrumental “Tomland” marks the second piece recorded for the project-and the first done entirely at his new studio in the East Bay area of Northern California. ROSS VALORY, regarded as one of rock’s best bass guitarists and an original member of the multi-platinum band Journey until his 2020 departure, returns today ( January 17) with the video for “Tomland.” It’s the hypnotic first single from the bassist and songwriter’s debut solo album ALL OF THE ABOVE due out this April (exact date TBA) on OID Music. Watch the movingly atmospheric video, directed by Michael Cotten, HERE for the single which is out this Friday ( January 19). Ross Valory, All Of The Above + First Single…
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