Steve Raybine - Cool Vibes (2016)

Review: Steve Raybine/ Cool Vibes/ Bad Kat Records:

Steve Raybine is a virtuosic vibraphonist who has been quite busy throughout his career. Raybine
spent eight years as a member of the popular group AURACLE (which he co-founded) and has since
freelanced in a countless number of settings including with Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck and
Rick Braun. He uplifts every session on which he appears. Cool Vibes is his fourth and most
rewarding CD as a leader.

Raybine wrote all but one of the songs on Cool Vibes, also contributing lyrics for three vocals.
His music has jazz as its foundation but also seamlessly utilizes aspects of r&b, funk and pop.
The 15 concise performances (all but one clock in between 2:19 and 3:53) get their point across
quickly with grooving rhythms, catchy ensembles, original themes and purposeful solos.
The leader’s vibes are usually in the lead, playing over infectious bass patterns played by
Steve Gomez, Mark Haar or Doyle Tipler. The instrumentation varies throughout the program.

The opening “Del Mar Beach” is an excellent example of the music on this set. The melodic
performance features the active bass patterns of Gomez, fluent playing by Raybine,
and three horns that add to the excitement of the ensembles. There are many other highlights.
The vibes are well featured on the melodic and atmospheric “Kiss Me” and “Kickin’ Back,” a pair
of contemporary pieces that stick in one’s mind afterwards. Two versions of the spirited blues
“Cool Drinks” include heated blues playing by guitarist Jeff Scheffler plus a vocal by
Nate Van Fleet on the first rendition. The energetic “Sno ‘Fun” has a prominent part for
Steve Kujala on flute and piccolo. Altoist Stan Harper’s soulful playing adds to the passion
of “Desert Pearl” while his soprano is in the limelight on “Coral Breeze.” The Latin tinged
“Salsa Verde” has a rewarding spot for Raybine’s vibes and a memorable cool-toned
Paul Desmond-inspired alto solo by his son, David Raybine. “Bad Kat Karma” has the
Raybines and Harper joined very effectively by the Westside High School Concert
Jazz Band Of Omaha. Cool Vibes concludes with “Tree Of Life,” a
showcase for Steve Raybine’s unaccompanied vibes.

With all of its variety, Cool Vibes has a strong unity and is filled with rhythmic melodies.
Its performances are both accessible and creative. The result is an infectious program
that is easy to enjoy.


Reviewer: Scott Yanow, jazz journalist/historian and author of 11 books including
The Great Jazz Guitarists

More about Steve Raybine:
Steve Raybine is a virtuoso vibraphonist; percussionist; composer/arranger; instructor
and clinician. He received degrees from the prestigious Eastman School of Music,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Iowa. As the co-founder,
co-musical director, and performer/composer of the critically-acclaimed progressive jazz ensemble
AURACLE, he toured the United States, Europe, and recorded two albums
(Glider and City Slickers) on Chrysalis Records. During his eight-year tenure with Auracle,
Raybine performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland;
Frankfurt Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, Germany; and the Sopot Jazz Festival in Sopot, Poland.
He has played at prominent jazz venues including Dontes, the Baked Potato, the
Lighthouse, the Other End, the Paradise, and the Roxy.

As a Los Angeles studio musician in the mid-1970's, he played for episodic and commercial
television soundtracks at MGM, Universal, and Paramount recording studios, and was affiliated
with ATV Publishing Corporation. Raybine’s freelance performance credits include
Ed Shaughnessy, Dizzy Gillespie, Rick Braun, Ndugu Chancler, Michael Feinstein, Jack
Jones, Roger Williams, Karrin Allyson, Dave Brubeck, opening act for Stanley Jordan,
the Kansas City (MO) Jazz Conference, the Omaha Big Band, as well as local and
regional orchestras. You only have to listen to his music once to understand why
the Independent Artist Registry, www.independentartistregistry.com/steveraybine,
selected Raybine over thousands of other artists.

Raybine performs nationally at colleges and universities as a jazz artist and as a
vibraphone soloist, recitalist and clinician He has appeared at Northern Illinois
University, Marshall University; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Northeast Missouri
State University; Florida State University; Nebraska Wesleyan University;
University of South Dakota; the Grand Opera House in Oshkosh, Wisconsin;
the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay;
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota-Winona campus, Concordia University in
Seward, Nebraska, and Creighton University; and gave a clinic at the 2000
Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASICS) in Dallas, Texas.

Raybine has taught Jazz Studies and Percussion at Universities for over
ten years with lectures and performances featured on Nebraska Public Radio
and Nebraska Educational Television. He has presented research papers
at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) conferences, which were
published in conference proceedings. Raybine has had numerous articles
published in Percussive Notes and Sticks and Mallets publications. In 1997,
he received the Jazz Educator of the year Award for the State of Nebraska from
the National Band Association. He is Past-President of the Nebraska Chapter of
the Percussive Arts Society and is a Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) composer.
Raybine is an artist and clinician with Ludwig/Musser, endorses Mike Balter Mallets, and is
the owner of SAR Music, LLC and BAD KAT Records, LLC.

Discography. Steve Raybine and his band perform his original contemporary
jazz music which incorporates urban funk, rhythm and blues, pop and Latin music
elements. His first CD release was entitled Steve Raybine: Balance Act, and received
airplay in the U.S. and on Eastside Radio 89.7 FM, Sydney, Australia. His second CD,
Bad Kat Karma, was released in late June, 2005, on BAD KAT Records, LLC. Both CDs
were showcased on the nation’s #1 smoothjazz online radio station, www.smoothjazz.com.
In late fall of 2005 - 2006, Raybine’s hit single, Bad Kat Karma, Breezin’ and Breckenridge Blue
were featured on over eighty (80) radio stations from coast to coast, numerous radio and
internet stations in the U.S. and abroad (UK, Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain). Bad Kat Karma
appeared on XM Satellite Radio’s Watercolors Channel, and Cable’s Music Choice, worldwide.
Additionally, Steve Quirk of Fusion Flavours selected Raybine’s cover of George Benson’s
iconic Breezin’ from Bad Kat Karma, as #50 on his Best of 2005 hit list at
www.fusionflavours.com/bestof2005.php. Sunny was recently released March 1, 2007,
and in its first ten days of airplay, appeared on numerous radio stations in seven U.S. States,
worldwide on Sirius Satellite Radio, as well as on DMX Cable Radio Channels
“Jazz Vocal Blend,” “Smooth Jazz,” and internet’s leading smoothjazz radio network,
Smoothjazz.com. In the Spring of 2009, he released his 3rd CD, In the Driver’s Seat.
Several singles including You Got It All, Step it Up, and the Bobby Caldwell cover,
What You Won’t Do For Love, were released and received favorable airplay on over
150 terrestrial radio stations, satellite radio networks and internet stations through
the U.S. as well as Europe. (See list available on request.) CD and download sales
reported via iTunes, CD Baby and others throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
Steve’s fourth CD is scheduled for release in mid-summer, 2015.

Performances. Raybine’s band debuted at the 2003 Genuine Jazz Festival
in Breckenridge, Colorado. His band has played local festivals and venues
in Nebraska and Iowa, including the West Omaha Jazz and Gospel Festival,
Jazz on the Green, and appeared again at the 2005 Genuine Jazz Festival.
He appeared again at the 2006 Genuine Jazz Festival, was a headliner at
the 2006 Omaha Riverfront Jazz and Blues Festival, and appeared at the
Ft. Meyer’s Jazz on the Green, Southwest Florida’s premier jazz event,
(www.jazzonthegreen.com) in October, 2007. From 2008 - current, Raybine
has appeared regularly at Omaha’s premier jazz nightclub, the Ozone, for
“Smoothjazz Thursdays,” and twice at Omaha’s Jazz on the Green, in 2009
and 2011. He opened the 2010 Omaha Riverfront Jazz & Blues Festival with
Boney James, headlined at both Jazz on the Green and Midtown Crossings in
2011, performed at the Omaha Arts & Entertainment (OEA) Awards in
2011 (and in 2013, received the OAE Award for Best Jazz Artist).
Steve spent much of 2014 in the studio recording his latest CD, Cool Vibes.