THE STEVE MORSE BAND – Live In Baden-Baden Germany March 1990

Such a hectic and immensely engrossed career doesn’t come by as often as one would imagine, at least not on this level. Morse, hailing from Hamilton, Ohio, was born in 1954 to two professional parents, both psychologists besides one being a minister (father) and the other a classically trained pianist (mother). Steve’s childhood couldn’t have been easy on him from all the moving around his parents made him go through. While growing up, Steve became familiar with both the clarinet and piano. However, his penchant for the guitar was his instrument of choice as it turned out. He was the typical youngster with aspirations of becoming a great guitarist and having his own band.

It turns out that all this moving around was a blessing in disguise. It allowed Steve to attend the Richmond Academy in Augusta, Georgia. The culmination of many things happened to occur at once in such a positive way that Steve’s career was about to take off without him even knowing it. It is there that Morse met up with future Dixie Dregs bassist Andy West, and that proved to be the nucleus of the newly formed Dixie Grits; Steve Morse on guitar, Andy West on Bass, and Steve’s brother Dave Morse on drums. Added was Johnny Carr, keyboardist, and Frank Brittingham, guitarist and vocalist to round things out and be more cohesive as a band. Refusing to cut his hair, Steve was expelled from the Richmond Academy, enabling him to enroll at the University of Miami School of Music.

During the 1970s, the University of Miami hosted a number of influential musicians, some of which were Bruce Hornsby, Pat Metheny, and Jaco Pastorius. Andy West also enrolled at that time, and with Morse, drummer Burt Yarnall, keyboardist Frank Josephs, and violinist Allen Sloan, all collaborated in a lab project titled Rock Ensemble II. The group compiled a recording used for promotional efforts back in 1975 and was eventually released as The Great Spectacular in 1997. Upon Morse’s graduation from the University of Miami in 1975, he and West, both cofounders of Dixie Dregs, called their project band Rock Ensemble II. The Great Spectacular was now part of the Dixie Dregs discography. The one thing that did change during all of this was the replacement of injured drummer Bart Yarnall with Rod Morgenstein.

Taking a look at the long and prosperous career of Steve Morse, one can see that it all began around 1975 from the University of Miami School of Music. Along with the Dixie Dregs, there was the Steve Morse Band, Steve Morse (solo), Steve Morse with Deep Purple, and Steve Morse with Kansas. Steve also made many guest appearances with other artists and was part of various artist compilations and tributes. The time span is from 1975 to today with no sign of letting up. Thirty-two years and still going strong.

This DVD, Live In Baden – Baden Germany March 1990, clearly shows the man’s talent along with the bands penchant for playing in a live atmosphere. The type of music is Fusion-based Rock/Jazz/Funk/Bluegrass/Southern Rock. The music isn’t anything hard enough to blow you away, but it’s also not so mellow that you fall asleep or lose interest. It is definitely different. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea at first, but it’s an acquired taste. If you are into Fusion and this type of music, you will probably enjoy it beyond belief.

The main part of the DVD shows Steve (guitar), Dave LaRue (bass), and Van (drums), the three being the Steve Morse Band, knocking out 12 songs in 1990 with genres all over the place, taking up about 57 minutes. Three songs from the 1984 LP The Introduction, three songs from the 1989 LP High Tension Wires, two songs from the 1991 LP Southern Steel, combine for 8 out of the 12 songs performed from the Steve Morse Band. Two songs from the 1978 LP What If , one song from the 1980 LP Dregs Of The Earth, and one song from the 1981 LP Unsung Heroes round out the remaining four songs from the Dixie Dregs collection.

The bonus part of the DVD has the original Steve Morse Band lineup with Jerry Peek on bass and Rod Morgenstein on drums playing a 4-song, 17-minute set back on Feb. 22, 1984. Additionally, as an added goodie, there is a promo video of “Cruise Missile” from the 1984 LP, The Introduction. The DVD is definitely a “need to get” for fans of Steve Morse, regardless of the band he was with at the time during his industrious career.