If you haven't heard of Charles Stepney before, it's not surprising. That said, you've definitely heard his work. Before his tragic death at age 45 from a heart attack in 1976, the Chicago-based vibraphonist, pianist, songwriter, and producer was behind massive hits for Earth, Wind & Fire, the Dells, and other legendary soul artists. Though his name remained obscure in the years following his passing, his work lived on, gaining popularity among DJs, rappers, and crate-diggers enthralled by the jazzy, deeply lyrical melodies ...
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If you haven't heard of Charles Stepney before, it's not surprising. That said, you've definitely heard his work. Before his tragic death at age 45 from a heart attack in 1976, the Chicago-based vibraphonist, pianist, songwriter, and producer was behind massive hits for Earth, Wind & Fire, the Dells, and other legendary soul artists. Though his name remained obscure in the years following his passing, his work lived on, gaining popularity among DJs, rappers, and crate-diggers enthralled by the jazzy, deeply lyrical melodies and grooves he brought to albums like Ramsey Lewis' Maiden Voyage, Rotary Connection's Hey Love, and Terry Callier's What Color Is Love, among others. While Stepney never released a proper solo album, he regularly recorded demos in the basement studio of his Chicago home. Produced in cooperation with his three daughters, International Anthem's 2022 anthology Step on Step compiles many of these home recordings. Though intimately rendered with Stepney overdubbing piano, keyboards, and vibraphone over analog drum machine beats, the tracks on Step on Step still evince all of vibrant melodic creativity, improvisational flair and funk of his official studio work. Some of these tracks are early versions of songs he brought to other artists, including a poignant take on "Imagination," the shimmering ballad later brought to vivid technicolor on Earth, Wind & Fire's 1976 album Spirit. There's also a dusky and roiling Latin jazz number, "Black Gold," which Rotary Connection reworked into their 1971 psych-soul anthem "I Am the Black Gold of the Sun." Many of the tracks, including "Daddies Diddies," "In the Basement," and "Rubie & Charles" are not so much finished songs as instrumental sketches, ideas Stepney recorded to flesh out at a later date. Subsequently, they were titled here by Stepney's daughters, who also appear at various times on the album to offer warm memories of their father, such as his love of Star Trek and the physics of sound on "Funky Sci-fi" or how he enjoyed organizing his studio on "Business." All of this paints the picture of Stepney as a loving, deeply inspired performer who brought his deep Chicago roots and broad-minded musical passions to everything he did. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
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