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With a résumé ranging from Frank Zappa to Whitesnake, three-time Grammy Award winner Steve Vai has earned his reputation as one of the most inventive, virtuosic guitarists in rock. Vai – an accomplished composer and producer as well as musician – has recently signed with Sony’s Legacy Recordings to a new multi-album agreement which will kick off with two releases in 2015. The first of these has been confirmed for April 7, 2015. Stillness in Motion – Vai Live in L.A. is drawn from his October 12, 2012 at Los Angeles’ Club Nokia. Available in 2-CD and 2-DVD configurations, Stillness in Motion chronicles the 49th concert of Vai’s Story of Light World Tour which spanned 253 shows from 2012 to 2014 including concerts, master classes, and orchestral performances in 52 (!) countries.

Inspired by heavy hitters such as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Brian May, New York native Vai first rose to prominence in Frank Zappa’s band. As a 19-year old veteran of local bands, Vai mailed the famously demanding Zappa a transcription of his fiendishly difficult percussion composition “The Black Page,” also enclosing a tape of his guitar playing. Zappa was so impressed that he hired Vai to transcribe more compositions, and in 1980, Vai became a member of his band. Zappa’s influence was prominent on Vai’s debut record, 1984’s Flex-Able, but soon he was spreading his artistic wings even wider with metal outfit Alcatrazz and former Sex Pistol John Lydon’s Public Image Ltd. Vai even recorded a jazz album for ECM with Indian violinist L. Shankar and future superstar composer A.R. Rahman.

In 1985, Vai joined David Lee Roth’s post-Van Halen supergroup David Lee Roth Band (also known as the Eat ‘Em and Smile Band after the group’s first LP), sticking around long enough to co-produce and co-write most of the group’s smash second album, Skyscraper. He followed his stint with Diamond Dave as a member of Whitesnake and collaborated with Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne and friend and mentor Joe Satriani (subject of a recent box set from Legacy). In 1990, he relaunched his solo career at Legacy sister labels Relativity and Epic Records with the acclaimed Passion and Warfare, and In 1994 Vai received a Grammy Award for his performance on Frank Zappa’s song “Sofa” from the album Zappa’s Universe; he has since periodically returned to the Zappa catalogue.

Vai can’t be pigeonholed, working in rock, metal and even classical idioms as the spirit moves him. “To say that this tour was a powerful life experience would be like saying the sun is hot,” Vai writes in the liner notes for Stillness in Motion. In addition to the full Club Nokia performance, the 2-DVD iteration includes a disc premiering “The Space Between the Notes (Tour Mischief),” a video diary containing more than three and a half hours of footage, shot around the world onstage and off during the tour.

The deal with Legacy brings Vai back to the Sony family, and promises to include a new studio album to arrive later in 2015. For now, Stillness in Motion: Vai Live in L.A. is due in 2-CD and 2-DVD formats on April 7. It can be pre-ordered at the links below!

Steve Vai, Stillness in Motion: Vai Live in L.A. (Legacy, 2015)

2-CD Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD 1

1. Intro/Racing the World
2. Velorum
3. Band Intros
4. Building the Church
5. Tender Surrender
6. Gravity Storm
7. Weeping China Doll
8. John the Revelator
9. The Moon and I
10. The Animal
11. Whispering a Prayer

CD 2

1. The Audience Is Listening
2. Rescue Me or Bury Me
3. Sisters
4. Treasure Island
5. Salamanders In the Sun
6. Pusa Road
7. Frank
8. The Ultra Zone (CD Version)
9. Build Me a Song L.A.
10. For The Love of God
11. Taurus Bulba

2-DVD Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

DVD 1

1. Intro/Racing the World
2. Velorum
3. Band Intros
4. Building the Church
5. Tender Surrender
6. Gravity Storm
7. The Trillium’s Launch
8. Weeping China Doll
9. John the Revelator
10. The Moon and I
11. The Animal
12. Whispering a Prayer
13. The Audience Is Listening
14. Where Are We
15. Rescue Me or Bury Me
16. Sisters
17. Treasure Island
18. Beastly Rap
19. Salamanders In the Sun
20. Pusa Road
21. Earthquake Sky, Drum Solo
22. I’m Tired
23. The Ultra Zone
24. Frank

DVD 2

1. Build Me a Song L.A.
2. For the Love of God
3. Taurus Bulba

Story of Light Tour: The Space Between the Notes (Tour Mischief)

1. Leg 1 (Rehearsals/USA)
2. Leg 2 (Europe/Eastern Europe)
3. Leg 3 (Vegas/Netherlands/Russia/Ukraine/Europe)
4. Leg 4 (Australia/NZ/Indonesia/China/S. Korea/Japan/Taiwan/Thailand)
5. Leg 5 (Europe…again)
6. Leg 6 (USA…again)
7. Leg 7 (Mexico/South America/China)
8. Leg 8 (Vegas/Singapore/Malaysia/Israel/Europe/Russia/Ukraine)
9. Leg 9 (USA/St. Barths/Japan/France/Poland)