Charles Stepney - "Step on Step"
Today, 3/23/22, we are honored to share βStep on Step,β the first eponymous recording ever released by the late Chicago producer, arranger, musician and composer Charles Stepney.
Stepney died tragically in 1976, and his legacy includes essential behind-the-curtain work on world famous recordings by Rotary Connection, The Dells, Muddy Waters, Minnie Riperton, Ramsey Lewis, Earth, Wind & Fire, Terry Callier, and many many others. In his music β as producer, arranger, and composer β Stepney routinely transcended trend and convention. Much of Stepneyβs work, including from his prolific days as a staff arranger at Chess Records in Chicago, employed prismatic horn and string arrangements (in some cases brought to life by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). His arrangements β like the idiosyncratic underpinnings of βThatβs The Way Of The World,β as recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire, βWhat Color Is Loveβ by Terry Callier, or βCalifornia Soulβ by Marlena Shaw β are still squarely in our hearts nearly fifty years after their inception. His sound has been sampled countless times by artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, Kanye West, Jay-Z, DβAngelo, Gang Starr, and Jurassic 5. Yet all too many of us donβt know his name.
Todayβs βStep on Step,β the first recording ever to be released under Stepneyβs name, comes 3 days ahead of what would have been his 91st birthday. The song was recorded by Stepney to 4-track tape in the basement of his home, sometime in the late 1960s. It features Stepney layering his own performances on piano and vibraphone over a primitive drum machine. It is perhaps the most stripped-down impression ever heard of Stepney, an artist known for his epic, orchestral arrangements.
Listen.
((( L>R Charlene, ChantΓ©, Eibur )))
He was a genius relegated to the shadows, whose enigmatic lifeforce was snuffed out far too soon. However, his genius is being brought into brighter light by his three daughters, Eibur, Charlene, and ChantΓ© Stepney, who have spent the greater part of their lives engaged in a quest to exalt their fatherβs legacy.
This βStep on Stepβ single is just a beginning. There will be much more news and music to come from The Stepney Family together with International Anthem in 2022.
#SummerOfStepney
