Real Time (Steam album)

Real Time is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was released in 1997 on Eighth Day Music and reissued in 2000 with new artwork by Atavistic. He leads the quartet Steam with pianist Jim Baker, bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Tim Mulvenna. The band was formed in part to dip into the repertoire of the post-changes jazz tradition, playing live covers of tunes by Anthony Braxton, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. On their debut, the group chose exclusively to deal with its own pieces: six by Vandermark and three by Baker.

Real Time
Studio album by Steam
Released	1997
Recorded	April 5 & 6, 1996
Studio	Airwave, Chicago
Genre	Jazz
Length	62:51
Label	Eighth Day Music, Atavistic
Producer	Steam
Ken Vandermark chronology
A Meeting in Chicago (1997) Real Time (1997) Single Piece Flow (1997)
reissue cover

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
Down Beat

In his review for AllMusic, Tom Schulte states "Vandermark brings from his Vandermark 5 his trademark hard-edged horn gusto while working in the jazz group ideal of each member stepping forward supported by the rest."

The Penguin Guide to Jazz says "The usual quota of interest, but it would have been more exciting to see how they dealt with a set of covers."

The Down Beat review by Aaron Cohen says "Try to imagine Eric Dolphy with a more audible sense of the humor combined with a more beat-heavy Herbie Nichols, and the resulting blend would approximate Steam."

Track listing

All compositions by Ken Vandermark except as indicated

1. "No Go" – 5:53
2. "Non-Confirmation" (Jim Baker) – 6:24
3. "Situation Travesty" (Jim Baker) – 9:26
4. "Explosive Motor" – 7:00
5. "A Memory of No Thoughts" – 5:59
6. "Chump Change" – 6:40
7. "Correlative Amnesia" (Jim Baker) – 7:19
8. "Tellefero" – 7:02
9. "Tableau Shot" – 7:08

Personnel

• Jim Baker – piano
• Ken Vandermark – reeds
• Kent Kessler – bass
• Tim Mulvenna – drums