Ross Valory is best known for his decades-long work with Journey, where his bass playing helped anchor a pop-rock hit machine responsible for some of the most recognizable and enduring songs in the genre. As a member of a band built around big melodies, layered harmonies, and precise arrangements, Valory was an essential team player. But the music he was writing on the road often lived far outside Journey’s established sound.
Those songs accumulated over the years, eventually filling shelves at Valory’s home until, about 12 years ago, he began bringing them into the studio. He recorded them one at a time, drawing on a network of accomplished players and allowing the material to develop without the expectations that came with his day job. The result was All of the Above, a largely instrumental record shaped by Latin, fusion, jazz, and world-music influences. Released in 2024, it quickly became a critical favorite, revealing a side of Valory that had been largely hidden by Journey’s enormous success.
Now All of the Above has been remixed and remastered and is being released on vinyl and CD for the first time. The reissue also includes a new instrumental, “City Lights,” which finds Valory on upright bass alongside an impressive group of players: Eric Levy of Night Ranger and Garage Mahal, Steve Smith of Journey and Vital Information, Bobby Strickland of Todd Rundgren’s band, longtime Valory collaborator Stevie “Keys” Roseman, and Tower of Power’s Mic Gillette. Gillette arranged the horns and plays trumpet and trombone, including a featured trombone solo.
Ross Valory, All of the Above, album cover. Artwork by Prairie Prince.
“City Lights” captures much of what made All of the Above such an intriguing listen. The playing is sophisticated without becoming clinical, with the rhythm section providing a flexible foundation for horns, keyboards, guitars, and Valory’s bass to move around. It is music built on interaction rather than a single dominant voice.
The reissue gives listeners who discovered Valory’s musical world in 2024 a chance to hear it in a new format, while introducing an entirely different audience to a body of work that has been developing patiently for more than a decade.
Copper spoke with Valory about the long road to All of the Above, the musical influences that shaped it, and what happens when a celebrated bassist finally gets the freedom to follow his own musical instincts.
Ray Chelstowski: This album is so unique in that the material was written over such an extended period of time.
Ross Valory: When I joined Journey in 1972, it became my life, and it was certainly a blessing. It was an amazing career. I was an accompanying bass player, backing vocalist, and occasional singer. The work was demanding and all-consuming, with a lot of travel and touring, so I largely set aside my own creations, which for the most part didn’t fit Journey’s material. I did contribute more in the early days, when Journey was a progressive, experimental band. That was a different musical expression, with more fusion influences and less focus on the market.
After that the band became more focused on popular music and vocally-oriented compositions, and what I had been creating went to the wayside. That sat on the shelf and began to accumulate. Some of it was complete and some of it was just a collection of song ideas. About 12 years ago I just decided to start finishing what I’d begun. I also wanted to complete the material for its own sake, artistically. And over time it amounted to a full album’s worth of material. I just waited a long time to get around to my own material.
RC: This sound is far different than what made you famous. What do you listen to and what influences your own creative process?
RV: I come from a musical family. My mother played piano and sang. Some of my siblings were also musical and still are. The types of music I was exposed to as a young child was really diverse. For example, at Christmas at one moment you might hear Handel’s “Messiah,” and the next you’d hear Nat King Cole. There was a wide variety and on the turntable, it would shift from classical, to jazz, to doo wop. So I was inspired and influenced by so many kinds of music. As of the third grade I began sight reading and performing clarinet and bass clarinet as early as the third grade. I went through the entire school system as an acapella choral singer and a symphonic player. My interest in rock n roll was very select. I was introduced to it by a friend who asked me to join his band after he’d learned that I played guitar.
I tend to gravitate to symphonic or jazz, modern or classical. I’m also particular about the source of that material. The best is when I get a good broadcast from local classical and jazz radio stations like JCSM in San Mateo, California.
RC: There are a lot of Latin influences here, especially with Santana’s “Incident at Neshabur.”
RV: There’s something interesting about that medley. I was set up to record with the right players on this, including Karl Perazzo, who plays a vital part. A master percussionist who played for years with Carlos Santana. As for this material, there is a good amount of influence from Vangelis. There are also Latin jazz and Latin rock [influences], especially Santana.
RC: How did you determine a sonic North Star and then keep it sounding so cohesive throughout?
RV: It’s actually a collection, taking things song by song. I never thought about an album, just completing one song at a time in its own context. Once I had decided on making an album out of the material, the challenge came of how you thread together and sequence so many songs that are completely different from each other. There were several ways to sequence, and they were tied to common chords, energy, rhythms, and mood. The album is more of a “buffet.”
RC: How did you determine who would play on what song?
RV: It wasn’t a concept album. I chose different musicians for different songs based on their talent or their suitability for that kind of music. So it was a matter of having a combination of musicians who fit the song best [being] available. I don’t retain musicians or have a band per se, so I had to grab musicians when they had time.
RC: You played many instruments on this record. Which presented the greatest challenge?
RV: The guitar. The standalone arrangement for “Windmill” on acoustic guitar was a challenge, but I did it section by section.
RC: How do you recommend that people listen to his record?
RV: The best thing you can do is take the time and listen to the whole thing, first by turning off your phone. “Wind up the cat, throw out the clock” as they say, and sit down with your favorite medium, whether it’s headphones or a good system, turn out the lights, close your eyes and listen to the whole thing. It’s an adventure.
Header image courtesy of Jerome Brunet.
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