Guitarist Mike Stern plays
with talented friends in a Big Neighborhood
Guest artists on new recording include Steve
Vai, Eric Johnson, Esperanza Spalding, Richard Bona,
Randy Brecker, Medeski Martin & Wood, Cindy Blackman and
others
Five-time
GRAMMY nominated guitarist Mike Stern's music has always
come from a colorful and diverse part of town - a place
where numerous artistic styles converge to create a
fresh sound that's rooted in jazz but refuses to adhere
to rigid borders. Since his earliest recordings, this
former bandmate of Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Billy
Cobham and other high-profile innovators has grafted
elements of rock, blues, soul and more to his solid jazz
foundations. On Stern's street, anybody who brings a
sense of energy, eclecticism and passion to the craft of
music is welcome to play.
Stern invites fans and
newcomers alike into his rich and diverse little corner
of the world with the August 11, 2009, worldwide release
of Big Neighborhood (HUCD 3157) on Heads Up
International, a division of Concord Music Group. Aiding
Stern in this latest chapter of his never-ending quest
for the new and better groove is a long list of talented
guests: guitarists Steve Vai and Eric Johnson;
bassist-vocalists Esperanza Spalding and Richard Bona;
jamband godfathers Medeski Martin & Wood; drummers Dave
Weckl, Terri Lyne Carrington, Cindy Blackman and Lionel
Cordew; bassists Chris Minh Doky and Lincoln Goines, and
several others.
With a crew this large and
diverse, the idea of the album title should be pretty
clear, says Stern. "Music is like a big neighborhood - a
place where anything and everything can happen", he
explains. "You can find all kinds of things in a big
neighborhood - all kinds of different people, all kinds
of different ideas and perspectives, and of course, all
kinds of different sounds".
With all of this
going on in a single recording, Stern's primary
objective was to capture the energy as live as possible,
with few if any overdubs. This was no easy task, as a
few of the artists had schedules that prohibited meeting
in a central location. Consequently, while Stern was
able to record a good part of the album in his hometown
of New York City, he had to travel (with rhythm section)
to Austin, Texas to record with Eric Johnson, and then
to Los Angeles to record with Steve Vai and Dave Weckl.
In the end, the album's eleven tracks came together in a
neighborhood that spans two coasts with a stop in the
Lone Star State.
"This record is in a lot of
places - not just in terms of where it was recorded, but
in the various voices and styles that are represented",
says Stern. "There's jazz here, there's rock, there's
Latin, there are elements of Middle Eastern music. I dig
records like that. Basically, I guess the thread that
hopefully holds all this together is the fact that I
wrote all the tunes on this project, I play on all of
them, and the concept of how all this fits together is
mine with some great help from the guy that produced the
record, Jim Beard. I hear it when I'm writing. I'll
think, 'This song has kind of an African groove, so I
should get Richard Bona to play on it,' or 'This song
has a melodic groove, which is perfect for Esperanza'. I
just follow my instincts and pick the tunes that will
all work together on one record, and will show off what
each person can do."
Big Neighborhood opens with
the churning, rocked-up title track, in which Stern and
Vai face off and create a thundering wall of distorted
guitar riffs. "This tune obviously comes out of a Jimi
Hendrix inspiration", says Stern. "Steve rocks it with
so much attitude. Along with the technique, he also has
a lot of humor in his playing, which I love." Vai
reappears several tracks later in the Middle-Eastern
flavored "Moroccan Roll", a song inspired by the exotic
music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Pakistani vocalist
who appeared on a number of recordings by Peter Gabriel,
Eddie Vedder and other rock and pop artists of the West
in the '80s and '90s.
Bassist-vocalist Esperanza
Spalding and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington make a
compelling team on three consecutive tracks - "Song for
Pepper", "Coupe de Ville" and "Bird Blue", all of which
follow understated arrangements to make room for the
tight counterpoint set up by the two featured musicians.
"Esperanza's voice knocks me out", says Stern. "She
sings so beautifully, and she and Terri Lyne sound
amazing together on all the tracks they're on. Esperanza
does this vocalese thing, where she's not really singing
words. She just comes up with these vowel sounds and
syllables that are beautiful in the context of the
music."
For the shimmering and funky "Check One",
Stern enlists the services of keyboardist John Medeski,
drummer Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood - the
seamless jazz-funk trio better known as Medeski Martin &
Wood - along with fiery saxophonist Bob Malach. "Medeski
Martin & Wood have an incredible vibe together", says
Stern. "We didn't get the chance to rehearse, but we
didn't really need to. We just went into the studio and
got it in a couple takes. I just let them do what they
do."
Laid back but engaging at the same time,
"Hope You Don't Mind" features trumpeter Randy Brecker>,
a long-time collaborator with Stern. The guitar and horn
weave effortlessly in and out of an intriguing melody,
each taking plenty of space to foray into solo
territory. Pianist Jim Beard, bassist Chris Minh Doky
and drummer Cindy Blackman hold it all together. "I
played with the Brecker Brothers over the years", Stern
recalls, "and Randy and I continue to do a lot of
touring together. We have several dates lined up in the
fall and through the end of the year. Given how much
we've been working together, I just wanted him to be a
part of this record."
Mike Stern's Big
Neighborhood is an open community where everyone is
welcome. Everyone has something worthwhile to say, and
everyone is given plenty of room to say it. "The thing
that really gets me going is listening to all these very
different artists on this record interpret my songs",
says Stern. "In the end, everything is unified by the
mere fact that there's a lot of spirit and a lot of fun
in the music. That's really the common thread. There's
just that vibe that emerges when good musicians play
their hearts out. Nothing else really matters as far as
I'm concerned. I think anyone who likes any of these
artists will really dig what they did on this record."
|