Mike Stern

Mike Stern - Give And Take - 1997 - Atlantic

This is a relatively straight-ahead set by the distinctive guitarist Mike Stern, whose airy sound seems quite fresh in this context. Stern performs three standards ("I Love You," "Giant Steps" and "Oleo"), Jimi Hendrix's "Who Knows," and six originals, mostly in a trio with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Percussionist Don Alias helps out on a few tracks; pianist Gil Goldstein is on two, and tenor great Michael Brecker nearly steals the show with three high-powered solos. Actually, the biggest surprise is "That's What You Think," a straight-ahead blues that has a very credible alto solo from guest David Sanborn. All in all, an excellent outing. © Scott Yanow © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/give-and-take-mw0000027558

Mike Stern played with The Brecker Brothers Blood, Sweat & Tears, Billy Cobham's band, and Miles Davis' group but after releasing many solo albums, and despite receiving three Grammy nominations, he has still not achieved full recognition for his extraordinary guitar talents. Douglas Payne writing for AAJ made the comment that "If Mike Stern were a guitarist coming out of the 1960s, he'd be a hero today. Sure, there's always John McLaughlin. But not many other guitarists then - or now - could play rock guitar with the high degree of intimacy and the non-assaulting technical prowess that Mike Stern has always possessed". Mike Stern was hailed as the Best Jazz Guitarist of 1993 by Guitar Player magazine. In 2009 he was listed as one of Down Beat's 75 best jazz guitar players. On “Give And Take”, his 9th solo album Mike continued to prove why he's earned so many "Best Jazz Guitarist" honours through the years. His exceptional guitar skills are undeniable, and when he's at work, he never fails to create new ideas. But what makes him stand out from the pack of many other great guitarists is that he never “hogs the limelight”, and lets his backing players’ display their own abilities as much as possible. Mike composed seven of the tracks on this album, but he also covers Cole Porter’s “I Love You”, John Coltrane’s classic “Giant Steps”, Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo”, and Jimi Hendrix’s “Who Knows?”. Some of the wonderful artists playing on this album include John Patitucci on bass, and Michael Brecker and David Sanborn on sax. Great music and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to Mike's "Standards (and Other Songs)" album and check out his "Between The Lines" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 139 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 I Love You - Cole Porter 6:20
2 Hook Up - Mike Stern 7:04
3 Everything Changes - Mike Stern 5:40
4 One Liners - Mike Stern 8:18
5 Jones Street - Mike Stern 7:34
6 Lumpy - Mike Stern 3:15
7 Rooms - Mike Stern 5:03
8 That's What You Think - Mike Stern 6:42
9 Giant Steps - John Coltrane 5:09
10 Who Knows? - Jimi Hendrix 3:04
11 Oleo - Sonny Rollins 5:33

MUSICIANS

Mike Stern - Guitar (All Tracks]
John Patitucci - Acoustic Bass (All Tracks)
Gil Goldstein - Piano (Tracks 6 & 7)
Jack DeJohnette - Drums (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 & 9)
Don Alias - Percussion (Tracks 6 & 7, 10 & 11)
Michael Brecker - Tenor Saxophone (Tracks 2, 4 & 5)
David Sanborn - Alto Saxophone (Track 8)

BIO

Recognized as one of the finest guitarists among his peers, Mike Stern was born on January 10, 1953, in Boston, MA, but grew up in Washington, D.C., before returning to Boston to study at the Berklee School of Music. Stern was only 22 when he joined Blood, Sweat & Tears, for whom he played three years before signing on with Billy Cobham's jazz fusion outfit, which led to Stern's big breakthrough when Miles Davis enlisted him as guitarist for Davis' return from a five-year musical hiatus in 1981. Stern played and recorded with Davis until 1983, when Stern toured with Jaco Pastorius, but he rejoined Davis in 1985, which also brought about Stern's debut release as a leader, the warmly received Neesh. This time, Stern remained with Davis for a year, after which he cycled through projects by David Sanborn and Steps Ahead while simultaneously recording his follow-up to Neesh, titled Upside Downside, which marked his first release for Atlantic Records' jazz division. Stern continued a steady string of releases for Atlantic over the next few years while continuing to play with several other projects, including Michael Brecker and the reunited Brecker Brothers, eventually scoring his first Grammy nomination with the release of Is What It Is in 1994, then garnering another nomination for his 1996 follow-up, Between the Lines. Stern received his third Grammy nod for his 2001 release Voices, which was Stern's first recording with vocals -- albeit wordless vocalese -- and also marked the end of his tenure with Atlantic. Stern issued his debut album for ESC in early 2004, and two years later, with a cast of impressive backing musicians (Richard Bona, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Roy Hargrove, and Kim Thompson, among others), Who Let the Cats Out was released. © Gregory McIntosh © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mike-stern-mn0000413405/biography