Mike Stern Biography
Born in New York 1953, Stern began playing guitar at the
age of 12 emulating the likes of B.B. King, Eric Clapton and Jimi
Hendrix. "I liked the feel of the guitar and I got hooked on it,"
he recalls, "but I didn't really get serious about it until I went
to Berklee in 1971".
At Berklee College of Music in Boston, Stern became intimately
acquainted with the music of such influential figures as Miles Davis,
John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans. During
his stay at Berklee he studied with Pat Metheny and Mick Goodrick while
developing a keen appreciation for guitar greats Wes Montgomery and
Jim Hall. It was Metheny, in fact, who recommended Mike for the Blood,
Sweat & Tears gig. Stern joined the seminal fusion band in 1976 and
remained for two years, appearing on the More Than Ever and
Brand New Day albums. That gig is also significant for introducing
Stern to two musicians who would later become important collaborators -
Don Alias and Jaco Pastorius.
Following his stint with BS&T, Stern returned to Boston to study privately
with Charles Banacos, whom he credits with advancing his understanding
of straight ahead jazz. In 1978, Mike joined Billy Cobham's powerhouse
fusion band for a period of one year. That gig culminated in a series of
dates in New York's Bottom Line. One of those nights Miles Davis strolled
into the showcase club, liked what he heard and offered Mike a spot
in his "comeback band", which also included Marcus Miller on bass, Bill
Evans on saxes, Al Foster on drums and Mino Cinelu on percussion. As
Stern recalls, "Miles was coming out of a self-imposed hiatus and
his return to the music scene took on the appearance of a media event.
It was a tremendous opportunity for me. It's almost impossible to describe
the experience. I absorbed a lot, learned a lot, and even now I'm still
working on a lot of things he taught me. It was difficult and I went
through a lot of personal changes while with him. But it all worked
out in the end".
Mike joined Miles' band in 1981 and remained through 1983, appearing on
Man With The Horn, We Want Miles and Star People.
From 1983 through 1984 he toured with Jaco Pastorius' Word Of Mouth band
and in 1985 he returned to Miles for an extended tour of duty. In the
summer of 1986, Stern went on the road with David Sanborn and later
became a member of an electrified edition of Steps Ahead, playing
alongside Michael Brecker, Mike Mainieri, Victor Bailey and Steve Smith.
His debut on Atlantic Records came in 1986 with Upside
Downside, which included such high profile colleagues as Sanborn,
Pastorius, saxophonist Bob Berg, bassists Mark Egan and Jeff Andrews,
keyboardist Mitch Forman and drummers Dave Weckl and Steve Jordan.
That same year he joined Michael Brecker's quintet and remained a
potent force in the band for two years. His second album as a leader
on Atlantic came in 1988 with Time In Place. By 1989, the
year he released Jigsaw, Stern formed a cooperative group
with Bob Berg that also included Dennis Chambers on drums and Lincoln
Goines on bass. They remained a working unit through 1992 and are
featured on Mike's release Odds Or Evens.
Mike joined a reunited Brecker Brothers band in 1992 and became a key
factor inthe success of that popular group for the next two years.
By 1994 he began touring with his trio featuring Jeff Andrews or
Lincoln Goines on bass and either Dave Weckl or Ben Perowsky on drums.
Stern's recent sideman credits include a tour with the celebrated
saxophonist Joe Henderson as well as collaborators with guitar greats
Jim Hall (Dialogues, Telarc) and Pat Martino (All Sides Now,
Blue Note). His own latest as a leader, Give and Take, stands
as another excellent landmark in his ever-growing musical career.
A scorching soloist with legendary chops, he is also a consummate
accompanist with a penchant for heightened sensitivity and lyricism
and an accomplished composer to boot. Mike Stern is indeed a major
player on the contemporary jazz scene. And given the relative ease with
which he switches idioms, his signature bop 'n' roll style makes him
uniquely qualified to extend the guitar tradition into the next
millennium. "One of the main things I've been trying to do over my career is
emulate horn players", says the guitarist of his innovative style.
"That vocal, fluid quality that sone horn players have is what
I'm going for in my own playing. I'm listening to 'Trane and Sonny'
to hear the lines they're playing and I'm trying to incorporate some
of that phrasing on the guitar. If I can come close to some of that
stuff, I'm happy".