1. Big Neighborhood
2. 6th Street
3. Reach
4. Song for Pepper
5. Coupe de Ville
6. Bird Blue
7. Moroccan Roll
8. Long Time Gone
9. Check One
10. That's All It Is
11. Hope You Don't Mind
Mike Stern - Guitar
Steve Vai - Guitar, sitar guitar (tracks 1, 7)
Lincoln Goines - Bass (tracks 1, 2, 7, 8)
Jim Beard - Piano, keyboards, Hammond organ (tracks 1-8, 11)
Eric Johnson - Guitar (tracks 2, 8)
Lionel Cordew - Drums (tracks 2, 8)
Richard Bona - Bass, vocals (track 3)
Dave Weckl - Drums (tracks 3, 7)
Bob Franceschini - Sax (track 3)
Esperanza Spalding - Bass, vocals (tracks 4-6)
Terri Lyne Carrington - Drums (tracks 4-6)
Bob Malach - Sax (tracks 5, 9, 10)
John Medeski - Hammond organ, clavinet (tracks 9, 10)
Billy Martin - Drums (tracks 9, 10)
Chris Wood - Electric bass (tracks 9, 10)
Randy Brecker - Trumpet (track 11)
Cindy Blackman - Drums (track 11)
Chris Minh Doky - Bass (track 11)
It all used to be so easy. Categories of music were clearly defined.
We knew what jazz was and it was different from rock - at least, until
jazz-rock came along. And folk music was something else yet again
- until folk-rock entered the scene. World music was yet another separate
category - but not any more. Now these various types of music are
fusing together to make a rich but complex mixture.
Mike Stern's new album illustrates this very well. It is a savoury
smorgasbord of different musical styles. The album opens with what
might almost be called heavy metal, as the two guitars of Mike Stern
and Steve Vai produce powerful jazz-rock which is at least as rocky
as it is jazzy. The sleeve-note rightly points to the influence of
the "explosive" Jimi Hendrix on Mike Stern in his formative
years.
I6th Street calms things down somewhat, with two guitars clanging
less vigorously. Reach adds the wordless vocals of Richard
Bona to create an attractive gliding sound, with Mike Stern's guitar
flying fluently through the air.
The next three tracks are decorated by the voice of bassist Esperanza
Spalding, who adds an ethereal quality to the music. This is augmented
by Mike Stern using a Pat Metheny sound on his guitar. While most
of the previous tunes have been in jazz-fusion style, Coupe de
Ville is a straightforward four-in-a-bar swinger, proving that
Stern is basically a jazzman, despite his open-door policy which allows
in all kinds of other influences.
That eclecticism is clear in the two tracks with the notoriously
off-the-wall trio of Medeski, Martin & Wood. Check One
has a rhythmically dislocated rhythm which is close to the boogaloo,
with Stern going to town in his guitar solo and Bob Malach entering
the spirit with a tenor-sax solo that jumps around puckishly. In this
company, Medeski's Hammond organ sounds remarkably conventional. Chris
Wood's sturdy double bass underpins That's All It Is,
with hints of country music in the melody and the playing.
Bird Blue is a refreshingly slow number, with delicate wordless
singing from Esperanza Spalding, while Moroccan Roll has an
exotic feel about it, with the guitars of Stern and Vai duelling again
in friendly rivalry. Dave Weckl's drums pump away in support. For
contrast, Long Time Gone is a fairly placid ballad, although
it gradually runs up through the gears with the help of rock guitarist
Eric Johnson. A surprise ending is the final track - Hope You Don't
Mind - a jaunty piece of easygoing jazz.
As well as playing superbly versatile guitar, Mike Stern wrote all
the tunes on this very enjoyable and varied album. As Mike says: "You
can find all kinds of things in a big neighborhood...all kinds of
different sounds".
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Heads Up HUCD 3157
