Mike Stern
Encyclopedia
Mike Stern is an American jazz
guitar
ist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears
, he landed a gig with Billy Cobham
and then broke through with Miles Davis
' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Since then, he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums. He was hailed as the Best Jazz Guitarist of 1993 by Guitar Player
, and in 2009 was listed on Down Beat
s list of 75 best jazz guitar players.
; his full sister, Holly, is the mother of actor Philip Nozuka
and singers George Nozuka
, Justin Nozuka
, and Henry Nozuka. Stern is married to guitarist and vocalist Leni Stern
.
in Boston
his focus shifted to jazz. Stern landed a gig with Blood, Sweat & Tears
in 1976 and remained with the band for two years, appearing on the BS&T albums More Than Ever and Brand New Day.
In 1979, Stern joined Billy Cobham
's fusion band. Two years later he joined Miles Davis
group, making his public debut on June 27, 1981, at the KIX nightclub in Boston, a performance documented on the CBS live album We Want Miles
. He remained with Davis through 1983. From 1983 to 1984 he toured in Jaco Pastorius
' Word of Mouth
band and in 1985 he returned to Davis for a second tour of duty that lasted close to a year.
His solo debut, Upside Downside, was released on Atlantic Records
in 1986. It features performances by Pastorius, David Sanborn
, and Bob Berg
. From 1986 through 1988, he was a member of Michael Brecker
's quintet, appearing on Don't Try This At Home.
Stern's second Atlantic album, 1988's Time In Place, featured Peter Erskine
on drums, Jim Beard
on keyboards, Jeff Andrews on bass, Don Alias
on percussion and Don Grolnick
on organ. He followed with 1989's Jigsaw, which was produced by fellow guitarist Steve Khan
and included Mike's menacing Miles Davis tribute, "Chief". In 1989, Stern formed a cooperative touring group with Bob Berg
that also included drummer Dennis Chambers
and bassist Lincoln Goines
. They remained a working unit through 1992 and are featured on Mike's Atlantic release, Odds Or Evens.
Stern joined a reunited Brecker Brothers Band in 1992 and became a factor in the success of that popular group for the next two years. His acclaimed and jazzy 1993 Atlantic release, Standards (And Other Songs), led to Stern being named Best Jazz Guitarist Of The Year by the readers and critics of Guitar Player
. He followed that up with 1994's Is What It Is and 1996's Between The Lines, both of which received Grammy nominations.
In 1997, Stern returned to a jazzier aesthetic with Give And Take, a looser, more spontaneous session featuring bassist John Patitucci
, drummer Jack DeJohnette
, percussionist Don Alias
and special guests Michael Brecker
and David Sanborn
. He won the Orville W. Gibson Award for Best Jazz Guitarist.
After 15 years with Atlantic, Stern shifted to ESC for the 2004 release of These Times, an eclectic set that included guest appearances by some high-profile session players –- bassist Richard Bona
, saxophonist Kenny Garrett
, and banjoist Bela Fleck
.
Stern joined the Heads Up label with the August 2006 release of Who Let the Cats Out? In 2008, Stern collaborated with the Yellowjackets
for their Lifecycle
release, contributing two compositions and performing on most of the tracks; he toured with the Yellowjackets for much of 2008 and 2009.
In February 2009, in the first in a series of articles to celebrate DownBeat
s 75th anniversary, Stern was named to the jazz magazine’s list of 75 Great Guitarists.
In August 2009, Stern released Big Neighborhood
, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
, previously owned by Roy Buchanan
and Danny Gatton
, which was stolen from him in an armed robbery in Boston. This guitar is the basis for a custom-made guitar built by Boston-based luthier
Michael Aronson, which has a Telecaster style body with an original 1950's Broadcaster neck. There is a Seymour Duncan humbucker in the neck position and a Bill Lawrence single coil in the bridge.
The Aronson guitar is in turn the basis for the Yamaha PA511MS, the Mike Stern signature model. The neck position pickup is a Seymour Duncan '59 and it has a Tele Hot Rail in the bridge.
Stern uses Fender nickel-wound strings, .011 - .038.
speakers, and a Pearce GR-1 with a Hartke cabinet and 4x10" JBL
speakers.
DD-3 digital delays, one of which is set to a long delay time for "big, spacey sounds." His distortion pedal is a Boss DS-1
.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
, he landed a gig with Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
and then broke through with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Since then, he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums. He was hailed as the Best Jazz Guitarist of 1993 by Guitar Player
Guitar Player
Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...
, and in 2009 was listed on Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
s list of 75 best jazz guitar players.
Personal life
Stern was born Mike Sedgwick in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Burroughs and Henry Dwight Sedgwick V. He is the half-brother of actress Kyra SedgwickKyra Sedgwick
Kyra Minturn Sedgwick is an American actress.Sedgwick is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer. Sedgwick's role in the series won her a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Award in 2010...
; his full sister, Holly, is the mother of actor Philip Nozuka
Philip Nozuka
Philip Hiromitsu Nozuka is an American-Canadian actor/performance artist born in Queens, New York City June 5, 1987 to a Japanese father, Hiromitsu, and American mother, Holly Sedgwick...
and singers George Nozuka
George Nozuka
George Koichi Nozuka better known by his stage name George is a Canadian singer. He is signed to HC Entertainment Group record label as their main act.-Career:...
, Justin Nozuka
Justin Nozuka
Justin Tokimitsu Nozuka is a American-Canadian singer-songwriter. His debut album Holly has been released in Europe, Canada, Japan and the United States...
, and Henry Nozuka. Stern is married to guitarist and vocalist Leni Stern
Leni Stern
Leni Stern is an electric guitarist, and singer. She was interested in music from an early age, beginning piano studies at the age of six and taking on the guitar age of eleven...
.
Career
At the Berklee College of MusicBerklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
his focus shifted to jazz. Stern landed a gig with Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
in 1976 and remained with the band for two years, appearing on the BS&T albums More Than Ever and Brand New Day.
In 1979, Stern joined Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
's fusion band. Two years later he joined Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
group, making his public debut on June 27, 1981, at the KIX nightclub in Boston, a performance documented on the CBS live album We Want Miles
We Want Miles
We Want Miles is double album recorded by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in 1981, produced by Teo Macero and released by Columbia Records in 1982. The album features one of the first live appearances by Davis in more than five years, at the Boston Club “KIX”, on June 27, 1981. Other tracks are recorded...
. He remained with Davis through 1983. From 1983 to 1984 he toured in Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
' Word of Mouth
Word of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album)
Word of Mouth was the second album by Jaco Pastorius, released in 1981 while the bassist was a member of Weather Report, and also the name of a big band group that Pastorius assembled and with whom he toured from 1980 to 1986...
band and in 1985 he returned to Davis for a second tour of duty that lasted close to a year.
His solo debut, Upside Downside, was released on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in 1986. It features performances by Pastorius, David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
, and Bob Berg
Bob Berg
Bob Berg was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period...
. From 1986 through 1988, he was a member of Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
's quintet, appearing on Don't Try This At Home.
Stern's second Atlantic album, 1988's Time In Place, featured Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
on drums, Jim Beard
Jim Beard
James Arthur Beard is an American jazz pianist and keyboardist, contemporary instrumental composer, arranger and record producer.- Life and career :...
on keyboards, Jeff Andrews on bass, Don Alias
Don Alias
Charles 'Don' Alias was an American jazz percussionist.Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums...
on percussion and Don Grolnick
Don Grolnick
Don Grolnick was an American jazz and pop pianist and composer, most noteworthy for his work with artists such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Billy Cobham, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Bob Mintzer, Dave Holland and Steely Dan...
on organ. He followed with 1989's Jigsaw, which was produced by fellow guitarist Steve Khan
Steve Khan
Steve Khan is an American jazz guitarist.Born in Los Angeles, California, Khan is known for his work with artists such as Steely Dan, Billy Joel, Michael Franks, Hubert Laws, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, James Brown, Maynard Ferguson, and Weather Report...
and included Mike's menacing Miles Davis tribute, "Chief". In 1989, Stern formed a cooperative touring group with Bob Berg
Bob Berg
Bob Berg was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period...
that also included drummer Dennis Chambers
Dennis Chambers
Dennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
and bassist Lincoln Goines
Lincoln Goines
Lincoln Goines is a double bassist and bass guitarist originally from Oakland, California.A mainstay of the New York City jazz/Latin/studio scene since the early 1980s and noted for his versatility and fluid style, Goines' extensive career includes performance credits as sideman to: Sonny Rollins,...
. They remained a working unit through 1992 and are featured on Mike's Atlantic release, Odds Or Evens.
Stern joined a reunited Brecker Brothers Band in 1992 and became a factor in the success of that popular group for the next two years. His acclaimed and jazzy 1993 Atlantic release, Standards (And Other Songs), led to Stern being named Best Jazz Guitarist Of The Year by the readers and critics of Guitar Player
Guitar Player
Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...
. He followed that up with 1994's Is What It Is and 1996's Between The Lines, both of which received Grammy nominations.
In 1997, Stern returned to a jazzier aesthetic with Give And Take, a looser, more spontaneous session featuring bassist John Patitucci
John Patitucci
John Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
, drummer Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
, percussionist Don Alias
Don Alias
Charles 'Don' Alias was an American jazz percussionist.Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums...
and special guests Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
and David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
. He won the Orville W. Gibson Award for Best Jazz Guitarist.
After 15 years with Atlantic, Stern shifted to ESC for the 2004 release of These Times, an eclectic set that included guest appearances by some high-profile session players –- bassist Richard Bona
Richard Bona
Richard Bona is a jazz bassist and musician. His real African name, as he said live in Montreal in a show with Bobby McFerrin, is Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo...
, saxophonist Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett is a Grammy Award-winning American post bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. He has since pursued a critically acclaimed solo career...
, and banjoist Bela Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
.
Stern joined the Heads Up label with the August 2006 release of Who Let the Cats Out? In 2008, Stern collaborated with the Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion/smooth jazz quartet.-History:The original group, called The Robben Ford Group, was formed in 1977, and consisted of Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ricky Lawson, all top-notch L.A. session musicians...
for their Lifecycle
Lifecycle (album)
Lifecycle is an album by the American jazz group Yellowjackets featuring Mike Stern, released in 2008. The album reached a peak position of number six on Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart....
release, contributing two compositions and performing on most of the tracks; he toured with the Yellowjackets for much of 2008 and 2009.
In February 2009, in the first in a series of articles to celebrate DownBeat
Downbeat
Downbeat, down beat or Down Beat may refer to:*Downbeat, the first beat of a measure in music. This terms originated from orchestral conducting, where the lowest point on the baton signals the first downbeat in a given measure...
s 75th anniversary, Stern was named to the jazz magazine’s list of 75 Great Guitarists.
In August 2009, Stern released Big Neighborhood
Big Neighborhood
Big Neighborhood is the fourteenth solo studio album by jazz guitarist Mike Stern. The 2009 release was produced by Jim Beard and released by Heads Up International. It debuted at number five on the Billboard Top Traditional Jazz Albums chart and was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best...
, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
Guitars
An early and important guitar for Stern was a hybrid 1950s/1960s Fender TelecasterFender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
, previously owned by Roy Buchanan
Roy Buchanan
Roy Buchanan was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan was a sideman and solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career, and two later solo albums that made it on to the Billboard chart. Despite never having achieved stardom, he is still...
and Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton was an American guitarist who fused rockabilly, jazz, and country styles to create his own distinctive style of playing. A biography, Unfinished Business: The Life and Times of Danny Gatton by Ralph Heibutzki, was published in 2003. It has a voluminous discography...
, which was stolen from him in an armed robbery in Boston. This guitar is the basis for a custom-made guitar built by Boston-based luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
Michael Aronson, which has a Telecaster style body with an original 1950's Broadcaster neck. There is a Seymour Duncan humbucker in the neck position and a Bill Lawrence single coil in the bridge.
The Aronson guitar is in turn the basis for the Yamaha PA511MS, the Mike Stern signature model. The neck position pickup is a Seymour Duncan '59 and it has a Tele Hot Rail in the bridge.
Stern uses Fender nickel-wound strings, .011 - .038.
Amplifiers
Stern uses a Yamaha G-100 amplifier with 2 12" Electro-VoiceElectro-Voice
Electro-Voice is a manufacturer of audio equipment, including microphones, amplifiers, and loudspeakers. A subdivision of Telex Communications Inc., Electro-Voice markets its products for use in small or large concert venues, broadcasting, houses of worship, and in retail situations.-History:On...
speakers, and a Pearce GR-1 with a Hartke cabinet and 4x10" JBL
JBL
JBL is an American audio electronics company currently owned by Harman International. It was founded in 1946 by James Bullough Lansing. Their primary products are loudspeakers and associated electronics. There are two independent divisions within the company — JBL Consumer and JBL Professional...
speakers.
Effects
Stern's highly recognizable chorused sound is created in part by a Yamaha SPX-90, split for stereo. He uses two BossBoss Corporation
Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories...
DD-3 digital delays, one of which is set to a long delay time for "big, spacey sounds." His distortion pedal is a Boss DS-1
Boss DS-1
The Boss DS-1 is a distortion pedal for guitar, manufactured by the Roland Corporation under the brand name Boss since 1978. The first distortion unit made by Boss, it has become a classic effect, used by many notable guitar players. Boss produced a successor, the DS-2.-Circuit design:The DS-1 has...
.
Discography as leader
- Neesh (1983)
- Upside Downside (1986)
- Time in Place (1988)
- JigsawJigsaw (Mike Stern album)Jigsaw is an album by Mike Stern, released in February 1989 through Atlantic Records. The album reached a peak position of number twelve on Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart....
(1989) - Odds or EvensOdds or EvensOdds or Evens is an album by Mike Stern, released in 1991 through Atlantic Records. The album reached a peak position of number eight on Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart....
(1991) - Standards and Other Songs (1992)
- Is What It Is (1994)
- Between the Lines (1996)
- Give and TakeGive and Take (Mike Stern album)Give and Take is an album by Mike Stern, released in 1997 through Atlantic Records. The album reached a peak position of number twelve on Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart....
(1997) - PlayPlay (Mike Stern album)Play is an album by Mike Stern, released in 1999 through Atlantic Records. The album reached a peak position of number twenty-one on Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart.- Track listing :# Play# Small World# Outta Town# Blue Tone...
(1999) - VoicesVoices (Mike Stern album)Voices is an album by Mike Stern, released in 2001 through Atlantic Records. The album reached a peak position of number twenty-three on Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart....
(2001) - These TimesThese TimesThese Times is an album by Mike Stern, released in 2004 through ESC Records. The album reached a peak position of number eleven on Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart....
(2004) - Who Let the Cats Out?Who Let the Cats Out?Who Let the Cats Out? is an album by Mike Stern, released in 2006 through Heads Up Records. The album reached a peak position of number fourteen on Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart....
(2006) - Big NeighborhoodBig NeighborhoodBig Neighborhood is the fourteenth solo studio album by jazz guitarist Mike Stern. The 2009 release was produced by Jim Beard and released by Heads Up International. It debuted at number five on the Billboard Top Traditional Jazz Albums chart and was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best...
(2009)