Mike Stern Quintet

Six-time Grammy nominee Mike Stern will perform with Leni Stern (both on guitars), Bob Franceschini (saxophone), Noam Tanzer (bass) and Juan Chiavassa (drums). Using the vocabulary of jazz, rock, fusion, funk, New Orleans and African music, Stern’s masterful and grooving command on the guitar conveys a sense of joy that uplifts audiences and astounds fellow musicians. 

Mike Stern is a living legend who continues to tour the world at age 71, performing with vigor and compelling his younger side-musicians like bassist Noam Tanzer and drummer Juan Chiavassa to exceed their own expectations of themselves. Whether playing slow, funky grooves or breakneck tempos (check out his version of Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo” with John Patitucci and Jack DeJohnette) Stern is always in control, effortlessly playing melodic and musically compelling lines that telepathically anticipate the ideas of his fellow musicians. 

Stern’s expertise was developed over the course of fifty years of non-stop performing, beginning when he was scooped up by Blood Sweat & Tears while still a student at Berklee College of Music. Stern’s musical excellence and productivity is a manifestation of his curiosity, his positive attitude, his humble spirit and his desire to pay it forward. In a recent interview with Mike and Leni posted on YouTube by Berklee, the married partners spoke of the fact that the two of them have spent years constantly practicing and encouraging fellow musicians and students to join them. Their curiosity and engagement with others who share their passion has been a driving force that sustains them and gives their lives purpose. 

After working for three years with Blood Sweat & Tears, Mike Stern was hired by the fusion drummer Billy Cobham. He then joined Miles Davis for two years and toured with bassist Jaco Pastorius. In the mid-1980s, Stern began touring and recording as a leader, forming life-long alliances with David Sanborn, Dennis Chambers, Jim Beard, Richard Bono, Steps Ahead and the Brecker Brothers. To date, Stern has released over twenty albums as a leader, six of which have been nominated for Grammy awards. He also appears as a sideman/co-leader on an estimated five hundred recordings, including sessions with Chick Corea, Joe Henderson, Bill Evans (saxophonist), Jim Hall, Pat Martino, The Brecker Brothers, Miles Davis, Blood Sweat & Tears, Billy Cobham, Lew Soloff, Arturo Sandoval, Makoto Ozone, the Yellowjackets, Kronos Quartet, Dave Matthews, Billy Hart, Stanley Jordan, Cindy Blackman, Tom Harrell, Jerry Bergonzi, Eddie Palmieri, Victor Wooten and many others. 

Stern was friends with Vermont Jazz Center founder Attila Zoller. In 2015 he appeared on a tribute album dedicated to Zoller called Memories of Attila; he also contributed to the liner notes of Zoller’s posthumously released final album (The Last Recordings). Along with his six Grammy nominations, Stern received a “Certified Legend Award” from Guitar Player magazine (2012). He is on Downbeat Magazine’s list of the 75 best guitarists of all time (2009) and received the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2007.

Mike Stern will appear with Leni Stern, his wife of 44 years. In the 1970s, Leni moved from Munich, Germany to Boston to study composition at Berklee School of Music. Mike and Leni met at Berklee, fell in love and married in 1980. Their partnership has been a musically fruitful one, inspiring for both. “Of all the things I’ve learned from Mike,” Leni says, “the most important was how to integrate rock and blues with jazz in that soulful American style — as well as how to adapt the guitar to playing horn-like improvisation.” Mike’s style has also been influenced by Leni’s deep connection with Africa and African music.

Leni, named one of the “50 Most Sensational Female Guitarists of All Time” by Guitar Player magazine, has traveled and studied extensively in Mali and Senegal, spending months at a time touring and performing with the likes of iconic singer-songwriter Salif Keita. In an online interview with Berklee School of Music, Stern said that she initially decided to travel to Africa because that was where she had heard that the concept of swing originated.

Since then, she has visited the continent numerous times and incorporated its rhythms into her playing style. She also learned to play n’goni, a “rhythm harp” of West Africa. Leni explains. “I’ve always been drawn to the sound of the n’goni, as well as to the kora, a similarly harp-like West African instrument. I love the warm, plucking quality of their un-tempered sound, and the gently driving rhythm that they provide.” All About Jazz said: “Many musicians have ventured into Mali to tune into the legendarymusical vibrations, but few if any have assimilated so far into the social fabric as Leni Stern. She reinvented her method of playing guitar to the point that it is a fresh creation.” Along with her ties to Africa, Leni Stern was a U.S. Cultural Ambassador in a 2014 tour of Nicaragua, artist-in-residence at Nepal’s Jazzmandu in 2015 and has toured much of the world. She has released twenty-two recordings as a leader and played alongside many greats, including Dennis Chambers, Tim Lefevre, Joey Baron, Banda Magda, James Genus, Gil Goldstein, Harvey S., Wayne Kranze, Will Lee, Esperanza Spalding, Kenny Walleson, Bill Frisell, Adam Levy, Michael Formenak, Scott Colley, Jenny Scheinman and Brian Blade.