# Mike and Leni Stern light up Ronnie Scott’s for EFG London Jazz Festival 2018 late set thriller: Photos, Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/12/05/mike-and-leni-stern-light-up-ronnie-scotts-for-efg-london-jazz-festival-2018-late-set-thriller-photos-video/
- Published: 2018-12-05T18:55:16+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**What an unexpected pleasure to see Mike Stern exchanging guitar riffs with his
wife Leni. This was just one surprise from a gig that also saw Stern share the stage
with fellow Miles Davis bass alumni Darryl Jones.**

Back in 1982 the BBC televised a live Miles gig from Hammersmith Odeon, a truly 
exciting event for any jazz fan – a chance to witness a real-life legend. We knew
we were not going to be hearing ‘If I Were a Bell’ or ‘Freedie Freeloader’ – but
the playing and sight of long-haired guitarist Mike Stern, alongside Marcus Miller
and saxophonist Bill Evans, was still a surprise. He had a formidable technique 
but with more overt hard-rock references than many anticipated. Once again Miles
had got ahead of the game.

Since those heady days, Stern has written so many exciting hard-bopping heads that
it can be quite challenging to distinguish them all. Through his solos he delivers
long skittering lines at an impossible speed, but also with surprising delicacy.
At times on this gig it was like following the POV footage of a champion skier accelerating
away down a vertiginous slope, flying over every bump and hollow, getting airborne,
but then landing back with perfect grace. Bassist Jones, who played with Miles in
the early 1980s (before joining Sting’s band), the man behind the deep grooves on
albums like Decoy, gave brilliant, bouncy support with flamboyant flourishes. For
quite a while Jones has been the Rolling Stones’ bassist, but he wasn’t alone in
the super-group stakes. Drummer **Keith Carlock** is Steely Dan’s pick behind the
kit, and his incredibly powerful yet precise playing brought to mind Steve Gadd’s
killer solo on _Aja_.

**Bob Malach** on tenor sax, complemented Stern’s exuberance by playing with space,
digging into the rhythm section. He has an eloquent darker sound with sudden growls
and screams of pure old time R&B amid more Brecker-esque modern influences. He again
has a star-studded CV: Horace Silver, Stanley Clarke, Joe Zawinul, Stevie Wonder…
He joined Stern in jazz-nerd solo-quote trading: ingenious insertions of fragments
of ‘Seven Steps to Heaven’ (Feldman/Davis), ‘Witch Hunt’ (Shorter) and a few show
standards brought smiles of recognition from band members and audience.

There were plenty of other smiles too: this was a group that clearly gets on and
overcomes a gruelling tour schedule with humour and camaraderie. And despite having
to get an 8am flight to Paris, they were happy to talk to well-wishers long after
the set was over.

**Leni Stern**, a superb guitarist and fine singer whose voice has been described
as somehow “blending Marlene Dietrich and Billie Holiday” (!), was not billed to
appear but made telling contributions. Her interest in the music of Mali was in 
evidence on the set’s opener; a simple, emotive tune featuring her on Ngoni, a Malian
string-instrument, and lit up by a warm, unfussy vocal. She was to return later 
for a supremely funky guitar solo on Miles’s ‘Jean-Pierre’ (over a deliciously dirty
Jones/Carlock groove) and a rocking rendition of Hendrix’s ‘Red House’, sung by 
Mike between blistering solo breaks.

Standout tracks from the rest of the set included a burning ‘Out of the Blue’ from
2012’s _All Over the Place_; and the darker, mid-tempo ‘You Never Know’ from 1996’
s _Between the Lines_. There were also tunes from Stern’s most recent CD, _Trip_,
recorded once he’d recovered from breaking both arms in an accident just two-and-
a-half years ago. Recovery is not yet total… he has some tendon damage and still
has to play with his plectrum glued to his finger. Not that you’d notice in his 
playing.

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