# New CD – 2024: Mike Stern – Echoes And Other Songs – Video, Cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2024/09/13/new-cd-2024-mike-stern-echoes-and-other-songs-video-cover/
- Published: 2024-09-13T00:06:12+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Legendary guitarist Mike Stern has been celebrated for his versatile playing style
since he first hit the scene in the 1970s, transcending genre by performing with
Blood, Sweat & Tears, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, The Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn,
Béla Fleck, Yellowjackets and more. **

With Echoes and Other Songs, Stern brings together an all-star group of musicians(
including Chris Potter, Jim Beard, Christian McBride, Antonio Sanchez, Richard Bona&
Dennis Chambers) for 11 brand-new originals that will captivate and unite guitar
and jazz fans of all generations.

The death of keyboardist Jim Beard at the age of 63 in March this year left many
in deep shock, such was his continuous presence in the highest echelons of jazz 
as both player and producer with everyone from Steely Dan, to John McLaughlin and
Wayne Shorter. He appears here as both player and producer on this effusive latest
set from another indefatigable jazz fusion figure, Mike Stern.

No stranger to adversity himself, Stern has made an emphatic comeback from a near
career-ending fall in 2017 that broke both his arms, and if anything Echoes and 
Other Songs is something of a late-career high for the eternally energetic six-stringer,
who’s now 71 years young.

Joined by one of his hardest hitting bands in recent years – the ubiquitous Chris
Potter firing from the off, McBride and Sanchez the perfect simpatico rhythm section,
there’s a suitably uplifting vibe permeating these sessions, with everyone sounding
overjoyed to be backing up their guitar hero Mr Stern.

This is an album that calls for both celebration and commiseration. The celebration
comes from the fact that we have yet another new album from Mike Stern, and one 
which shows that his playing is as fresh, exciting and inventive as ever.

In 2016, Stern suffered a horrific accident on a New York street, when he tripped
over a pile of hidden construction material. He broke both of his upper arms, required
replacement surgery in one shoulder, and suffered nerve damage to his right arm,
leaving him unable to hold a guitar pick.

Opener ‘Connections’ begins with some plucked ngoni from Mike’s wife Leni, which
soon gives way to Stern’s patented minor riffing and tight unison melody lines with
Potter. Stern’s solos still beguile with his artfully in-n-out lines, with the blues
and his overdrive pedal never far away. His association with Cameroonian bass star
Richard Bona goes back to 2001’s Voices, and they’re reunited here on three songs:
the grinding funk of ‘Space Bar’, skipping vocal-harmony soaked ‘I Hope So’ and 
vocal-infused ‘Curtis’ – this trio of tracks also replete with guesting old chums
Chambers and Franceschini on drums and sax respectively.

Echoes and Other Songs also sounds superb – taped at Power Station at Berklee NYC–
Beard’s skills steering this production also extends to mixing duties alongside 
engineer Roy Hendrickson; more reasons to feel his loss even more keenly.

And while this set doesn’t break much new musical ground for Stern, the sheer quality
of the material and performances, which are fuelled by an obvious collective joy,
all amount to one of the guitarist’s strongest sets in years. It’s the perfect tribute
to a much-missed friend.

Lesser people would have given up, but through a combination of surgery, physiotherapy,
and sheer hard work and determination on Stern’s part, he was able to play the guitar
again – in fact, just three months following the accident. It took a long time however,
for Stern to adjust to the new normal and bring his playing back up the level it
was before the accident.

Now, Stern uses a combination of wig glue and tape to hold the pick in place. Obviously,
Stern no longer utilises finger picking in his playing, but you’d be hard pushed
to hear any difference between Stern’s playing before and after the accident. On
this album, the signature Stern elements are evident: the bright, thin, explosive
guitar sound; the lightning runs, jazz-fusion phrases mixed with bebop lines, and
the accompanying chorus pedal effects. But if you watch a YouTube video of Stern
playing post-accident, you can see the impact (definitely no pun intended) on the
angle of his right wrist. It’s amazing that he is able to play as dazzlingly as 
he does.

In 2017, Stern released the album Trip, an obvious reference to his accident. Now,
we have Echoes and Other Songs (in 1992, he released an album called Standards and
Other Songs). The commiseration arises from the fact that this is the last project
Stern did with his long-time friend and musical collaborator, keyboardist Jim Beard.

In March 2024, Beard died, aged just 63. Jim Beard, like Don Grolnick – another 
highly talented jazz keyboardist who died far too soon – was one of those musicians
who weren’t a household name, but who were revered by their peers and appreciated
by anyone who bothered to read album credits. His first appearance with Stern was
on the guitarist’s 1988 album Time in Place. Three years later, Beard produced Stern’s
Odds or Evens, and would go on to produce many of Stern’s subsequent releases.

Jim Beard also played with John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Bob Berg,
Steely Dan, Michael and Randy Brecker, Wayne Shorter and many more. He was also 
involved in the mixing of this album. This was one of Beard’s final projects and
it’s a testament to his musical talent and exacting standards.

Stern has put together a monster of band – in fact, two bands, because while the
core band includes Jim Beard, bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Chris Potter,
drummer Antonio Sanchez and percussionist Arto Tunçboyacian, on three numbers he
is reunited with several old friends – bassist Richard Bona, saxophonist Bob Franceschini
and drummer Dennis Chambers.

His wife Leni plays the ngoni, a West African stringed instrument, on several tunes,
including the opener, ‘Connections.’ The plucked ngoni, combined with pounding drums,
bursts of weeping guitar, tinkling piano chords and jangling percussion, evoke the
image of an African landscape coming to life after a long, dark night. The track
evolves into an uptempo jazz-fusion number, with rousing solos from both Stern and
Potter.

The title track is built around a bass figure and a steady cross-stick beat which
weaves its way into your ear. Stern and Potter double-up on the main melody, and
both players delivering scorching solos. Antonio Sanchez’s playing on this number
deserves being highlighted, with his splashing cymbals and explosive fills providing
great support to both soloists. ‘Stuff Happens,’ a bluesy number, could be a reference
to Stern’s accident (on Trip, he has a track called ‘Scotch Tape and Glue’). It 
starts with a short, but powerful bass solo by McBride, and ends in a similar fashion
to the Steely Dan track ‘Aja,’ with a series of dramatic drums fills played over
a guitar/keyboard vamp.

Bona, Franceschini and Chambers first appear on ‘Space Bar,’ which has the drummer
laying down a heavy backbeat, Franceschini blowing hard on tenor sax (including 
a powerful solo) and Stern offering a gritty, angular solo. The same band plays 
on ‘I Hope So,’ which sounds like a Zawinul Syndicate number. An atmospheric ngoni/
synth intro leads into Chambers playing a metronome-like beat with brushes, Bona
singing his trademark wordless, self-harmonized vocals, Franceschini playing a scuttling
solo on soprano sax and Stern displaying the sensitive side of his playing. The 
song has a bright, breezy feeling.

Their third and final collaboration is ‘’Curtis,’ a breezy gospel-tinged homage 
to Curtis Mayfield. Bona provides more wordless vocals (with Stern on background
vocals). Stern plays a solo that slowly builds up before reaching fever pitch and
Potter solos at the coda like a preacher man delivering a sermon.

‘Where’s Leo?,’ is dedicated to Argentinian jazz pianist Leo Genovese and has a 
theme with a Middle Eastern flavour. ‘Gospel Song’ showcases the mellow side of 
Stern’s playing, which is often overlooked – one of my favourite Stern performances
is on the title track ballad from the album Time in Place. ‘Crumbles’ is more like
a suite, starting off with Leni Stern’s ngoni playing over a shuffling rhythm, before
transforming into a funky, bass-driven piece, followed by dark, abstract section.
It’s one of the most interesting compositions by Stern.

‘Climate’ has a driving cross-stick beat, shimmering guitar lines and an outstanding
acoustic bass solo by McBride. The closing number, ‘Could Be’ is a contrafact , 
combining a new Stern melody with the changes from the standard ‘It Could happen
To You.’ Miles Davis covered the original song on his 1958 album, Relaxin’ with 
the Miles Davis Quintet, and Dexter Gordon’s ‘Fried Bananas’ is based on the song’s
changes. It’s a swinging jazz performance, with Stern and Potter soloing at the 
top of their game, and ending this excellent album on a high.

1.Connections 8:10
 2.Echoes 7:31 3.Stuff Happens 6:57 4.Space Bar 7:38 5.I Hope
So 7:06 6.Where’s Leo 6:53 7.Gospel Song 4:56 8.Crumbles 7:32 9.Curtis 5:31 10.Climate
7:27 11.Could Be 7:33

**Mike Stern (electric guitar, backing vocals on 9)**
 **Chris Potter tenor saxophone
on except 4, 5, 9)** **Jim Beard (acoustic piano, keyboards)** **Christian McBride(
electric bass, acoustic bass on 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 7, 10, 11)** **Antonio Sanchez (drums
except 4, 5, 9)** **Leni Stern (ngoni on 1, 5, 8), Arto Tunçboyacian (percussion
except 6, 7)** **Richard Bona (bass guitar on 4, 5, 9, vocals on 5, 9)** **Dennis
Chambers (drums on 4, 5, 9)** **Bob Franceschini (soprano saxophone on 5, tenor 
saxophone on 4, 9)**

![](https://i0.wp.com/f4.bcbits.com/img/a2513528665_16.jpg?resize=640%2C640&ssl=
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