Mike stern opinions

**hed_b94** · 06-05-2011, 02:46 PM

I'd really like to hear you about him. You can talk about any aspect or style of his playing.

from my personal experience, mike is liked mostly by guitarists, and not so much by other instrument players.

**Spirit59** · 06-05-2011, 03:20 PM

Interesting about "is liked mostly by guitarists, and not so much by other instrument players", my experience is more opposite of that. Almost all the criticism I've heard leveled at Mike has been from guitar players. Many point to the fact that he has quite a few "pet licks" and things he does quite a lot, which is true but here's the thing, to me, which kind of elevates him past criticism: You know it's him playing in 2 notes - and isn't that what we all want to accomplish?

As far as other instrumentalists not digging MS......let's see....

Miles loved him. (Trumpet)
Jack Dejohnette loves him (drums)
Michael Brecker loved him (sax)
Randy Brecker loves him (trumpet)

I could go on but I think I made my point.

**M-ster** · 06-05-2011, 04:01 PM

I like him, and I particularly like his writing. His compositions are very well put together and significantly contribute to his overall "show." Live, he's very good, and he typically appears with other heavy-weight players (Victor Wooten, Dennis Chambers, etc.).

Thumbs up, from me.

**sc06yl** · 06-05-2011, 04:16 PM

I couldn't listen to him all day long like some other players, but I dig his playing, he is a lot more bluesy than the other big names in modern jazz guitar, which is cool. Like Spirit said, he has pet licks, and if you listen to two of his records in a row, you'll hear a lot of the same melodic material, which kind of makes his playing pretty predictable if you listen to a lot of him back to back.

I really dig him on the video thats floating around on the internet "Brecker Brothers in Brazil".

I also really like the album Standards (and other songs), his arrangement of Nardis I thought was pretty cool, its not often you hear power chords on a standard.

**max chill** · 06-05-2011, 04:44 PM

He's always been a primo fusion player, but I have to give him credit for growing into a great bebop player, and he keeps getting better. Not really into his clean tone, and his overdrive tone is too processed for me. They say nobody practices more than him.

**Spirit59** · 06-05-2011, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by max chill

He's always been a primo fusion player, but I have to give him credit for growing into a great bebop player, and he keeps getting better. Not really into his clean tone, and his overdrive tone is too processed for me. They say nobody practices more than him.

Maybe it's the order in which you were exposed to his playing but Mike's bebop vocabulary was pretty much in place at least by the time he started playing with Billy Cobham (pre-Miles Davis).

**MortenFaerestrand** · 06-05-2011, 05:40 PM

My impression too is that he is really liked by non-guitarists, as well as guitarists.

I really like his playing, I have been transcribing some of it, when you examine what he actually does in detail, it is VERY impressive! I've met him a couple of times doing gigs in the same festival, and he's a really nice guy too!

**markf** · 06-05-2011, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by M-ster

I like him, and I particularly like his writing. His compositions are very well put together and significantly contribute to his overall "show." Live, he's very good, and he typically appears with other heavy-weight players (Victor Wooten, Dennis Chambers, etc.).

Thumbs up, from me.

he's a really good songwriter, and a really good player.

...little shoes
.. after you.

very nice tunes of his.

For once, I agree with Jack DeJohnette.

**hed_b94** · 06-06-2011, 05:11 AM

For me mike in a way was my door to the jazz world. I went through his fusion things and then to the more straight ahead things.

He is a master of the guitar, and has very impressive "tricks"
(I especially like the clear pedal tone in the top voice with muddy and muted chords changing under it) but I still find him repetitve from times to times.
For me his best albums are "Standards" and "4 Generation of Miles",
other albums give me mixed feelings. sometimes his thing is cool, and sometimes it's pretty boring.

What I meant by liked by guitarists and not other instrument is for the average jazz player/listener. But maybe it's just the people I've talk to that feel that way.

**P.J.** · 06-09-2011, 05:00 AM

Originally Posted by Spirit59

Interesting about "is liked mostly by guitarists, and not so much by other instrument players", my experience is more opposite of that. Almost all the criticism I've heard leveled at Mike has been from guitar players. Many point to the fact that he has quite a few "pet licks" and things he does quite a lot, which is true but here's the thing, to me, which kind of elevates him past criticism: You know it's him playing in 2 notes - and isn't that what we all want to accomplish?

As far as other instrumentalists not digging MS......let's see....

Miles loved him. (Trumpet)
Jack Dejohnette loves him (drums)
Michael Brecker loved him (sax)
Randy Brecker loves him (trumpet)

I could go on but I think I made my point.

Joe Henderson digged him too!

PJ

**Meggy** · 06-09-2011, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by Spirit59

You know it's him playing in 2 notes - and isn't that what we all want to accomplish?

I agree with this - he just has a voice on the instrument, and something to say with it. For me, this is what makes his playing so engaging to listen to.

**mr. beaumont** · 06-09-2011, 03:33 PM

I tend to like him better as a sideman than as a leader...His work on Les Arbuckle's "The Bush Crew" (an album I think I mention a lot around here) is stellar--and you get John Abercrombie too!

**kris** · 06-09-2011, 03:51 PM

Mike Stern-Great guitar player!

**Jake Hanlon** · 06-09-2011, 03:56 PM

i haven't listened to him enough although almost everything I've heard I could really get behind. A friend of mine went to go see him recently(not a guitarist) and stated that he was really reaching a whole other level, he's apparently (as mentioned) a hardcore practicer.

I need to get more of his work, I'm a big fan of the things he did with Miles as well as other groups he took part in. The only album of his I have as a leader that I can remember is the standards one where he plays windows... parts of that album I love, other parts not so much.

I think as mentioned, his sound isn't something I'm crazy about but that doesn't mean he's not a complete badass.

**Kman** · 06-09-2011, 04:18 PM

Tremendous player but I don't like the sound very much. I would love to hear him play clean on an archtop.

**jzucker** · 06-09-2011, 06:02 PM

his writing and playing are great. I don't want to hear him on an archtop. I'm not crazy about his tone but it is *his* tone. It's like saying, I don't like wes, I'd love to hear him an an Ibanez Satriani guitar...

**FatJeff** · 06-09-2011, 06:18 PM

I don't know...I would prefer a less processed sound. To me it gets in the way of his expression.

**jzucker** · 06-09-2011, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by FatJeff

I don't know...I would prefer a less processed sound. To me it gets in the way of his expression.

Brecker and joe henderson and miles didn't seem to think so.

**ronjazz** · 06-09-2011, 08:07 PM

The processed sound is his expression. He came up as a rocker, jazz is his add-on, but he takes it all very seriously. The processing gives him a little more legato for the horn-like approach he mixes in with purely guitaristic moves, such as copping Jim Hall's parallel chords against a pedal on top. He also uses many more actual tonal changes than most jazzers, using all the pickup combinations on his telecaster and three different basic sounds to start with. Playing ballads on the nylon with a pick and fingers, he sounds very creative and reflective. He's a fine musician.

**FatJeff** · 06-09-2011, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by jzucker

Brecker and joe henderson and miles didn't seem to think so.

And they both liked mayonnaise with their fries, too. I don't.

**FatJeff** · 06-09-2011, 08:43 PM

I'm not debating his musicianship, his creativity or anything else. I'm just saying I don't care for the sound of his guitar. I don't much like Holdsworth's sound, either, but I totally respect him and his playing. Am I supposed to apologize for that?

**kris** · 06-10-2011, 02:56 AM

Originally Posted by FatJeff

I'm not debating his musicianship, his creativity or anything else. I'm just saying I don't care for the sound of his guitar. I don't much like Holdsworth's sound, either, but I totally respect him and his playing. Am I supposed to apologize for that?

That is good.
different artist and diferent sound.
Mike Stern is Tele sound-playing musician.
He mix jazz playing with rock...he do it very good!!!
It is not possible to play like he on arch-top.

**jzucker** · 06-10-2011, 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by kris

That is good.
different artist and diferent sound.
Mike Stern is Tele sound-playing musician.
He mix jazz playing with rock...he do it very good!!!
It is not possible to play like he on arch-top.

Exactly. In a way it's an insult to a musician to say that you would prefer it if they used the sound *you* like. Like telling picasso he should use a different brush and palette.

**rvi** · 06-10-2011, 08:06 AM

great player but i dont care for his sound either. i could say that about several fusion type guys though

**mr. beaumont** · 06-10-2011, 09:01 AM

I think it's fine not to like someone's tone...it's just not really fair to say "I would like them if they sounded like this."

Now, if to your ears it "gets in the way of his expression" I think you're entitled to that opinion. I think Mike would tell you pretty much what Ron said--that's actually part of him trying to express himself.

I'm not a fan of Pat Martino's current tone, I much prefer the way he sounded on early records like "El Hombre." But his tone doesn't affect the way I think of him as a player. Same thing for Jim Hall when he steps on the harmonizer...not my favorite sound by a long shot...

Mike Stern had to grow on me--it took a long time before I could appreciate him. But his tone is part of who he is...I don't love it in every application (although sometimes it works quite well) but I can't expect him to change it, not do I want him to...we got enough jazzers out there already who sound like me and play better.