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I always see him with two twins and I always wonder who carried them into the gig. I always enjoy hearing his "Wing and a Prayer" tune. Interesting chords and progressions at the beginning.
Originally Posted by Bobby Timmons
I'm tuning in. I like Stern. I have a lot of peeves but his chorus doesn't bother me. Maybe because I'm not a guitarist.
I must say, it's cookville.
2nd edit: Stern is bringing fusion playing to a basically straight ahead combo. At the end of a tune, Stern basically turned it into a drawn out blues rock ending and the whole rhythm section, the drummer, bassist, and pianist were all looking at him disgustedly for the final hit. Lol!
3rd edit: He's playing thru 2 twins?
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06-06-2024 06:02 AM
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Hat off for open-mindedness or giving not-just-second chances. I've long come to the conclusion that for me this is a case of listening to Glen Gould when love early music. Originally Posted by sgosnell
Such beautiful music ... indestructible, don't you think?
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Stern is awesome and it's a treat to see him sit in here.
This forum is a surprisingly conservative place when it comes to jazz guitar. Stern has been a fixture for almost 50 years now and is highly praised by everyone in the business from Mike Brecker to Miles and beyond.
Having preferences is one thing but not even being able to listen to him...my lord.
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Surely you know the expression music to my ears? Originally Posted by tribalfusion
That's what it's got to do with. Ears. Not lords, nor ladies for that matter.
Why is it that just about every other instrument used in jazz gets only straight amplification (even if hardly required) but AFAICT only guitar players resort to using effects? How's that different from using a "prepared piano" for playing everything in the classical piano repertoire?
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Originally Posted by RJVB
Like I said, this is a very conservative place.
Like I also said, preferences are one thing but not even being able to listen to such a fluent improvisor who freaked out Miles Davis (who wrote a tune titled for him) and Mike Brecker while fixating on 'effects'...
Electric guitar is itself one giant effect. It's all technology. You can draw whatever arbitrary line you like but it's simply arbitrary and a real musician should be able to see past that, whatever preferences one may personally have.
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If we leave the ad hominem attacks at home, why would anyone have to feel compelled to listen to things s/he does not appreciate for pleasure? It really doesn't matter how acclaimed someone is or who wrote a piece for him/her. At the end of the day there are no obligations to like something. Or even to consider something music(al), IMHO, since there are no exhaustive formal definitions of that. Originally Posted by tribalfusion
Also: name one instrument that is not all human-made technology.
(meanwhile, I've got a certain piece by John Cage playing in a loop and I expect that I'll enjoy that one even if Stern improvises on it)
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After reading this sentence from your post I got a sillly image of two cavemen sitting around beating drum rhythms on logs. "We use pine logs, not those weird alder logs like you're using. Not listening; I refuse to listen! Not what Barney Rubble would use!!!" Originally Posted by RJVB
Sorry, the morning coffee just kicked in!
Doug
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Look, if I went to Guitar Night and Mike Stern was there I wouldn’t leave. But at home, with access to literally everything else Originally Posted by tribalfusion
in my life to pass my time with. I’ll pass.
I can’t hear his notes over the chorus, maybe it’s the mix, maybe it’s my speakers, maybe I just don’t like effects and that’s why I like Duke Ellington and the Benny Goodman Trio.
I’m no less of a musician because of it, and I don’t think I’m better than you because you DO like it.
You can’t make everyone happy, and that’s fine.
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Still tools no matter how simple/natural (and likely man-made to some extent) and thus (proto) technology IMHO. Originally Posted by Doug B
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My point was how ridiculous this religious zealotry towards what a musician plays and how long this has been going on in human history! Originally Posted by RJVB
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I have no obligation to love every musician, music style, nor anything else. My tastes are my own, and affect no one else. I have no quarrel at all with what anyone else likes, their tastes are not mine and don't affect me at all, whether music or anything else. I know that Stern is popular with many people, as are Ted Nugent, Taylor Swift, and the thousands of other artists of every genre. I just don't like his playing enough to spend time listening to him. Life is short, music is vast. I have to choose, and I choose other music.
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I really like the way Mike Stern plays, especially in a straight-ahead context like @ Vignola's but the problem I have with listening to him is that the way he uses FX makes his sound so indirect and in-the-background. Originally Posted by tribalfusion
ATM I cannot find a certain video where he explains what he wants to achieve with his pedals, he either wants his axe to sound more like a human voice or like a horn -- not very successful in my opinion.
But I wish I could play like him, you can hear how hard he has worked on Charlie Banacos' bebop exercises and Mike has had a hard time getting back into shape after an accident leading to serious shoulder and right arm injuries. I have said this before: You can keep your Sco and Metheny, I'll take Mike Stern any time.
EDIT: Beyond that he seems to be a super easy-going nice guy and it is also a pleasure to see him and Leni in double interviews, still in love and having a good relationship after decades.
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You can even buy a Mike Stern sound emulation LOL.
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I don't often listen to Mike Stern, but a couple days ago I put on the Upside Downside album, and that is just a glorious slab of mid-80s NYC muscular jazz-rock fusion!
Of course the chorus pedal was in full effect. On one track he also used an octave follower mixed in with his main sound. His playing has so much personality and exuberance it sounded naturally organic.Last edited by supersoul; 06-07-2024 at 08:17 AM.
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Tonight
12 June 2024
Mike Stern and Jimmy Bruno are this week's guests.
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Love Mike Stern and I love Jimmy Bruno. Speaking of Jimmy…great to see him out playing again.
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Watched last nights show from start to end and enjoyed it immensely. There was no piano player, so Mike Stern’s sound really helped fill things out when he was comping. I was looking forward to hearing Jimmy who understandably we have not heard much from after his wife’s unexpected passing. Jimmy typically takes a rhythmic back seat at these guitar nights as he did here but will solo. And Jimmy ripped some great ones last night complete with his signature pivot note move
Jimmy also appeared to be very impressed with the drummer who was really good. Frank and Mike played great solos, natch, and did some interactive soloing too. I enjoyed the different sound each guitar player had. Gary’s bass playing is always first rate and supportive of the band. I did not sense any exasperation from the band members regarding Mike’s tone; quite the opposite. Great version of Mike’s original Wing and a Prayer. Other tunes I recall. Green Dolphin Street, I Love You, Exodus, Softly as in a Morning Sunrise. Apparently Stern’s “residency” at Frank’s guitar night is coming to an end but as Frank said he is always welcome back. After the show I was inspired to print out the lead sheet to Green Dolphin Street and finally work on it.
Last edited by alltunes; 06-13-2024 at 09:54 AM.
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Electric guitar players have been in love with textures for as long as I've been listening--certainly one of the appeals of "Rumble" was Link Wray's sound as well as the ferocious simplicity of the tune and arrangement. Then there were the sets of sounds we heard in surf combos, followed eventually by fuzztone (unintentionally introduced on Marty Robbins' "Don't Worry") and wah-wah. . . . (And that's not counting all the mischief Les Paul got up to years earlier. Or the overdriven-mike sound on, say, Howlin' Wolf records.)
And when I excavated the history of amplified guitar, it was clear that right from the start, players were exploiting the differences between acoustic and amplified sounds, partly because early rigs didn't give them much choice. But we've arrived at a stage where, if the player chooses, the guitar can be just a signal-source, to be processed in ways that the player finds interesting or useful. Which was the case from the start, but with fewer resources to mess with. (Unless you were Les Paul, of course.)
I could do without heavy chorus, but that's just me. But back in the day, heavily processed guitar was part of what drew me to the Yardbirds and Jeff Beck and early Led Zeppelin.
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I only skimmed through it but I think you might mean Coltrane's Equinox, not Exodus. Originally Posted by alltunes
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Yes you are correct Originally Posted by wintermoon
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Posted two days ago.
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Looks like they took down the Stern/Bruno video ... Originally Posted by David B
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There's not a single Mike Stern video left from guitar night from what I can tell.
It would be a big bummer if it had to do with the negativity that I often saw in the comments, but hopefully there's a better explanation.
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It figures that one of the few times i didn't watch live they took the video down.It is strange that it's only the Mike Stern ones but i doubt any criticism of Stern was the reason.Would love to know the reason though.
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As I often say in threads where Mike is mentioned, there are few musicians who beam with such joy when playing.
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