Live

Mike Stern: Ronnie Scotts - London 03/11/08

With great musicians you can never just put them in their box, Mike Stern is one of those. His playing transcends genres and he’s just as likely to attract a rock crowd as much a discerning jazz audience (note please there is a difference between a crowd and an audience).

The wonderful club like setting of Ronnie Scotts gave the band it’s perfect surroundings and the PA was crystal clear and just the right volume. A fully packed Scotts waited with baited breath to witness this stellar line up.

MS is a seasoned and high profile heavy hitter and he’s one of the best. Rockers will know him from his days with the seminal 70’s band Blood Sweat and Tears and jazzers from his work with Miles Davis in the early 80’s. Stern has cast his net wide and played with many of the greats including, Getz, Pastorious, Steps Ahead,Yellow Jackets, the Brecker Brothers and many others besides…. It was in his trademark upbeat mood we found MS, here with a sterling bunch of heavyweights backing him.Longtime friend ,the legendary Dave Weckl on drums,the groovy Chris Minh Doky,bass and the illustrious fusioneer, Randy Brecker on trumpet. A class act for sure!

Unfortunately MS wasn’t in the habit of announcing tunes so you’ll have to forgive me for not naming them, however I did recognize KT from his excellent album 'Who let the Cats out?' A flamboyant piece of fusion of modal lyricism entwined with pentatonic rock riffs bolstering the funky honed drumbreaks of the highly 'in the pocket' Weckl. This pretty much set the benchmark for this glorious evening, Stern looked tickled pink with proceedings and the vibe coming off the stage was truly infectious. The Ballsy playing of Minh Doky, adding another layer of depth and sensibility, was stonking too - his note and meter just right, this guy really cuts the mustard when a groove is required or some jazzy lyricism on the upright bass
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Randy Brecker too, was in top draw performance mode, extracting electronic blessedness from his array of pedals and when he used the Harmon mute,exquisite jazz joy emanated the room. The evening, fuelled and fiery, wavered between full on fusion through to tasty hard bop driven on by this man’s musicality. Stern, the prodigious gunslinger firing out riffs ten to the dozen, was in his element. This guy bristles with indefatigable energy and pushes the harmonic limits where ever he can.His sheer voluminous, virtuoso fretwork shines throughout and the natural rapport the band has is all too self evident,egged on by Stern’s utter enthusiasm.

It may have a been a walk in the park for this potent crew but guys, you blew my mind! An engrossing show which I was dead lucky to witness.
Words Emrys Baird