Mike Stern
Neesh

Hello everyone! I'm back after months, and even if you didn't miss me, well, I greet you anyway, out of courtesy…

I'm returning with one of my many (too many?) favorite albums: 'Neesh' by Mike Stern, as you might have guessed, beautiful right from the cover…

Well, just a moment ago, while retrieving the image, I saw that today I could have bought it saving about ten euros, but even at the price I paid back then, importing it from Japan as I believe is still necessary today, it was worth it, my friends.

If you're not familiar with either the artist or the album, apart from the mortal sin you're in, this is a great starting point even if it's not easily found, so much so that when I asked Mike Stern himself to autograph my copy, he was surprised to see it… But let me tell you something about it, also because the booklet is written in Japanese and you'll only understand that the good Mike was born in 1953, if memory serves me correctly.

Mike Stern is a great guitarist, he plays what lovers of definitions call "bop n' roll", which would be jazz-rock, in his own way, but still jazz-rock. In my humble opinion, he is not as well-known as his undeniable qualities as a musician and guitarist would warrant, for all lovers of good music. He probably suffers from the fact that he didn't arrive on the scene first and wasn't a prodigious talent, but nonetheless, I honor him in my way hoping to win him the sympathies of the de-basers…

Almost a contemporary and student of Pat Metheny, Stern reaches his first album, the 'Neesh' I'm talking about, only in 1983, on the cusp of thirty, but he arrives there after a respectable apprenticeship, unfortunately also with very serious drug problems: from Blood Sweat and Tears (alongside Jaco Pastorius), especially through the Miles Davis of his return to the scene in the early '80s (The Man with the Horn, We Want Miles). And Miles rarely made mistakes about the value of the musicians he wanted with him, so much so that it can be said that thanks to his superior ability as a discoverer and promoter of talents, jazz could fully enjoy giants like John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, and many, many others up to Bob Berg, Marcus Miller, and our friend Mike.

Stern has his own recognizable sound, his Yamaha Pacific is rich in reverb and "chorus" (the name of the effect he uses), often lights up a distortion that over time has become more delicate and hush, but in this first album is gloriously snarling and dirty. In this regard, in my opinion, the sounds in this album are phenomenal, the '80s couldn't make it "kitsch," and Mike will never have a sound like this again. Just as he won't have such a well-assorted group again. Mind you, he will have others, almost always of excellent caliber, but here the powerful and imaginative presence of Victor Lewis on drums and the infinite class of David Sanborn on alto sax makes the difference; boy, do they make a difference… the other musicians are the excellent Tom Barney on bass (listen to the uncatchable riff on Bruze and then we'll talk more about it), Hiram Bullock on rhythm guitar, and Buggsy Spaniel on percussion.

The album opens with the syncopated riff of Zee Frizz (by the way, all the track titles are delightful…) and it immediately becomes clear with whom and what we are dealing with. Pure energy, free creativity, jazz interplay with the grit of rock, and at times an almost neoclassical delicacy. The solos of Sanborn and Mike are always impeccable, measured, aggressive when necessary, inspired and dreamy when it's the moment, and the group functions and runs as a unity, the most complex structures seem linear and transparent. That's how real, great musicians sound. And then, it's a flow of styles and genres, from ballad to Latin rhythm, a moving duet between guitar and sax, and as a worthy closure, the title track, with a dreamy and chilling start.

A record to listen to repeatedly, always reserving new surprises and nuances, leaving a great vital charge. Thank you, Mike.

PS: watch out for his latest CD "Who let the cats out?". It pains me greatly to admit it, but it is not up to the standard of the musician Mike is. In a career that I think has very few missteps, this is one of the most striking.