Modern Jazz Radio - October, 2009

A Visit To Mike Stern's "Big Neighborhood"

The 55 Bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village is a one-of-a-kind place. It's a wonderful down-under little dive where the quarters are cramped but the music is almost always good and the vibe is inviting and friendly. You are sure to make a new friend while waiting in line to see if they'll be able to make room for you and once inside you'll get to know your neighbor pretty well. It's celebrating its 90th year in existence in 2009 and during prohibition days this was one of those places where you needed to know the password at the door to get in because there was illegal booze to be had along with the entertainment. I was even shown a secret exit where you could make your escape should the gendarmes come to the front door. While midtown Manhattan is a concrete jungle of streets, sidewalks and too-tall buildings that block out the sun, Christopher Street is a tree-lined lane among fairly small buildings in the part of the city that makes you feel like you're in a real neighborhood, and on this late summer night I had wandered down to visit guitarist Mike Stern's "Big Neighborhood", which of course just happens to be the title of his latest and many ways greatest solo effort. More on that later, but let's return to the 55 Bar.

If Mike Stern is not touring somewhere in the world and has the luxury of being at home, you'll probably find him playing The 55 Bar one night during the week. His talented guitar-playing wife Leni Stern also loves playing there and so do other regulars like Wayne Krantz, vocalist K.J. Denhert, Brian Charette, Donny McCaslin, Craig Taborn, David Binney, Ben Monder, Chris Potter and many others you've heard on MOJA Radio. I remember catching up with Mike at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2007 where he was the guest artist of the festival, playing 4 nights with 4 different bands of his choosing. I approached him on the stage of one of Montreal's magnificent concert halls on which Mike had just finished playing with The Yellowjackets and said "well, this ain't the 55 Bar", and he quickly answered, "yeah, but I really LOVE that place". He meant it too. You can just tell that playing the 55 Bar is like playing at his own home, and it is indeed the closest thing you can get to hanging out at the house with Mike while he offers you a cold one and plays you some tunes.

Mike had been away on tour for awhile so by the time I got there on this night the place was packed with people who'd been looking forward to his return and there was a line outside trying to get in. I had set up the interview with Mike in advance so eventually I was given access and a place to stand against a back wall to hear the first set. That might not sound like the best perch from which to take in the proceedings but in a place as intimate as the 55 Bar, that's as good as you need. The "stage" is ground level and if Mike, who on this evening was leading a trio featuring Lionel Cordew on drums and Tom Kennedy on bass, had taken one step forward he would have been sitting on someone's lap. For the next hour we were treated to the work of a man who is a true original and a natural. Everything just flows so easily from Mike's guitar with that distinctive "vocal" quality of his finely crafted sound. He explained to me during our interview how he structures things technically to achieve this sound but while you're listening all you're thinking about is how what comes from his guitar is Mike's own voice and how he's having a conversation with the audience ... he emotes with each note and you as a listener can't help but receive the communication and respond with smiles, laughs and cheers. Mike doesn't say many words during the set, and he doesn't need to, as everything that needs be said is coming from the guitar. The hour is filled with blues, rock, jazz, anthems, hymns, the complete spectrum of musical emotions played with fire, gentleness, levity and seriousness by this consummate guitar pro with a unique ability to express his real emotions through his instrument.

After the set Mike holds court at the bar signing copies of his CD's for fans who've come from all over to see him and shake the hand that shook the hand of Miles Davis and so many other jazz greats like himself. Mike is one of those people who will be "a little kid" even if he lives to be 100. He's always smiling and laughing and bopping around with an infectious, child-like energy. On the evening I was there Mike greeted fans from Brazil, Korea, Germany and all over the USA. Each one gets a personal greeting from Mike and everyone leaves happy to have met the legend. Afterwards, Scott Ellard, the friendly impresario of the 55 Bar, who knows we need a semi-quiet place for our interview, leads us back to his office, which in the close confines of the club is not much more than a closet. There Mike and I talk about his latest effort, the brilliantly diverse "Big Neighborhood" CD on Heads Up International Records. I won't go into detail as we've aired the interview on MOJA Radio as well as around the world on my Voice of America show, Jazz America, but the essence of the conversation is that Mike calls New York City and all the great players he works with here his neighborhood, but the world is increasingly smaller and smaller and there are no boundaries to his musical neighborhood. He recorded "Big Neighborhood" in New York City, Austin, Texas and Los Angeles. There's his old friend from Africa, Richard Bona in the list of artists on the project. He incorporates a little bit of the Middle East on the tune Moroccan Roll. He plays with the super-trio Medeski, Martin & Wood on a couple of tunes. The ladies are in attendance as Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington and Cindy Blackman contribute. Some of the inhabitants of his neighborhood include old friends like Randy Brecker, Dave Weckl, Bob Malach, Jim Beard and many more. There's Rock & Blues with visits from Steve Vai and Eric Johnson. This may be the most complete Mike Stern release ever as every aspect of his great career is exhibited. There are moments of gentleness mixed in with the hardest-edged rock-jazz you can find. It swings, it blends elements of World Music with jazz ... all in all it is an absolute delight.

So next time you are in New York City and are looking to hear great music you MUST check the listings at The 55 Bar on Christopher Street in the village and see if Mike Stern is playing there. When he's in town he's probably going to be playing one, maybe two, weeknight gigs there, as he has for about 25 years. Squeeze in and get ready for a wonderful musical experience and you'll feel right at home in Mike Stern's Big Neighborhood!