Guitar great Mike Stern returns from serious injury with his celebrated chops intact, on potent all-star powerhouse outing, 'Trip'.
The album features the multiple Grammy-nominated guitarist, a former member of Miles Davis' band during the early 1980s and subsequent member of Steps Ahead, Jaco Pastorius' Word of Mouth and The Brecker Brothers, alongside a number of his longstanding colleagues.
These include trumpeters Randy Brecker and Wallace Roney, saxophonists Bob Franceschini and Bill Evans, the latter a bandmate in Miles Davis' 'comeback band' of 1981, bassists Victor Wooten and Tom Kennedy and drummers Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers and Lenny White.
Produced by pianist-keyboardist Jim Beard, Stern's frequent producer going back to 1991's Odds or Evens, 'Trip' is a brilliant showcase of what the acclaimed guitarist does best - riffing on post-Miles funk-fusion ("Trip," "Screws," "Watchacallit"), urgent swingers ("Half Crazy," "Scotch Tape and Glue," "B Train") and lyrical ballads ("Emilia," "I Believe You").
His wife Leni Stern guests on two tracks, playing the n'goni (a three-stringed African instrument) on the buoyant "Emilia," which also features Gio Moratti on backup vocals, and the uplifting ballad "I Believe You." Other performers on 'Trip' include percussionists Arto Tuncboyaciyan and Elhadji Alioune Faye, Living Colour drummer Will Calhoun and bassists Teymur Phell and Edmond Gilmore, both of whom work with Stern on his regular Monday and Wednesday night residency at the 55 Bar in the heart of Greenwich Village.
