Mike Stern has long been celebrated for his versatile playing style, which is based in jazz, but integrates various other genres including rhythmic African music, celestial gospel, soulful blues, and gritty rock. On his new album Echoes and Other Songs he weaves these styles together with great skill and emotional poignancy born equally from love and pain. The album, Stern’s first release of new material since 2017’s Trip (2019’s Eleven with Jeff Lorber was recorded long before its release), marks the guitarist’s return to the scene following the death of his producer and keyboardist of 30 years Jim Beard (who played on and produced the album).
“I’m not exaggerating when I call Jim Beard a genius,” Stern says. “People would say, ‘You should change up your producer — you know, just mix it up.’ And I would say, ‘Why?’ Everybody loved Jim. He was just great at what he did — how he used technology, how he produced, how he mixed. [His playing was] incredible. Ridiculous. Everything he did was perfect. The records he came out with were amazing, but I think he could have done even more as a piano player.”
While Stern misses Beard’s guidance and playing ability almost every day, it was the absence of the producer’s friendship and devotion that mst profoundly affected Stern. “When I had the blues, when I felt low and wanted to talk to somebody, he’s one of the people I would reach out to,” Stern says. “It would be short, but he would know exactly what I was talking about. It’s a heartbreaker.”
Beard’s death at the age of 63 wasn’t the only misfortune that challenged Stern and contributed to his period of grieving. In 2016, Stern broke both of his humerus bones when he stumbled over construction materials on the street in New York and suffered a hard fall. He suffered severe nerve damage from the accident and was told he might never be able to play guitar again. The injury had a profound effect on his picking hand, and the road to recovery has been long, hard and ongoing. With the advice of his friend, drummer Ray Levier, Stern came up with an efficient system for holding his pick, using wig glue and tape.
“It was a challenge and a half,” Stern says. “And it still is, sometimes, just to accept it. It gets me really upset and frustrated because I used to play stuff with my fingers. I had to change certain things about my technique.”
In the sheer might of these performances, Echoes and other Songs is a defiant record — not so much a victory lap as a call to arms. “I’m gonna keep trying with whatever I got,” Stern says. “You know I got to. Because I love it, and love means that some days you hate it; those two sides are on the same coin. But the love is definitely winning out.”
Ultimately, Echoes and Other Songs is a love letter to jazz, to the guitar, to bandstand camaraderie, and to Stern’s will to persevere. What less would you expect from the giant of the music business who rose to acclaim in the 1970s, defying expectations and transcending boundaries by performing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, The Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, Béla Fleck, Yellowjackets and others. Throughout Echoes and Other Songs, Stern pushes on and rises above, as he has throughout his career — like when he became sober in 1985 and rejoined Miles Davis’ band. Despite his lingering injury symptoms, regardless (or maybe because) of his psychic pain, Stern’s chops are flawless. In terms of expressivity, his flatpicking has no limitations.
With Echoes and Other Songs, Stern brings together an all-star group of musicians, including Christian McBride, Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, Richard Bona & Dennis Chambers, for 11 brand-new originals that will captivate and unite guitar and jazz fans of all generations.
The first single, “Stuff Happens,” is a commentary on all he has overcome and a declaration of his intent to persevere. Nine-time Grammy award winner McBride gives the song a special touch. “It’s definitely got a blues vibe and it opens with a short but really wonderful solo from Christian,” Stern says of the track. “He is definitely not only one of the greatest upright bass players ever, but he plays amazing electric bass. Of course, I knew that going into this project, so I asked him to play a lot of electric bass and he did that so beautifully on this tune. He played great on everything.”
The self-explanatory “Gospel Song” is another highlight that expresses Stern’s diversity as a player. “It is a ballad,” he says. “It has kind of a gospel vibe, so I just stuck with the working title and it seems to fit the song. I really like the way this came out and Christian McBride sounds great on acoustic bass. And Jim Beard played beautiful piano.”
Echoes and Other Songs is a striking comeback and a powerhouse document from one of the finest guitarists in jazz history. Not only is it a recording of immense passion, it’s a statement of intent, a declaration that certain events in life can’t be controlled, and all we can do is learn from them and continue down the road with everything we’ve got, and hopefully enhancing the lives of others along the way.
