This Christmas season continues to be an Advent Calendar of daily presents for guitar fans, with Joe Bonamassa, Bill Frisell with Julian Lage and now Mike Stern all coming in to town this week. Christmas trees are in danger with all of the axes being swung around!
Stern brought along his lovely wife Leni to join in the fusion fest with keyboard master Jeff Lorber, playing mostly material from their eye popping album Eleven with the muscular support of bassist Jimmy Haslip and anchored by the indefatigable Dave Weckl on drums. The 90+ minute set had the band light the fusion fuse with sparks flying brighter than any Christmas tree in town.
And talkin’ about fusion! Leni Stern got the audience into an eclectic mood by bringing out her West African stringed N’goni and lead the band as she sang and played through the exotic “Like A Thief” that was like a breeze in the Sahel desert.
Mrs. Stern stepped off stage and let the boys take over for a muscular and hip “Motor City” that rocked with a deep groove, with Stern in a searingly heated mood with his Fender and Lorber delivering some hip hugger solos. This is the guy that hired Kenny G?!?
With the wife back on stage for the rest of the evening on guitar, the two leaders delivered a deep, dark and murky blues on “Jones Street” that had Haslip and Weckl dig a deep subcurrent, while Lorber’s funky soulfest of “Runner” had the composer stretch out into a wide variety of keyboard concepts over Weckl’s backbeat which suddenly took a hard rock turn with Stern at the helm for a fiery and fierce closing climax.
On the softer side, the beautiful and lilting “Nu Som” had Stern and Lorber in a rhapsodic mood with the optimistic them while Weckl rode the whip at shotgun with the brushes. Everyone got a chance in the spotlight on a swinging jam with Haslip’s aria passionate highlight, with the band segueing into a pretty and misty “Wing and Prayer.”
You didn’t need anyone to yell “More Cowbell” as Weckl thundered the band on the hard rocking and metallic “Slow Change” as the famed drummer gave a mix of solo workshop between solos on Lorber’s humming Hammond. Keeping in the blueswailing mood, Stern grabbed the mic as well as his Fender and closed out the evening with a burning take of Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House.” Talking about fusion! There was an musical flavors Friday night, all backed in basic blue for a red hot Christmas season.
Upcoming shows at Catalina’s include Arturo Sandoval 12/28-31, Tierney Sutton 01/03-04, Simon Phillips’ Protocol 01/16-18 and Victor Wooten 01/20