One of the overlooked gems of today’s music has to be Leni Stern. I caught her last year as part of hubby Mike Stern’s band, and she almost stole the show with her playing and singing, with husband smiling on in admiration.
She’s mastered the West African instrument, the banjo-like n’goni, and brings this exotic flavor into a jazz realm as she also plays guitar and sings a bit with her symbiotic team of Leo Genovese/key, Mamadou Ba/b, Alhadji Alioune Faye/perc and Harouna Samake on the harplike kamela n’goni. The adventurous mix of guitars, hand percussion and pulsating grooves as on the African traditional “Daouda Sane” or the tasty soloing of guitar over bass and percussion on “Maba” gives a sort of Pat Metheny feel to the album. On the other hand, Stern’s voice, whether in African languages, wordless or in English, has a semblance of Joni Mitchell with the snappy pulse on “Kono/Bird”, the fragrant “Ya Rakman/Prayer” or the tribal “Fonio/Grain”. The pieces are all accessible to the jazz frame of mind, melodic and lyrical, but you feel you’re being taken to the more exotic side streets of a neighborhood that you thought you knew. A worthwhile tour!