MIKE STERN
To a generation of contemporary jazz guitar aficionados, Mike Stern is regarded as one of the true guitar greats of his generation. A player of remarkable facility whose searing lines are informed mainly by bebop and the blues while also carrying a rock-tinged intensity, Stern made his mark with Miles Davis in the early ‘80s before launching his solo career in 1985. Since then he has released 17 recordings as a leader, six of which were nominated for GRAMMY® Awards. His latest, Trip, is his first since recovering from a serious accident in the summer of 2016 that left him with two broken arms and nerve damage in his right hand that prevented him from even holding a pick. But Stern is back on top of his game, playing with typical authority and prodigious chops on this all-star outing.
Says Stern of the whole arduous journey that led to this triumphant comeback album: “Sometimes you have some bad stuff that’ll happen to you, but you kind of get through it and you realize that everybody has this stuff — good trips and bad trips. But you just gotta keep trying, you gotta get up and keep going as soon as you can, which I was able to do. I had to figure out a way to play. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t play music. If you really want something bad enough, sometimes you have to fight for it; you find a way to make it happen. And now I have friends who I trust who tell me that they wouldn’t have noticed any difference in my playing if I hadn’t told them what happened to me.”
Brent Mason is one of the most recorded guitarists in history. He is a Grammy Award winner, a 12 time winner of the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Guitarist of the Year Award, and a two-time winner of the CMA Award Musician of the Year. He has been named as one of the top ten session guitarists in the world, joining the ranks of Jimmy Page, Larry Carlton, Tommy Tedesco and Steve Cropper. Brent has played on well over a thousand albums and continues to add to this extensive resume. He has also released two of his own albums, produced a number of artists, and holds several credits as a songwriter.
Adam Nitti has been establishing his own voice amongst his contemporaries as both a bassist and recording artist for over two decades. He has released five solo recordings to date on his own Renaissance Man label which have drawn international acclaim, but he has also been notably involved as a bassist and contributor on a variety of projects covering multiple genres. As a recording bassist, he has also appeared on three Grammy-winning albums and another Grammy-nominated album to date.
Keith Carlock is a professional drummer currently residing in New York City, NY and Nashville, TN. He has recorded and/or toured with such musical luminaries as John Mayer, Sting, Steely Dan, James Taylor, TOTO, Christopher Cross, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Diana Ross, Faith Hill, The Blues Brothers Band, Mike Stern, Leni Stern, David Johansen and the Harry Smiths, Richard Bona, Chris Botti, Wayne Krantz, Rudder, Harry Belafonte, Oz Noy, Larry Carlton, Clay Aiken, Rascal Flatts, Paula Abdul and Grover Washington, Jr, to name a few.