Mike Stern & Didier Lockwood

Collaborators:
Mike Stern - el guitar
Didier Lockwood - el violin
Tom Kennedy - el. bass                 
Steve Smith - drums

Mike Stern

One of the most esteemed electric guitarists of his generation, Mike Stern has distinguished himself over a four-decade career that has encompassed musical partnerships with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Billy Cobham, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, the Brecker Brothers and Joe Henderson, as well as 16 recordings as a leader (six of which were nominated for GRAMMY® Awards). An electrifying soloist whose blistering chops combine rock-fusion firepower with sophisticated jazz harmonies and
his inherently bluesy string bending prowess, Stern has the ability to instantly elevate the proceedings on any gig or session he plays by channeling the spirits of his own personal guitar heroes Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall and Albert King.

Born in Boston on January 10, 1953, Stern grew up in Washington, DC, then returned to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music. He got his first big break with Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1976 at age 23. After touring and recording for two years with the popular rock band he was recruited by drummer Billy Cobham for a stint in his powerhouse fusion band Glass Menagerie from 1979 to early 1981. Stern was subsequently recruited by Miles Davis and was part of the jazz legend’s celebrated comeback band (with bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Al Foster, percussionist Mino Cinelu and saxophonist Bill Evans), making his public debut with Miles on June 27, 1981 at the KIX nightclub in Boston, a performance documented on the 1982 live album We Want Miles. During his three-year period with Miles, Stern appeared on two other recordings with the jazz maestro – 1981’s Man with the Horn and 1983’s Star People. He later toured with Jaco Pastorius’ Word of MouthBand from 1983 through 1985 then returned to Miles’ lineup for a second tour of duty that lasted close to a year.

In 1985, Stern made his recording debut as a leader with Neesh on the Japanese Trio label. A year later, he made his Stateside debut as a leader on Atlantic Records with Upside Downside, which featured such celebrated colleagues as alto saxophonist David Sanborn, tenor saxophonist Bob Berg, bassists Mark Egan, Jeff Andrews and Jaco Pastorius, keyboardist Mitch Forman and drummers Dave Weckl and Steve Jordan. Over the next two years, Stern was a member of Michael Brecker’s potent quintet, appearing on the tenor titan’s Don't Try This At Home. 

In the summer of 1986, Stern took to the road with David Sanborn and later joined an electrified edition of Steps Ahead, which featured Mike Mainieri on midi vibes, Michael Brecker on the Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI), Darryl Jones on electric bass and Steve Smith on drums. That powerhouse fusion outfit was documented on Live in Tokyo 1986. Stern’s second Atlantic album, 1988’s Time In Place, featured drummer Peter Erskine, keyboardists Jim Beard and Don Grolnick, bassist Jeff Andrews and percussionist Don Alias. He followed in 1989 with Jigsaw, which included Mike’s menacing ode to Miles, “Chief,” and in 1991 with Odds Or Evens, the latter featuring the working group that Stern co-led with saxophonist Bob Berg and which also featured drummer Dennis Chambers and bassist Lincoln Goines. In 1992, Stern joined Michael and Randy Brecker in a reunited Brecker Brothers Band, appearing on that year’s acclaimed release, Return of the Brecker Brothers. Stern’s own 1993 release on Atlantic, Standards (And Other Songs), earned him the pick of Best Jazz Guitarist of the Year by the readers and critics of Guitar Player magazine. He followed that up with two hard hitting releases, 1994’s Is What It Is and 1996’s Between The Lines, both of which scored GRAMMY® nominations.

In 1997, Stern recorded Give And Take with bassist John Patitucci, drummer Jack DeJohnette, percussionist Don Alias and special guests Michael Brecker and David Sanborn. Their freewheelingcovers of Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo,” John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” Cole Porter’s “I Love You” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Who Knows” helped Stern earn the Orville W. Gibson Award for Best Jazz Guitarist that year. His ninth release for Atlantic, 1999’s Play, was a six-string summit featuring his friends and colleagues Bill Frisell and John Scofield. Then in 2001, Stern made his first foray into vocal music on the GRAMMY®-nominated Voices, which featured key contributions from singers Richard Bona, Arto Tuncboyaciyan and Elisabeth Kontomanou. After 15 years with Atlantic, Stern shifted to ESC for the 2004 release of These Times, an eclectic set that included guest appearances by some high-profile session players, including bassist Richard Bona, saxophonist Kenny Garrett and banjoist Bela Fleck.

Stern joined Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, with the August 2006 release of Who Let the Cats Out? Included on the guest roster of this GRAMMY®-nominatedrecording are bassist-singer Richard Bona, bassists Anthony Jackson, Meshell Ndegeocello, ChrisMinh Doky and Victor Wooten, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, saxophonists Bob Franceschini and BobMalach, drummers Dave Weckl and Kim Thompson, harmonica virtuoso Gregoire Maret and keyboardist/producer Jim Beard. At the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in June 2007, Stern was honored with the Miles Davis Award, which was created to recognize internationally acclaimed jazz artists whose body of work has contributed significantly to the renewal of the genre. Previous recipients include Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker and Charlie Haden. Sternwas also the artist in residence at the festival that summer of 2007, joining the renowned Yellowjackets for some electrifying live performances. Their kinetic chemistry was later documented on the 2008 studio collaboration Lifecycle, which was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

A frequent world traveler, Stern took his group to Europe, Asia and elsewhere throughout much of 2008 – an ambitious itinerary that included a memorable one-nighter at the New Morning club in Paris with saxophonist Bob Franceschini, bassist Tom Kennedy and drummer Dave Weckl. This electrifying show in front of a capacity-plus crowd in May 2008 was captured on film for the DVD New Morning: The Paris Concert, released in March 2009. In February 2009, in the first in a series of articles to celebrate DownBeat’s 75th anniversary, Stern was named to the venerable jazz magazine’s list of 75 Great Guitarists. The list spotlights many all-time great jazz, blues and beyond guitarists and shows the wide-ranging influence that the guitar has had on music since it made its way into jazz in the 1920s.

In August 2009, Stern released his ambitious, GRAMMY®-nominated Big Neighborhood, which featured a long list of talented guests, including guitarists Steve Vai and Eric Johnson, bassistvocalists Esperanza Spalding and Richard Bona, jamband godfathers Medeski Martin & Wood, drummers Dave Weckl, Terri Lyne Carrington, Cindy Blackman Santana and Lionel Cordew, bassists Chris Minh Doky and Lincoln Goines, saxophonists Bob Franceschini and Bob Malach, trumpeter Randy Brecker and keyboardist/producer Jim Beard.

Stern was presented with Guitar Player magazine’s Certified Legend Award on January 21, 2012. This was given to him at the Muriel Anderson’s All-Star Guitar night where he performed with Lee Ritenour. Past GP Legends include Les Paul, Duane Eddy, Dick Dale, Larry Carlton, and Tommy Emmanuel. In June of that year, Stern released All Over the Place, which featured trumpeter RandyBrecker, saxophonists Kenny Garrett, Chris Potter, Bob Franceschini and Bob Malach, drummers Dave Weckl, Keith Carlock, Lionel Cordew, Al Foster, Kim Thompson, keyboardist/producer Jim Beard and Mike’s wife, guitarist-vocalist Leni Stern. A delegation of high-caliber electric and acoustic bass players, including Esperanza Spalding, Richard Bona, Victor Wooten, Anthony Jackson, Dave Holland, Tom Kennedy, Will Lee and Victor Bailey rounded out the all-star cast.

On his latest recording, Eclectic (2014), Stern goes toe-to-toe with Texas guitar slinger Eric Johnson in a scintillating, six-string summit meeting that is manna for guitar aficionados. And as the title suggests, these two modern day guitar heroes cut a wide stylistic swath on eleven originals while showcasing their mutual love of Hendrix on the iconic blues, “Red House.” Unlike his previous recording, All Over the Place, which featured a sprawling cast of characters, Eclectic was recorded in three days at
Johnson’s studio in Austin with a core group of the two celebrated guitarists, bassist Chris Maresh and drummer Anton Fig (with only a few selected guests, including Mike’s wife Leni Stern on n’goni and vocals and singer-songwriter Christopher Cross on backing vocals). “My records lately have been with a whole bunch of different people, but this was really cool to just have one group and barely add any overdubs,” says Stern. “It was really kind of live, which I have always liked to do. We
just set up and played. And because it was Eric’s studio, no one was looking at the clock. So the record really went down fast, but we had plenty of time to do it.”

http://www.mikestern.org/

Didier Lockwood

Didier Lockwood, both as a composer and an improvisator, has distinguished himself on the international jazz scene with his own very personal and unique sound.
Born in 1956 in Calais, France, his father, a violinist, transmitted his own passion for the instrument to his son. Towards the end of his classical studies at the Academy of Music, he discovered the freedom of improvisation. At the age of 17, he moved on to the progressive rock scene with the mythical group Magma; then at 21 he turned to jazz where he was discovered by Stephane Grappelli.

In 2004 he celebrated his 30-year career filled with memorable encounters, during which time he recorded over 30 albums in Europe and the United States, and gave more than 3000 concerts in the most prestigious festivals and concert halls around the world. Inspired by a wide range of music, Didier Lockwood has always remained true to jazz, showcased with his many multi-ethnic musical colors in his album Globe Trotter (Universal Jazz label). In 2004 he received the Maurice Yvain prize (SACD) for the entire body of his symphonic work (concerti for violin, for piano, two operas and a cycle of melodies for voice and orchestra). He composed both for the cinema and for contemporary dance and has continued to transmit his passion for improvisation at the Centre of Didier Lockwood Music Dammarie Les Lys, now integrated into the center of higher education in Paris-Boulogne-Billancourt.

Furthermore, Didier developed in 2005, with his girlfriend at that time and now former wife, opera singer Caroline Casadesus, a unique show, “Le Jazz Et La Diva”, which crosses the musical horizons, from jazz to classical music. The show became so popular that he developed a second show in 2008, and both operas have been an album. Moreover, Didier recorded the same year, in duo with his brother Francis, the elegant and intimate album Brothers.

After several years of touring through Europe with Mike Stern. Billy Cobham, John Abercrombie, Victor Bailey and many others, he reunited the Didier Lockwood Group
(DLG), with Jean-Marie Ecay, Paco Sery and Linley Marthe. 
At the Same time Didier reunited in 2013 / 2014 his most iconic travel companions to celebrate his forty year career, during which he awarded: “Les Victoires de la Musique”, “Le Django d’Or “, “Le Prix de la Sacem et de l’Académie du Jazz”, “Le Prix Django Reinhardt” . He was also honored with the title of “Officer of Arts and Letters” and then was elevated to “Knight of the Legion of Honour”.

http://didierlockwood.com/