Mike Stern

Last night I went to see Mike Stern at 55 Bar on Christopher St. in the Village. I didn't go on my own volition, mind. My friend Ed, who's a guitar virtuouso, dragged me there. I'm glad I went. Wow, what a performance.

For those of you not familiar w. Mike, he's a jazz-rock (fusion) guitar player who's played with Jaco Pastorius and Miles Davis. He's now gigging under his own name. He played with Richard Bona, a six-string bassist I've never heard of until last night, who was tremenous, as well as a gal drummer by the name of Kim Thompson, who could've been the hardest hitting jazz drummer I've ever witnessed. There was some great interplay between the three, and it was pretty cool when the band broke out into a few bars of "Seventh Stone From The Sun" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)". (Obviously, even though Stern is a jazz guy, his insertion of these tunes shows that he still has great love for rock.)

I came stumbling in at 4:00 am. Ouch. But it was worth it.