During his three-year period with Miles, Stern appeared on three recordings with the jazz maestro – Man with the Horn, Star People and the live We Want Miles. Following a brief stint with Billy Cobham’s powerhouse fusion band from 1979 to 1980, he moved to New York City, where he was recruited by Miles Davis to play a key role in Miles’ celebrated comeback band of 1981 (which also included bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Al Foster, percussionist Mino Cinelu and saxophonist Bill Evans). After college, he got his start as a guitar player with Blood, Sweat & Tears at age 22. In a career that spans three decades and a discography that includes more than a dozen eclectic and innovative recordings, six-time GRAMMY nominee Mike Stern has established himself as one of the premier jazz and jazz-fusion guitarists and composers of his generation.īorn in Boston in January 1953, Stern grew up in Washington, DC, then returned to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music. All Over the Place is Stern’s latest recording on Heads Up International. On January 21, 2012, Stern was awarded Guitar Player magazine’s Certified Legend Award. To celebrate DownBeat’s 75th anniversary, Stern was named to the venerable jazz magazine’s list of 75 all time great jazz, blues and beyond guitarists. At the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in June 2007, Stern was honored with the Miles Davis Award.
Gibson Award for Best Jazz Guitarist that year. In 1997, he recorded Give And Take which helped Stern earn the Orville W.
His acclaimed 1993 release, Standards (And Other Songs), earned him the pick of Best Jazz Guitarist of the Year by the readers and critics of Guitar Player magazine. Six-time GRAMMY nominee Mike Stern has established himself as one of the premier jazz (and jazz-fusion) guitarists and composers of his generation.