The Journey of Jazz Guitarist Mike Stern
Wong Notes8 Jan 2025

The Journey of Jazz Guitarist Mike Stern

Mike Stern has been around the block. The jazz-guitar virtuoso earned his stripes through the ’70s and ’80s in New York’s jazz scene, playing 6-string with drummer Billy Cobham before tapping in with artists like Miles Davis and Jaco Pastorius—even at a time when guitar wasn’t necessarily a cornerstone piece of a jazz outfit. In this episode of Wong Notes, Stern fills Cory Wong in on the ups and downs of 50 years spent in one of the most complex and underappreciated music genres.

Stern made the leap to New York from Boston when Davis invited him to join his band (back when jazz was the pop music of the day, notes Stern), but it was a rocky ride—Stern says he and many other musicians were “bottoming out” from addiction, until a friend went sober and convinced them to give sobriety a try. Stern talks about Miles’ hidden love for the guitar, and how he succeeded in fitting into non-guitar environments.

Wong and Stern touch on the decline of arts spaces and cultures in America (thanks, Stern says, to misallocated funding), playing gigs where the band outnumbers the audience members, the benefits of running the same rig in every room, and how to pick the right pick—for Stern, that involves a bit of wig glue. Tune in to get the details, and be sure to check out our 2018 Rig Rundown with Stern, too.

Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong

Visit Mike Stern: https://www.mikestern.org/

Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com

Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com

Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wongnotespod

IG: https://www.instagram.com/wongnotespod


Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger

Presented by DistroKid

Episoder(106)

Respect, Psychedelics, and the Future of Bluegrass With Billy Strings

Respect, Psychedelics, and the Future of Bluegrass With Billy Strings

The ascendant roots shredder shares intimate details from his musical upbringing and gets philosophical on the past and future of bluegrass.Millennial folk philosopher Billy Strings joins this episode...

7 Feb 202451min

Joe Dart Talks Bass Philosophy and the Benefits of High Action

Joe Dart Talks Bass Philosophy and the Benefits of High Action

This time on Wong Notes, Cory is joined by his Vulfpeck and Fearless Flyers copilot Joe Dart. Wong doesn’t waste any time, diving in by asking Dart, by now renowned as a modern bass wizard with flawle...

24 Jan 20241h 4min

The Rich Musical World of Louis Cato

The Rich Musical World of Louis Cato

Multi-instrumentalist Louis Cato has had a lot on his plate since taking over as bandleader for Jon Batiste on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in late 2022, but has been enjoying every minute of it...

11 Jan 202454min

Aaron Sterling’s Pedalboard Approach to the Drums

Aaron Sterling’s Pedalboard Approach to the Drums

Session drum ace Aaron Sterling might have fusion roots, but his bread-and-butter work lives at the top of the charts, where’s he’s featured on tracks by artists such as John Mayer, Taylor Swift, Harr...

6 Des 20231h 4min

How Bruce Lee Inspired Margaret Glaspy’s New Record

How Bruce Lee Inspired Margaret Glaspy’s New Record

Cory Wong sits down with indie-rock bandleader Margaret Glaspy for an in-depth dialogue on artistry, celebrity, and the wisdom of Bruce Lee.Glaspy shares how she cut her latest record, Echo The Diamon...

22 Nov 202354min

Charlie Hunter: Graduating Busking Boot Camp

Charlie Hunter: Graduating Busking Boot Camp

"I don't consider myself a jazz musician," says guitarist Charlie Hunter on this episode of Wong Notes—essentially refuting how he's known in the music world. "I am maybe jazz adjacent." Most listener...

9 Nov 202353min

Bruno Major’s Relatively Lo-Fi Soul

Bruno Major’s Relatively Lo-Fi Soul

Cory’s cast is off and he’s here to tell you to “go get hip” to Bruno Major! The soulful, jazzy British singer-songwriter shares why he prefers to record in his bedroom than a studio to create his “re...

25 Okt 202347min

Daniel Donato Gets Cosmic

Daniel Donato Gets Cosmic

"When you switch the gear of what you're operating on from the memorized information to the gear of intuitive, faithful response, it's a whole different frequency that's emitted from the hands and fro...

11 Okt 20231h 9min

Populært innen Underholdning

papaya
harm-og-hegseth
enkel-servering
tore-og-haralds-podkast
storefri-med-mikkel-og-herman
tusvik-tnne
big-5-med-nils-og-harald-2
topp-3-med-wold-og-fladseth
konspirasjonspodden
ma-pa-behandling-med-morten-ramm
hovla
folk-flest-med-linn-og-nils
kjendiscrush-med-sofie-karlstad
nare-venner
vitnemal
gi-meg-alle-detaljene
christine-dancke
rss-gammal-maiden
feedback-med-egon-holstad
rss-backstage-historier-om-legender