Veteran jazz guitarist (and occasional Guitar World columnist!) Mike Stern recently joined forces with an equally towering figure in modern jazz, keyboardist Jeff Lorber.
Brought together initially by bassist Jimmy Haslip, the two quickly discovered an easy-but-impressive musical chemistry. Now, the duo are set to release their first album together, Eleven, on September 27 via Concord Jazz.
Today, we've teamed up with Stern and Lorber to premiere the album's first single, the funky "Ha Ha Hotel." Packed to the brim with phenomenal six-string work courtesy of Stern, the track is a masterclass in jazz guitar. You can check it out below.
“Jeff played a cool organ solo when we recorded this live, but then he wanted to make the tune shorter by taking the organ solo out," Stern told Guitar World. "I said, ‘No, baby! You can’t do that. It’s just smoking!'
"I put a little wah-wah rhythm guitar thing on there behind his organ solo and he really liked it. The song is 25 years old (originally appearing on 1994’s Is What It Is) and we’re reviving it here.”
You can check out the album art and tracklist for Eleven below.
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Mike Stern - Eleven
1. Righteous
2. Nu Som
3. Jones Street
4. Motor City
5. Big Town
6. Slow Change
7. Tell Me
8. Ha Ha Hotel
9. Rhumba Pagan
10. Runner