After the rise of rock and roll, jazz, and jazz guitar especially, has carried a penumbra of snooty affectation.  If you take the time to learn how to play over “Giant Steps,” and learn four different voicings for a Bb13(#11) chord, why would you care about the pedantic, pentatonic noodling of Eric Clapton? That’s kid’s stuff. If someone is really into jazz guitar, they don’t like rock and roll.

I’ve always thought that was crap. I love jazz, and rock, and more or less every other genre of music.  That jazz is more complex, and requires more of the player than the other, does not invalidate other genres.

Case in point? Mike Stern.  Stern is one of the best-known jazz guitarists currently working, but few have taken better advantage of the genre-busting power of the electric guitar.  He has played with everyone from Miles Davis and Joe Henderson to Roy Hargrove and the Yellowjackets, but he has never turned his nose up at rock and blues music, and on his latest release, Big Neighborhood, on Heads Up records, his original compositions run the gamut from rock to funk to jazz, and feature a star-studded guest list from Steve Vai to Randy Brecker to Medeski, Martin & Wood. (more…)