Mike Stern - Echos and Other Songs (Mack Avenue)

Mike Stern kicked off his career as a guitar slinger in the seventies, doing various sideperson gigs (including a stint in Blood, Sweat & Tears) before landing a gig in Miles Davis’ eighties comeback band. By the time he started making his own records, jazz fusion was at a low point – the advent of synthesizers and rhythm programming had hit the genre as hard as every other style, with stiff beats and keyboard sounds that grew dated as the songs played.

Despite coming from an era where his preferred milieu was so cheesy it should have been surrounded by mousetraps, Stern’s career has endured. That’s due in the main to three reasons. One, obviously, is his playing – he’s a skilled technician who nonetheless performs with passion, following his heart more than his head. Another is his writing, which tends to avoid cliché and make the most of its melodic structures – there’s plenty of room in a Stern composition for the expected fireworks, but he also wants us to remember the tunes. The third and most important reason is that, despite five decades in the business, he continues to learn – sometimes by necessity, as when a serious 2016 meant he had to modify his playing technique, but also due to simple musical curiosity. All of which is to say: since his 1986 debut album Upside Downside, he’s only gotten better.

Which brings us to Echoes and Other Songs, his sixteenth solo album (not counting various collaborations along the way) and first in which he hasn’t a co-lead since 2017. It’s unclear if it’s because of the passing of time or just because all cylinders are afire, but it’s easily one of his best. Based in but not bound by the world of jazz harmony, his tunes sound more expansive, more complicated, and more dynamic than ever before, shifting rhythmic shapes and engaging in joyful melodic turns without ever approaching treacle. They’re brought to life by a killer backup band, starring modern saxophone colossus Chris Potter, bass maestro Christian McBride, monster drummer Antonio Sanchez, master percussionist Arto Tunçboyacian, and Stern’s longtime keyboard and production compatriot, the late Jim Beard. (Bassist/singer Richard Bona, drummer Dennis Chambers, saxophonist Bob Francheschini, and Stern’s guitar/ngoni-slinging wife Leni Stern also make important contributions.) The whimsically challenging “Crumbles,” the African-flavored “I Hope So,” the bop-centered “Could Be,” the Latin rhythm-twisting “Where’s Leo?” and, especially, the prog-rocking powerhouse “Connections” display a perfect meeting of like minds, master musicianship, and sheer musicality.

It’s the goal of every musician to keep improving and evolving over the decades, but sometimes the effects of age and the realities of the marketplace make it a challenge. Echoes and Other Songs demonstrates Stern’s ability to keep moving forward so effectively he seems like a new man.