No guitar is safe.

Hey there, how are you, everybody? My name is Jude Gold. Thanks for listening to

episode 23 of No Guitar is Safe. Happy Friday. We have two fantastic guitar players on the show

today, Mike Stern and Laney Stern.

Mike, I have been familiar with, gosh, since I was 17, senior in high school.

I really have just been a fan of Mike's forever.

Mike taught me something really amazing.

I mean, you learn so much through effects and big riffs and sounds and techniques about how you can soar with

the right combination of all those things. But then you're a guy like Mike Stern and you realize

that all you need is a great melody and you can just soar, you can fly. You know, I mean, Mike Stern just fried my brain with that album when it came out.

It was called It Is Called Upside Downside, That Record.

It was produced by Hiram Bullock, the late great guitarist, super funky cat.

He kind of gave Mike a rock edge on this album.

Mike definitely rocks out from time to time,

but you know, he's a jazz player.

There's not a wasted note.

When he plays a bunch of notes,

every note counts.

It's all part of the melody.

Yeah. Yeah, that album pretty much fried my brain in the late 80s. The guitar playing, wow, just so powerful.

Not a note out of place. Yeah, Mike Stern, he earned his pedigree early on playing with so many great legends like

Jaco Pistorius and Miles Davis and just about everybody.

...