Eric Johnson / Mike Stern
January 24, 2015 · Doors open at 19:00
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Eric Johnson / Mike Stern
The collaboration between “one of the most respected guitarists on the planet” (Guitar Player) and “one of the more distinctive guitarists spanning several decades” (All About Jazz), Eric Johnson and Mike Stern, respectively, hits the next level as the friends and mutual admirers play two Texas concerts before going into Johnson’s Austin studio to cut tracks for an album on the Concord Jazz label to be released this fall. Backing the two on the shows and recordings is noted drummer Anton Fig, who has played with “The World’s Most Dangerous Band” on David Letterman’s NBC and CBS for 28 years and worked with legends like Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, B.B, King and many others, and bassist Chris Maresh, longtime Johnson bassist and co-writer.
The union began when Stern asked Johnson to play on his 2009 Big Neighborhood album. “We had fun meeting each other and just hanging out and doing that, so I suggested we do something together again,” Johnson explains. When the famed New York City Blue Note jazz club offered the two a double bill, “originally it was I’d do a set and Mike would do a set and then we’d then play a few songs together at the end of the night. I said, why don’t we just form a band and do the whole thing together?”
“It worked perfectly and we had a ball.” Stern enthuses. They followed the week of sold-out Blue Note shows last year – “a memorable night that no one in attendance will soon forget,” says the Pottstown Mercury of the final evening – with dates at other top Northeast jazz clubs. “Our priorities have been different in the styles we play. I’m more steeped in traditional jazz but I like rock and there’s blues in there that connects our playing. And he’s more of a rock and blues player, but he has a lot of jazz in his playing too. We’re both guys who like all kinds of music and are wide open.”
Points North
Points North creates melodic guitar-driven instrumental music, combining musicianship and a modern aesthetic with classic tones, song structures, and pop sensibility.
Some of the diverse and noted artists Points North has played with across Northern and Southern California include:
- Eric Johnson
- Blues Traveler
- KingsX
- Al Di Meola
- Allan Holdsworth
- Steve Morse
- and more
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