Mike Stern
Upside Downside
The Story
Ries van Schelven writes about Mike Stern's 1986 Atlantic releasse "Upside Downside", "Overall, an excellent album, with mainly an electric sound. It start off with the title track, which features great guitar work - pretty heavy for jazz, I would say, but I like that. Nice speed, nice build-up, it really kicks ass. On to a nice compostion called "Little Shoes", featuring Stern with a good overdriven solo. Tune down time, "Goodbye Again" - beautiful intro, nice sax work. Some up tempo music follows with "Mood Swings". What can I say... kicks ass. Then it's ballad time with "After You", my favourite. Stern shows his feeling here - every note counts, beautiful phrasing. "Upside Downside" finishes of with "Scuffle", a great rhythmic piece featuring Jaco Pastorius on bass - and probably the best solo of this album."
The Music
05:41 | Upside Downside | Instrumental |
05:33 | Little Shoes | Instrumental |
06:33 | Goodbye Again | Instrumental |
06:01 | Mood Swings | Instrumental |
05:25 | After You | Instrumental |
06:11 | Scuffle | Instrumental |
The Artists
Mike Stern | Guitar, Arrangements |
Bob Berg | Tenor Saxophone |
Mitch Forman | Piano, Synthesizers |
Mark Egan | Bass |
Dave Weckl | Drums |
Dr. Gibbs | Percussion |
Jaco Pastorius | Bass on "Mood Swings" |
Steve Jordan | Drums on "Mood Swings" |
David Sanborn | Alto Saxophone on "Goodbye Again" |
Jeff Andrews | Bass on "Little Shoes", Co-Arrangement on "Scuffle" |
Doug Epstein | Engineering |
Mike Krowiak | Engineering Assistance |
Greg Calbi | Mastering |
Bob Defrin | Art Direction |
Hiram Bullock | Production |
John Snyder | Executive Production |
Recorded and mixed at RPM Sound Studios, New York, NY, March and April, 1986.
Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York, NY. |