Leni and Mike Stern: Alone Together Duets
Sarah Geledi and Simon Rentner

Guitarists Mike and Leni Stern are one of those awe-inspiring couples. Over 40 years together, they’ve had a front row seat in witnessing music history from their flat in Manhattan. Mike’s credits include performing with Miles Davis and Jaco Pastorius. Leni was named Gibson’s “Female Jazz Guitarist of the Year” five times. They have another guitar hero, Bill Frisell, to thank for making the introduction back in 1977, when Frisell took Leni on as a private student at the Berklee College of Music. She asked Frisell to show her some rock licks, so he took her to a Mike Stern concert, and the rest is history.

The couple rarely performs together in public, yet they often make a point to jam in private. Before the lockdown, now one year removed, they had a rule that they would not spend more than three weeks apart on tour; otherwise, one would have to join the other on the road. “Now that we’ve been together for one full year,” Leni says, “it’s gonna be so hard to be separated. We are already plotting to minimize our time apart.”

Here, we get to peek into one of their private jams, now on display for everyone to see: Leni’s West African-inspired tune “The Cat Stole The Moon,” which is a phrase used in Mali when there is no moon in the sky. Clearly, their love for each other is palpable as it was four decades ago.

Produced by Jazz Night in America and The Checkout from WBGO.


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