Stern has a solid pedigree, having played with Blood, Sweat and Tears, Miles Davis, Billy Cobham, and Jaco Pastorius. To me, this sounds a lot like Steps Ahead, probably because there are a few members of that group in the backing band here (Micheal Brecker, Peter Erskine). The writing is also heavily influenced by Weather Report (more about chords, noodling solos, and atmosphere than memorable melodies). Stern is a very capable guitarist, but his overdrive tone and soloing sounds like a hair metal rock guitarist which is a strange juxtaposition against the songwriting. I can see why Miles sought out his playing for his early 80s fusion band. Scott Yanow called this release a "decent effort." Not really my thing, but I'd bet guitarists love it and can expound at length about Stern's equipment (just in case you needed to know about which distortion pedal he favors).
Useless trivia: Stern is the half-brother of actress Kyra Sedgwick.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Tracks: 7 tracks in 47 minutes. My pick for the best cut is the ballad To Let You Know.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. I don't even remember how this got in my collection.
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