Last Sunday I saw Mike Stern and Eric Johnson at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills. It was a fantastic show with plenty of great musicianship from everyone including bass and drums. It was Mike Stern on guitar, Eric Johnson on guitar, Anton Fig on drums, and a bassist named Chris Maresh. All of them are quite well known by musicians except the bass player.
They opened the show up with a slow mellow jam and everything just went up from there. Mike Stern, who played with Miles Davis is the more jazz oriented guitar player while Eric Johnson favors a much faster rapid rock style of guitar playing. In some ways they don't quite mesh but somehow they complement each other in an interesting way. They all took solos on every song that was long and full of tasty licks. Anton Fig's drumming is quite incredible. He's a powerhouse but also capable of light touches here and there for the slow stuff.
After a while you hear some of the same patterns and licks from both guitarists. Eventually they run out of ideas and they start to recollect the old ones and do variations on it like great jazz musicians. Even though Johnson is a rock guy you get the feeling that this is a jazz gig your at, not a rock gig at all, although there are great rock and funk type moments.
The best part of the show for me was when the shred guitar hero Paul Gilbert came out and played an extended solo on one of the tunes. Paul can't play like Stern or Johnson but his playing kind of hits home in a much simpler way. He doesn't swing and he doesn't have complicated licks. He just has a soulful rock style and he's great. Paul is a very tall skinny guy and looks very much the rock guitar god with his beard and red Ibanez guitar. He's one of my favorite guitar players ever and him being there kind of made my night. Also, one of my friends was there watching the whole show with me and we had a great time. Even though he isn't a musician, he could really dig and feel the music. Definitely a show to see if you ever get the chance.
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