Voices

Review publication SmoothVibes writes about Mike Stern's Voices CD, "Waiting for your next Pat Metheny Group fix? Try Mike Stern, who's superb Voices (Atlantic) lays down some fine, fine guitar lines on an exotic CD equal parts Paul Simon's "Graceland" and the best of Metheny. Stern stars, but the voices are the real treat and the reason this magical CD is a keeper. His musical dialogues with vocalists Elisabeth Kontonamnou and West-African-born Richard Bona are inspiring and make for wonderful repeated listening. Check out the anthemic "One World" and the languid "The River (Tongo)", the blending of voice and guitar so complete you may have trouble figuring which is which. Accessible and engaging, there are tons of musical ideas explored here that the finished whole is an extremely tasty diversion for the talented Stern, who hopefully continues his globetrotting on future CDs. "