All over the place

"Former Miles Davis guitarist Mike Stern takes an all-embracing approach here, mixing up funk, blues, African music, soul-jazz, bebop and ballads. He takes an equally sweeping approach to recruiting studio lineups, too: there are star appearances from Esperanza Spalding, Richard Bona, Randy Brecker, sax heavyweights Chris Potter, Kenny Garrett and Bob Malach, and drummer Dave Weckl ... But his excellent original tunes pull the session into a cohesive shape ... Guitar buffs always go for Stern, but this set's variety should pull in a broader audience".

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"Helheden kommer til at fremstå som dikteret af de mange medvirkendes forskellige præferencer og kompetencer. Snarere end af kapelmesterens ene klare idé. Selv om Mike Stern er en gennemgående figur med en klar signatur, stritter numrene på hans album i forskellige retninger, om end på højt niveau".

"In striving to touch on multiple styles, Stern does little else than sound like a pretender possessing cursory knowledge of complex traditions and fare".