“Right before we started the set, Bill Evans called me on a pay phone. He said, ‘I’m bringing somebody to hear you.’ I said, ‘It’s not Miles, is it?’” How jazz guitar legend Mike Stern ended up joining Miles Davis’ band – and had a song named after him
Stern was playing with Billy Cobham one night in the early 1980s when Evans decided to bring along the legendary jazz trumpeter, who was in the market for a new guitar player
Over the course of his decorated career, jazz guitar legend Mike Stern has worked with some of the genre’s biggest names, playing alongside the likes of drummer Billy Cobham, bassist Jaco Pastorius and electric guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson.
For a time in the early 1980s, he also joined the band of legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, who decided to recruit the guitarist after being introduced to his sound by saxophonist Bill Evans.
As Stern explains in a new interview with Rick Beato, Davis came to see him perform following the departure of the trumpeter’s former guitar player, Barry Finnerty. Unfortunately, Stern was made aware of his high-profile spectator right before he went on stage.
“Miles was looking for a guitar player. I was in town playing with Billy Cobham at the Bottom Line [music venue],” Stern remembers. “Right before we started the set, Bill Evans called me on a pay phone.
“He said, ‘I'm going to bring somebody by to hear you tonight.’ And I said, ‘It's not Miles, is it?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I'm bringing Miles by.’”
Luckily, the unexpected attendance of the jazz legend didn’t faze Stern – it just motivated him to play as best as he could. Unsurprisingly, Davis was impressed, and promptly invited him to a rehearsal.
Guitarist Mike Stern Plays & Shares Stories of Miles Davis, Jaco and Pat Metheny - YouTube
“I just played as good as I can possibly play,” Stern goes on. “I kind of had my head down the whole time and he really dug it.
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“He called Billy off while we were playing a tune. Miles had gone backstage, and said, ‘Billy, come here. Tell your guitar player to show up at Studio B at Columbia Records tomorrow.’ Billy relayed the message, I said, ‘Oh, shit.’
“I went and played. He had me go over to a recording studio to play over a tune that he’d already done. He said, ‘Just play all over it.’ I started playing and said, ‘Miles, I don’t hear it. I feel like it’s done. You don’t want a bunch of other stuff on there. It’s real lean, so don’t mess with it.’ He said, ‘Okay.’
“The following week, he had another tune, and he liked the guitar solo which I played. I was terrified, needless to say.”
Davis liked Stern’s playing so much that he invited him back to record on a tune called Fat Time – a song that Davis named in honor of Stern, who had endeared himself the nickname of ‘Fat Time’.
“He called [it] Fat Time because he liked the guitar solo so much. That was my nickname. When I first met him, he said, ‘Fat, Fatty, Fat Time!’ That’s what he used to call me because I was heavy at the time, and he liked my time and feel – he said he thought my grooves were really good.
“Bill called me up after we did the take and said, ‘He likes that a lot, and he’s going to call the tune Fat Time.’ I went, ‘Holy shit, that’s quite the compliment.’”
Stern remained part of Davis’ band until 1983, when he was eventually replaced by John Scofield. A few years later, he reunited with Davis for another tour.
Earlier this year, bassist T.M. Stevens told Bass Player about his own trial by fire auditioning for Miles Davis – a session that ended with the jazz great play-boxing with him.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
