Play (Mike Stern album)

{{Infobox album

| name = Play

| type = studio

| artist = Mike Stern

| cover =Play (Mike Stern album).jpg

| alt =

| released = September 14, 1999

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre =

| length = {{Duration|m=62|s=37}}

| label = Atlantic Records{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NtVbEzSkFfwC&pg=PA64|title=Interviews With the Jazz Greats...and More!|first=CHARLES H.|last=CHAPMAN|date=October 7, 2010|publisher=Mel Bay Publications|via=Google Books}}

| producer =

| prev_title = Give and Take

| prev_year = 1997

| next_title = Voices

| next_year = 2001

}}

{{album ratings

|rev1 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

|rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |authorlink1=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |authorlink2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=1340}}

}}

Play is an album by the American jazz guitarist Mike Stern, released in 1999 through Atlantic Records.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/play-r428423/review|title=Play|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=August 1, 2011}}{{cite news |last1=Blumenthal |first1=Bob |title=GUITARIST MIKE STERN SHARES FUSION WITH FRIENDS |work=The Boston Globe |date=5 May 2000 |page=D19}}

The album peaked at No. 21 on Billboard's Traditional Jazz Albums chart.{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/mike-stern/chart-history/jlp/|title=Mike Stern|website=Billboard}}

Production

Bill Frisell and John Scofield contributed to the album.{{cite web |title=Mike Stern Quartet, Unleashing an Explosive Sound and Fury |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/05/26/mike-stern-quartet-unleashing-an-explosive-sound-and-fury/53abf03d-b5e5-484e-85ab-eaf3425f7b1f/ |website=The Washington Post |access-date=16 September 2021}} It was tracked live, with few overdubs.{{cite journal |last1=Fox |first1=Darrin |title=Mike Stern: A modern jazz hat trick |journal=Guitar Player |date=Mar 2000 |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=35–36}}

Critical reception

The Times thought that Stern "displays a new maturity—these are properly integrated songs, not simply backdrops for long solos."{{cite news |last1=Bradley |first1=Mike |title=Mike Stern |work=The Times |date=10 Aug 1999 |location=Features |page=41}} The Los Angeles Daily News wrote that the album is "highlighted by fine work from Stern and Scofield on the title track's minor blues, the New Orleans-flavored 'Small World' and the bop-driven 'Outta Town'."{{cite news |last1=Shuster |first1=Fred |title=Music |work=Los Angeles Daily News |date=24 Sep 1999 |page=L3}}

Track listing

  1. "Play"
  2. "Small World"
  3. "Outta Town"
  4. "Blue Tone"
  5. "Tipatina's"
  6. "All Heart"
  7. "Frizz"
  8. "Link"
  9. "Goin' Under"
  10. "Big Kids"

Personnel

References