One of the most driven musicians working in jazz today guitarist Mike Stern has survived the highs and lows of a career that has seen him scale the peaks alongside Miles, Jaco and Joe Henderson, and the depths of the rehab clinic. Having just released his strongest album in years, the deceptively titled All Over The Place, Stern is on confessional form as he explains why playing from the heart is what really matters now. Andy Robson listens in

All Over The Place, yeah, it’s a great name. That’s me all right, all over the place!” And Mike Stern mops himself down. He’s spilled coffee all down himself; he’s missed my earlier calls to his New York pad. “Sorry, man, I was a little spaced out,” and, you know, “It’s not a good day,” he muses. Maybe the Guitar Legend (we can call him that, officially, Guitar Player magazine anointed Stern a certified legend this year) is missing his wife of 30-odd years. “Leni, yeah, she’s in Africa right now, riding camels to gigs, all that stuff,” and he chuckles to himself. “Maybe I should enjoy the quiet.”

It’s hard to imagine much being quiet around Stern. He talks restlessly, urgently, mixing roars of laughter with tall stories of jazz heroes, then suddenly he’s quiet, remembering a loss, and there have been a few for Stern, but he’s soon back on his own camel: you don’t so much talk to Stern as go along for the ride. And it’s one worth taking because it always returns to the music, the music, the music. “Yeah, All Over The Place,” – the name, if you hadn’t gathered, of Stern’s latest, very special project, “There’s so much on it; like my last few albums, there’s a lot of guests. It’s definitely a challenge.”

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