Anthology

By George Varga, Pop Music Critic | SignOnSanDiego.com

Mike Stern is a monster.

No, he doesn’t destroy buildings with a single, explosive swing of his tail.

But he regularly destroys audiences, in the best possible way, with his combustible ax work and by (musically speaking) swinging his tail off.

Stern, who performs here Saturday and Sunday night at downtown’s all-ages Anthology (anthologysd.com) with the leading fusion band The Yellowjackets, has recorded 16 albums under his own name since 1985. He first gained widespread attention in 1981 as the blazing guitarist in Miles Davis‘ band, following stints with a late-1970s edition of Blood, Sweat & Tears and a band led by former Davis/Mahavishnu Orchestra drummer Billy Cobham.

Despite Stern’s fleet bebop chops, which he honed at Boston’s Berklee School of Music, Davis directed him to play high-octane blues-rock. This move frustrated the guitarist and more than a few of Davis’ listeners at the time.

But Davis, as usual, knew exactly what he was doing, and if people were confounded or annoyed, well, so what? Stern, meanwhile, went on to work with such elite saxophonists as Joe Henderson and Michael Brecker, fellow guitarists Jim Hall and Bill Frisell, bass innovator Jaco Pastorius and artists as varied as French violinist Didier Lockwood and San Diego singer Kevyn Lettau.

Stern and The Yellowjackets made their first joint recording last year. Titled “Lifecycles,” the 10-song album alternates between charged, post-fusion rave-ups, lilting ballads, neo-bop, tart blues and percolating postmodern funk.

The guitarist and the band are an inspired match, and Stern sounds as if he’d spent years establishing a musical rapport with keyboardist Russell Ferrante, bassist Jimmy Haslip, drummer Marcus Baylor and saxman Bob Minzter.

Yet, as good as the album is, I suspect this quintet will soar even higher on stage. If you go, arrive early so that you can enjoy your food before the concert begins. With music this charged, you won’t want to be eating when the notes start to fly — and fly they will.