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Leni Stern

Leni Stern was named one of the “50 Most Sensational Female Guitarists of All Time” in Guitar Player magazine’s
50 th anniversary issue in 2017, with the publication aptly dubbing her “a genre-defying adventurer.” Leni’s
example shines beyond just prowess on her instrument. The pursuit of her career across more than four decades
has been in effect a political act – a practice in strength and defiance to be a woman and a bandleader, a female
electric guitarist and a composer, an artist who manages her own career along with producing her own albums
and releasing them via her own label. Moreover, in our current political climate, it is more essential than ever to
celebrate the immigrant experience that brought Leni to the U.S. from Germany and her bandmates from Senegal
and Argentina. Leni’s inspiration has long been the interconnectedness of music, history and our humanity. She
says: “Music is one of the truest, most beautiful expressions of the human spirit, crossing borders, dissolving
tribalism, binding us together – if we let it.”
Leni has been on an evolutionary road over the past decade and a half, as she fused her long-honed
contemporary jazz sound with a deeply felt exploration of West African styles. She has traveled and studied
extensively in Mali and Senegal, performing with the likes of iconic singer-songwriter Salif Keita and other
African notables. The Munich-bred New Yorker’s trans-Atlantic journeys have yielded a fresh, personal idiom,
one where progressive virtuosity blends seamlessly with age-old folk traditions. In summer 2020, Leni released
her 22 nd album – titled 4 – which features the rhythm section of bassist Mamadou Ba and percussionist Alioune
Faye (natives of Dakar), plus Argentina-bred keyboardist Leo Genovese, an up-and-coming jazz star in New
York. This new quartet album showcases the crystalline guitar, irresistible grooves and multilingual songs that
listeners know from Leni’s recent releases, with Genovese’s improvisational fire and hints of South American
lyricism added to the mix. In its four-star review, DownBeat marveled over the “joy” in Leni’s playing, adding: “If
you love the wail of Youssou N’Dour and the jangle of Franco Luambo, but also have a soft spot for música
popular brasileira, this crisply produced, infectiously melodic and rhythmically percolating album is for you.”
As Leni’s muse has led her around the world, the guitarist’s curiosity and empathy have enabled her to

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13
SoCal Jazz

Leni Stern: The Twenty Year Audition

Read "Leni Stern: The Twenty Year Audition" reviewed by Jim Worsley


Composer and musician Leni Stern has big news to share. She chose to do so quietly, with her usual cool, low-key and savoir-faire charm. In conversation with only my wife and I, recently at a jazz club in Los Angeles, she left us elated with the kind of news most other artists would be screaming from a mountain top. But that's not how this classy European-born artist rolls. It's another milestone accomplishment, in a career chalked with them. But let's ...

10
Album Review

Leni Stern: Dance

Read "Dance" reviewed by Jim Worsley


Compelling is the word. If you are in search of a one word description of Leni Stern's new record, it is indeed the word. Then again, that aptly applies to her body of work over the past thirty-five years. Dance is as much a metaphor as it is a movement. Life, in its never ending struggle to survive and move forward, relies on the merriment of dance to inspire us, push us through the difficult times, and in turn enjoy ...

5
Album Review

Leni Stern: Dance

Read "Dance" reviewed by Geno Thackara


If one key to a great dance is having the right partner, it must be a doubly (maybe even exponentially) better key to have several. Leni Stern began something of a sequence by forming a new trio for the straightforward 3 (LSR, 2018) and expanding to a quartet with 4 (LSR, 2020). The same group has further gelled, and everything is even more delightfully fluid--the sound palette from dusty guitar to sleek piano with some occasional n'goni harp for flavor, the ...

1
Album Review

Leni Stern: 3

Read "3" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Apprezzata chitarrista e cantante, con alle spalle un considerevole numero di lavori a proprio nome, la tedesca Leni Stern è nota anche in quanto consorte di Mike Stern, una delle icone della chitarra jazz e accompagnatore di Miles Davis in ben tre album. Al marito la Stern assomiglia molto per sonorità e approccio allo strumento, mentre si differenzia per la varietà di proposte artistiche, nelle quali l'Africa è come in questo caso presente in modo diretto sia per i ritmi, ...

10
Album Review

Leni Stern: 4

Read "4" reviewed by Jim Worsley


For her twenty-second record as a leader, Leni Stern entitled the album 4 (LSR, 2020). No mathematical difficulties here. With the addition of keyboardist Leo Genovese, her band now comprises four musicians. Stern's longtime contributors, percussionist Alioune Faye and bassist Mamadou Ba, formidably round out the quartet. You may recall her last album, sans Genovese, was the engagingly spirited 3 (LSR, 2018). Moving on to geography, the Argentinian born Genovese adds a South American influence that intertwines ...

17
SoCal Jazz

Leni Stern: A Special Spirit

Read "Leni Stern: A Special Spirit" reviewed by Jim Worsley


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Leni Stern and I spoke about the pandemic, and her experiences with such, during her many travels to Africa. Because this conversation was prior to the senseless murder on May 25th, that incident is not mentioned. This wasn't my first dance with the incomparable Leni Stern so I knew what to expect. Always gracious, personable, and positive, as quick to laugh as she is to deliver sincerity with heartfelt prose. Our last “official" conversation, Leni Stern: ...

21
Album Review

Leni Stern: 3

Read "3" reviewed by Jim Worsley


For her critically acclaimed Dakar Suite (Leni Stern Recordings, 2016), Leni Stern presented her African enhanced sounds with lavish 10-piece orchestrations and arrangements complete with horns and violins. For this 2018 release, Stern's compositions were written specifically for a 3 piece, as opposed to adapting a 10 piece composition. Hence the title.The “Khavare" (party) gets started with the sabar (a Sengalese drum) cadence of percussionist Alioune Faye. This lively tune is broadened by bassist Mamadou Ba and buoyed ...

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3

Recording

Guitarist/Composer Leni Stern Weaves Rhythms Of Senegal With The Music Of NYC On New Album, "3"

Guitarist/Composer Leni Stern Weaves Rhythms Of Senegal With The Music Of NYC On New Album, "3"

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

Featuring Leni Stern (guitar/vocals), Mamadou Ba (bass) & Alioune Faye (percussion & vocals). Available April 27, 2018 Upcoming Tour Dates: Tuesday, April 24 at 10 PM, 55 Bar, NYC Friday, April 27 at 9 PM, Shrine World Music, NYC Saturday, April 28 at 8:30 PM, Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3, NYC Thursday, May 3 at 7 PM, An Die Musik, Baltimore, MD CD Release Celebration Tuesday, May 8 at 10 PM, 55 Bar, NYC ...

52

Recording

Leni Stern Readies Uplifting, Optimistic Africa Trio CD "Sabani"

Leni Stern Readies Uplifting, Optimistic Africa Trio CD "Sabani"

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Stern's Most Uplifting, Optimistic Album in Years, as 'Sabani' Suggests an African Dreamscape Stripped Down Trio Album Showcases Guitar, N'goni Ba, Camela N'goni, Calabash and Tama—Stern Thrilled with Result: “I Don't Know Why I Waited So Long to Record Like This" Recorded and Mixed in Bamako, Mali at Salif Keita's Mouffou Studio Acclaimed Global Music artist Leni Stern delivers her most uplifting and optimistic album in years with the September release of 'Sabani.' The stripped down African trio album was ...

163

Recording

Leni Stern Digital Single Evokes U2; New CD Sabani Planned for Fall

Leni Stern Digital Single Evokes U2; New CD Sabani Planned for Fall

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Stripped Down African Trio Album by Leni Stern Manages to Create an Epic Austerity, Gets Digital Single Preview via Powerful Track, 'Still Bleeding' 'Sabani' CD to Showcase Guitar, N'goni Ba, Calabash and Tama; Single is First Song Stern Has Ever Written on N'Goni Ba On her upcoming, stripped down African trio EP Sabani, acclaimed Global Music artist Leni Stern creates an epic austerity evocative of U2's powerful ballads such as “One" and “Red Hill Mining Town." Stern will preview the ...

87

Recording

Leni Stern "Sa Belle Belle Ba" Praised by iTunes; Stern to Perform for President of Mali

Leni Stern "Sa Belle Belle Ba" Praised by iTunes; Stern to Perform for President of Mali

Source: Seth Cohen PR

LENI STERN—"Her songs bridge languages. Her CD is an eclectic collection of fused musical styles and genres. Leni Stern is all music" “Among the most adventurous musicians of her generation" Leni Stern has earned the most glowing reviews of her eclectic career with her Global ensemble project, 'Sa Belle Belle Ba.' iTunes Editorial raved about the album's “bewitching grooves," “sweltering rhythms" and “incantatory lyrics." Other recent press coverage has described Stern as “among the most adventurous musicians of her generation," ...

124

Recording

Leni Stern 'Spirit in the Water' in New Jazziz Magazine

Leni Stern 'Spirit in the Water' in New Jazziz Magazine

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Leni Stern in new issue of Jazziz magazine: “Mythologist Joseph Campbell Would Have Loved Stern's Music" “The six-song EP is infused with rich African rhythms and touches of Indian raga" New CD nearly done, to be released in 2010 Jazziz Magazine features Leni Stern's global adventures in their Spring issue. In a 'Prelude' interview entitled 'Postcards From the Edge', Stern's journeys to Madagascar, India and elsewhere are chronicled by writer Melissa Blazek: “Stern's evolution from jazz guitarist to world-music gypsy ...

72

Recording

Leni Stern "Spirit in the Water" a "Glorious Triumph"

Leni Stern "Spirit in the Water" a "Glorious Triumph"

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Leni Stern's Career is “One of Modern Music's Great Adventures" EP is “A Glorious Triumph" “Her Electric Guitar... Burns Like Santana" Critics have begun to weigh in on the global sound of singer/guitarist Leni Stern's striking new EP, Spirit In the Water. Veteran writer Neil Tesser described the collection as “a glorious triumph," and remarked that Stern's eclectic career has emerged as “one of modern music's great adventures." Stern's recent journeys to India, Mali, Madagascar and elsewhere will soon be ...

88

Recording

Leni Stern "Spirit in the Water" Evokes India, Mali, Madagascar

Leni Stern "Spirit in the Water" Evokes India, Mali, Madagascar

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Elemental Spirits, Dream Readers, Sorcerers, Tuaregs and Geopolitics Fuel Leni Stern's Global Sound, as she Roams from South India to Africa on Striking New EP Songs in Tamil, Wollof, Bambara, Uruba (and English,) All Recorded on Analog Tape, Create a Haunting Dreamscape, as Stern Evokes Peter Gabriel on 'Spirit in the Water' Singer/guitarist Leni Stern wraps her arms around a global sound on her striking new EP, 'Sprit In the Water'. Fueled by recent journeys to India, Mali, Madagascar and ...

147

Performance / Tour

Leni Stern to Perform at SXSW, March 19th

Leni Stern to Perform at SXSW, March 19th

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Leni Stern has confirmed a March 19th showcase at SXSW, at Austin’s Copa on Congress. Stern will be accompanied by members of her international touring band, as she and the group return to the U.S. following a series of European performances in early March. Leni Stern is a Global Music artist and electric guitarist whose acclaimed CD 'Africa' has been described as “one of the finest CDs of the past year, in any genre." Two years in the making, the ...

172

Award / Grant

Leni Stern's "Africa" in Running for Two Grammy Nominations

Leni Stern's "Africa" in Running for Two Grammy Nominations

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Update From Leni Stern Recordings... Leni Stern's acclaimed album, AFRICA, has made it to the ‘Long Ballot’ qualifying round, and is in the running to be nominated for a GRAMMY. If you, or anyone you might know, has the potential to vote (member of NARAS) please check out AFRICA and vote for Leni! Africa is in the running for an official Grammy nomination in these two categories: Best Contemporary World Music Album 068 - Leni Stern - AFRICA ...

167

Event

Leni Stern to Play with Morley, Salif Keita, Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra

Leni Stern to Play with Morley, Salif Keita, Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Leni Stern Joins Morley, Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra and Salif Keita for Upcoming 'Special Guest' Appearances Stern to Appear in Documentary on Hermeto Pascal Recent Television Appearance Features Two Live Performances New Leni Stern CD in the Works; Headlining Shows Set for NYC Acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitarist Leni Stern will make a series of 'Special Guest' appearances in the weeks and months ahead. On October 23rd, she will join her friend Morley at Joe's Pub in New York City, for the CD ...

Primary Instrument

Guitar, electric

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Dance

LSR
2021

buy

4

LSR
2020

buy

Eternal Dance

Savant Records
2020

buy

3

Leni Stern Recordings
2018

buy

Sheroes

Whaling City Sound
2018

buy

Eternal Dance

From: Eternal Dance
By Leni Stern

Bubbles

From: Sheroes
By Leni Stern

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