Mike Stern / Hiram Bullock Band - April 11, 1985 Seventh Avenue South, New York City

This is typical of the kind of show you could catch at Seventh Avenue South in the early to mid 1980s, a one-off stand of players who lived locally but didn't typically play together, who get together and play tunes you couldn't hear them play on albums or with their main bands. Mike Stern and Hiram Bullock were the local badass guitar gunslingers in NYC at this time. Bullock had recently finished his gig with the David Letterman Show in "The World's Most Dangerous Band", and Stern was on hiatus from Miles Davis's band to get clean (he would rejoin in August of 1985). I admit this show is a little over-the-top at times with guitar soloes, but it was a fun band to see. They opened with a sweet bluesy take on the Miles classic All Blues. Their straight-ahead duet without a rhythm section on Con Alma is very pretty and shows off both guitarists' jazz chops. Grapevine is a funky jamfest, and the rest is a mix of things. Mike Stern - guitar Hiram Bullock - guitar Jeff Andrews - bass Nick DeFrisco - drums 00:00 tuning up/noodling 00:35 All Blues (M Davis) 9:49 California Dreamin' (J and M Phillips) 17:38 Dolphin Dance (H Hancock) 31:04 I Heard It Through the Grapevine (N Whitfield/B Strong) 43:52 Con Alma (D Gillespie) 53:13 Straight Life (F Hubbard) 1:06:51 Bluze (M Stern) I recorded this on a Sony Walkman Pro D6C with a Sony ECM-102 stereo microphone. This has been uploaded solely for educational purposes and historical interest. Enjoy.