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The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents guitarist and vocalist Leni Stern for two nights touring in support of her latest release Sa Belle Belle Ba (2010). Band members are TBA. Show times Tuesday and Wednesday are at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm on Tuesday and 5:30pm on Wednesday.

Acclaimed guitarist and vocalist Leni Stern is making her Jazz Alley debut this Fall and we are excited to have her! From the expert instrumentalist (with five consecutive wins of Gibson’s “Female Jazz Guitarist of the Year” to prove it), a singer-songwriter emerged with observations to share from her travels throughout the world. Critics have said her music incorporates “intelligent lyrics and beautifully drawn vignettes” (Washington Post), “crystalline, jazz-meets-blues guitar lines” (Guitar Player), and “thoughtful structure, evocative moods, attention to groove” (San Francisco Bay Guardian).

Born in Munich, Germany, Leni started playing piano at the age of six and guitar at eleven. In 1977, she left for the United States to study film scoring at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Scoring gave way to her love for guitar and in 1981, Leni moved to New York to play in a variety of rock and jazz bands. She formed a group of her own in 1983 with Paul Motion on drums and Bill Frisell on guitar. As a recording artist, she originally made a name for herself in jazz circles (her first nine albums were instrumental,) then crossed her talents over into the singer-songwriter realm, garnering consistent praise in the process.

Stern’s evolution to world-music began in 2007 when she volunteered to bring a band to a UNESCO-sponsored workshop for recording engineers in Mali. The CD Alu Maye (2007) came from these UNESCO sessions and was quickly followed by another, Africa, which integrates African and Western music forms with such authenticity that it may come to be regarded as an 'Audio Documentary' of African musical life. In 2009, Stern released a striking EP Spirit in the Water fueled by her journeys to India, Mali, Madagascar, and elsewhere. This collection of songs combines South Indian Ragas (sung in the local dialect of Tamil) with haunting tales of African sorcerers, sung in Wollof, the language of Senegal. Most recently, Leni Stern reaches a career high with her soaring new full-length CD, Sa Belle Belle Ba (2010). Stern delivers as a complex, hard-hitting, funky, Global rocker by showcasing multiple guest performers, highlighting indigenous instruments from Africa and elsewhere, and allowing the collaborative process to shine.