Student review of The Instutute's Mike Stern and Anthony Jackson masterclass

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance recently welcomed bassist Anthony Jackson and guitarist Mike Stern to their school for an exclusive masterclass.

Anthony and Mike are masters of their instruments and are legendary names in the world of contemporary music. Institute students had the opportunity both to see and talk to these two outstanding players up close and personal.

The following is a review of the event by one of the Institute’s students, Lee Feltham:

“The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance seems to be on a roll with booking and arranging impressive master classes. Recent visitors such as Richard Smith and Jamiroquai have set the bar pretty high, a level that could only be matched by two musical giants such as Mike Stern and Anthony Jackson. Needless to say that places for this master class were filled instantly with eager students.

Mike Stern is probably the biggest name in jazz guitar at the moment, a player who has gone from strength to strength, collaborating with bigger names as his career continues. During the class his playing was perfectly demonstrative of the principal techniques he discussed and he still managed to keep his lines lyrical, steering clear of merely etude-like examples.

Anthony Jackson is one of the few musicians who has stood the test of time and persisted to draw attention to his breathtaking skill as an accompanying musician as opposed to simply retiring to the ‘hall of fame’. His personality, advice and playing all displayed a relentless passion and drive for the task at hand, be it advising someone on time keeping or racing through an up tempo jazz blues.

The two quite different personalities complimented each other perfectly. There was a clear mutual respect between the two, enjoying each others comments and music as much as the students present. The music created was clearly in the moment and exclusive to the listeners there and then.

In my opinion the master class was one of the best so far. There were statements made that would provoke question of the approach of even the most advanced players. Yet the overall message was inspiring and reassuring with an underlying theme that hard work and a love for our art is the answer to most obstacles.

The only remaining question is: who ill the Institute get to follow such a success?!

Website: http://www.icmp.uk.com/

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Back 14.08.2007