Lifeline John Stein

• 1 Up and at 'Em 04:35
• 2 Brazilian Hug 05:19
• 3 Invitation 07:31
• 4 Hotcakes 06:13
• 5 Jo Ann 04:42
• 6 The Roundabout 06:32
• 7 Django 07:02
• 8 On Green Dolphin Street 05:02
• 9 Recoleta 06:52
• 10 Funkin' It Up 05:22
• 11 A Weaver of Dreams 04:35
• 12 Modinha 04:39
• 13 You'd Be so Nice to Come Home To 04:02
• 14 Nica's Dream 06:48
• 15 Moonlight in Vermont 05:56
• 16 Four Corners 04:37
• 17 Elvin! 08:19
• 18 Green Street 07:54
• 19 Love Dance 03:39
• 20 Ira's Tango 04:18
• 21 The Night Has a Thousand Eyes 04:55
• 22 I Remember You 04:16
• 23 Labor of Love 04:50
• 24 A Taste of Honey 06:13
• 25 Sugar 05:40
• 26 Le Causse du Quercy 05:16
• Total Runtime 02:25:07

Info for Lifeline

With the release of Lifeline, John Stein celebrates a musical career as one of the most diverse jazz guitarists of his generation. Selected highlights from Stein’s varied discography capture his eclectic spirit with his honey-toned guitar effortlessly guiding listeners across several decades of brilliance.

"Lifeline" is a landmark double album that celebrates the career of John Stein, making a persuasive argument for his inclusion among the most important guitarists of his generation. Selected highlights from Stein’s varied discography capture his eclectic spirit with his honey-toned guitar effortlessly guiding listeners across several decades of brilliance. After retiring from a longtime career at his alma mater Berklee College of Music where he held a professorship since 1999, and upon recently contracting a rare autoimmune disease, the esteemed jazz veteran decided to synthesize his remarkable body of recorded work. Sharing his unique musical vision, John Stein presents Lifeline.

The recorded output surveyed on this compilation spans more than twenty years, from Stein’s 1999’s Green Street to the most recent recording, 2021’s Serendipity. Throughout this assortment of releases, Stein has been consistently regaled for his expansiveness, turning heads with his emotive, subtle, grooving, and precise stylistic excursions. “Working with a clean, undistorted classic jazz-guitar sound, he renders maximum swing and expression,” said veteran jazz critic Jon Garelick in a review for The Boston Phoenix. Stein began playing guitar at the age of 7, but he began studying jazz seriously at the age of 30 when he enrolled at Berklee College of Music. From there, Stein established the tendencies he would demonstrate throughout his career – a warm, clean tone, a serious knack for composing, and an ability to vividly capture a mood through his music. “There’s a wealth of detail – the dips and turns of phrases, accents falling like words – that he gets at even the fastest tempos,” Garelick added.

The Lifeline project came about because of an unexpected health setback. Out of the blue, Stein contracted Myasthenia Gravis, a debilitating nerve and muscle disorder that left him severely impaired, requiring a long stint in the hospital, including two weeks in the ICU on a ventilator. Thanks to excellent medical care, Stein was eventually able to return home, but once there he found himself unable to play guitar. Stein now says: “My coordination is slowly coming back. I have had to adopt a lighter touch with my left hand principally, but also with my picking hand. By adopting a lighter touch, I am gaining some new playing options that I hope to incorporate as my strength and coordination return. I consider all the guitar relearning that lies ahead part of my therapy.” Lifeline, a spectacular overview of Stein’s virtuosic prime recordings over the years, celebrates the past and future in hopes of a return to those musical heights.

“Stein has the touch.” – Layla Macoran – Jazz Inside New York

“Like his playing, Stein’s compositions display a lack of vanity and are interesting without being overly busy.” – Dave Miele, Jazz Improv Magazine

“There’s a strong sense that his ears are guiding his notes, not his technique, which is something that can only come from spending as many years on the bandstand as Stein has.” – Dr. Matt Warnock, All About Jazz

John Stein, guitar
David “Fathead” Newman, saxophone, flute
Fernando Brandão, flute
Ken Clark, Hammond B-3
Keala Kaumeheiwa, bass
Greg Conroy, drums
Dave Hurst, drums

John Stein
Internationally renowned jazz guitarist John Stein was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri USA where he took up his instrument at an early age. His talent for and love of music ultimately earned him a faculty position at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was a longtime Professor in the Harmony Department.

John Stein is an experienced teacher, clinician, recording artist, and author. John has performed as a leader or a sideman with some of the world’s finest jazz acts, and his compositions and performances cover the spectrum of jazz styles.

John is a prolific recording artist as a leader, in addition to the contributions he has made to other artists’ projects. His newest recording, Serendipity [WSC 129], will be released on June 18, 2021.

John published educational columns in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine for many years that focused on composition and arranging for jazz guitar. Berklee Press published John’s arranging materials in a book that is now available, entitled: Berklee Jazz Standards For Solo Guitar. John compiled the compositional materials into two books that are now available: Composing Blues For Jazz Performance, and Composing Tunes For Jazz Performance.

“My music is the result of a lifetime’s involvement with my instrument, the guitar, and many hours studying theory, composition, arranging, and musical history,” says John. His warm and deeply expressive creative jazz performances move and excite audiences wherever he appears.

Booklet for Lifeline