Loop Sighing: Leni Stern

[Paolo Valladolid <pvallado@waynesworld.ucsd.edu>]

I managed to catch Leni Stern on tour (she miraculously decided to
make a stop in San Diego).   Her setup was fairly simple; just her Strat,
Matchless amp (a 1x12), a JamMan, volume pedal, and another little
effects box.

She is unusual, for a guitarist, in that she uses a wide dynamic range
(the guitarist stereotype being that the guitarist only plays in one
range - LOUD :)), ranging from very soft to loud enough to be clearly heard
over the drummer and bass player.  Thus it was hard to tell if she was 
using 
the Jam Man for anything other than delay effects.  There was however one 
tune that began with clearly looped intro, but even then she kept the 
looper's volume level fairly low. 

I had heard that her teachers were her esteemed husband Mike (aka "Fat 
Time")
and Bill Frisell.  I heard more of Frisell's influence (and thus, 
indirectly
the influence of Jim Hall) in her melodic style which made effective use 
of 
silence.  She was billed as a jazz act, but threw in a generous helping of
vocal numbers.  My buddy said her pop/vocal tunes reminded him of Sting, 
post-Police. :)

Cheers,
Paolo