When they are not settled by petty purposes and they don't serve some ambitious opportunist, the associations between great musicians entail an added value, not to mention the charm of the successful combination. With Mike Stern the fascination is already guaranteed, then is the curiosity for something new, curiosity to find out how this association was produced, and certainly, the personalities of the other artists.

When they first met on an album, in 2019, the guitarist Mike Stern and the keyboardist Jeff Lorber, both in the first league of musicians since they have started, designed a perfect platform to balance their personalities. Both started their activity at about the same time, in the 70`s, displaying the same tendency to attain the combination of the moment -between jazz and rock- yet opting for different styles, especially since 80`s. Lorber set up his own group, Fusion, oriented towards what was contemporary, with a modern feel, at the limit of smooth-jazz, while Stern was joining Miles Davis` group, which meant the career peak and the guarantee of continuity for every musician. The two musicians combine their tremendous experience on an original repertoire, gathered under the name `Eleven`, alongside other great names, like Jimmy Haslip, Dave Weckl sau Vinnie Colaiuta.

This album is appealing due to the manner in which these two musicians adapted expressive means and tone for every composition, complementing each other`s style. Jeff Lorber brings the harmonies and the groove -which is closer to soul- and Mike Stern brings the riff, and the blues and post-bop impromptus. The album stands as a proof to us that some albums with smooth jazz notes can have artistic content, a clearly defined aesthetics, and that Mike Stern can play amazing anytime, in any way, with anyone.