LENI STERN
Leni Stern wasnamed one of the “50 Most Sensational Female Guitarists of All Time” in Guitar Player magazine’s 50thanniversary issue in 2017, with the publication aptly dubbing her “agenre-defying adventurer.” Leni’s example shines beyond just prowess on herinstrument. The pursuit of her career across more than four decades has been ineffect a political act – a practice in strength and defiance to be a woman anda bandleader, a female electric guitarist and a composer, an artist who producesher own albums and manages her own career. Moreover, in our currentpolitical climate, it is now more essential than ever to celebrate theimmigrant experience that brought Leni to the U.S. from Germany and her Africanbandmates from Senegal and Argentina. Leni’s inspiration has long been theinterconnectedness of music, history and our humanity. She says: “Music is oneof the truest, most beautiful expressions of the human spirit, crossingborders, dissolving tribalism, binding us together – if we let it.”

Leni has been on an evolutionary road overthe past decade and a half, as she fused her long-honed contemporary jazz soundwith a deeply felt exploration of West African styles. She has traveled andstudied extensively in Mali and Senegal, performing with iconicsinger-songwriter Salif Keita among other African notables. The Munich-bred NewYorker’s trans-Atlantic journeys have yielded a fresh, personal idiom, onewhere progressive virtuosity blends seamlessly with age-old folk traditions.Leni’s trio with bassist Mamadou Ba and percussionist Eladji Alioune Faye, both natives of Senegal, released the albums 3 in 2018 and Jelell in 2013, along with figuring into the expansive cast of her Dakar Suite of 2016. Now the trio hasbecome a quartet with the addition of Argentina-bred keyboardist Leo Genovese,a top talent on the New York scene as both a leader and as a collaborator withthe likes of Esperanza Spalding and Jack DeJohnette.

Leni performed at Mali’s Festival in theDesert in 2006, getting to know many of the native musicians on site in theSahara Desert three hours outside Timbuktu. She began spending several months ayear living and working in Mali and Senegal. These experiences led to a boldnew era in her music, starting with the EP AluMaye (Have You Heard) and album Africa,both released in 2007. Leni recorded the biggest parts of six albums at thestudio owned by Salif Keita in Bamako, Mali. She also played in Keita’s band,as well as with star Senegalese singer-guitarist Baaba Maal, who brought her toperform at his Blues du Fleuve Festival. Kora master Toumani Diabaté offeredtutelage in Mali, too, on traditional rhythms of Malian music and the richorchestration that can be achieved with its string instruments and percussion. Malian n’goni player Bassekou Kouyate and his wife,vocalist Ami Sacko, also became key mentors and collaborators. 

Recent years have brought some well-deserved recognition to Leni’s career. In 2013 she wasfeatured on WBUR, Boston’s NPR affiliate, in a feature piece. In 2015 she was the cover storyfor the Santa Fe New Mexican. In 2016 she was a headline performer at Africa Festival inWurzburg, Germany. Leni was named in Guitar Player’s 50th Anniversary Issue (March 2017) asone of the Most Sensational Female Guitarists of All Time. In 2018 she was selected as anofficial showcase performer at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas.