Leni Stern

Inside the mind of musician, poet and world traveler Leni Stern.

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Notes from Leni’s new album “3″

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House of Thieves from 2009

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5 years ago we shot this video...hope you enjoy!

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Almost exactly a year ago, a young white man walked into a historic black church in Charleston and shot 9 people after sitting in a prayer meeting with them for nearly one hour. The next evening on TV, I saw members of the congregation that had lost loved ones, confront the shooter Dylan Roof, and forgive him. I can't imagine being able to do that. On the anniversary of the shooting I heard our president Barack Obama deliver the most memorable speech of his presidency and lead thousands of mourners in singing Amazing Grace. This song is a tribute to State Senator Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, the Pastor of Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church who was killed on that day.

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Much like the fusion of my music which brings old and new worlds and continents together, the clothing I choose to wear to express myself is vibrant and timeless.  Rama Diaw from St. Louis, Senegal makes clothing that relays the universal message I sing in my songs, making a space and style for all people.  Jennifer Ouellette in New York, NY creates hats, fascinators, and other beautiful headband adornments that add a playfulness and energy to my attitude.  Both designers inspire me when I play and I’m thrilled to wear their beautiful pieces in print and on stage!

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Check out the digital booklet that accompanies Leni’s new album, Dakar Suite.

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Lebone

Our song Lebone tells the story of Booky the hyena.

Booky is looking for food and since he’s not fast, his legs are short, he has to resort to tricking other animals into coming close enough to eat them, and tricking is his strong suit!

He tells the giraffe that her mother is calling, she should come quick.

But... the giraffe has a very long neck and can see that Bookyi is up to no good and she says : “funny, my mother never calls me with a knife behind her back.”

Nobody is around now but the rabbit... he has long ears and a short tail and he can run very fast.

lebon nippon amalnafi danah ahm - this is what happened a long time ago.

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Here's a preview from my just finished album, Dakar Suite

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JAZZMANDU

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Yaite ramos from cuba, a wonderful flutist/singer /percussionist

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Heavenly deserts at the market in kathmandu

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Swayambunat

At the edge of the river in kathmandu i went for a walk along side 1000year old temples

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I spent last week at the Wooten Woods camp in Tennessee, an hour outside of Nashville. It is the creation of #VictorWooten, the amazing #bassist.

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Mike and I had a fantastic time!! We were way off the beaten path in the woods, by a large stream, teaching 28 young musicians from all over the world.

We had wing shun kung fu classes by a student of It man !!!! and nature classes where the students learned to identify tracks and bugs ( like the one that crawled up my pants when i was teaching!!!!!!!!!!!!) and snakes ( water mocassins and rattlesnakes - ayayayayayay)

There was a huge organic vegetable garden out back and meals were cooked by an awesome chef with fresh produce from there.

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The best thing was, that by the time we got to the camp, all the students had been infected with the irresistable Wooten groove…and young boys from Pakistan to Sweden were grooving like hell!!

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Senegal, rehearsal, performance and recording

I’m finally in St Louis, Senegal, the site of the jazz festival where we are playing.  A prehistoric bus met us in Dakar to take all of our equipment to St Louis.  Actually, it was supposed to take us as well, but I hired cars....it was too adventurous even for my taste! The rehearsals have been amazing!  My jaw keeps dropping whenever the Faye brothers play.  In all my time in africa I have never heard anything like it.  Alioune has composed a series of drum calls to go with the new songs. The Faye brothers are so soft-spoken and sweet... until they get behind the drums, then all hell breaks loose. The audience yesterday loved our rendition of traditional Senegalese songs, and they all sang along. We played on a boat that was anchored in front of the large venue. The river Senegal has some waves, and I was scared to slip into the water with my amp and pedals. Today, thank god, they moved the stage to land and set VIP sofas up on the boat. The whole band only speaks Wollof now and I hobble along. It’s actually helpful with the Wollof lyrics I am singing.  My accent gets better and better, and everybody is terribly amused by it!

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