The title track of Mike Stern's 1988 Atlantic album, "Time in Place" is an introspective composition that reveals the lyrical side of the guitarist's musical personality. Stern solos on electric guitar over a rock feel in B-flat at a relaxed tempo, his tone warm and singing as he explores the composition's spacious harmonic landscape. Tenor saxophonist Bob Berg, who like Stern was a former Miles Davis sideman, contributes a solo that modulates to D-flat, his muscular sound and inventive phrasing adding a different dimension to the performance. Stern's writing here demonstrates a maturity beyond the aggressive fusion that characterized much of his early work, revealing an ability to create mood and atmosphere through carefully constructed melodies and open harmonic structures. The rhythm section of Jeff Andrews on bass and Peter Erskine on drums provides sensitive support, their interplay creating a cushion of sound that allows the soloists freedom to explore. The track exemplifies the more reflective moments that balanced the high-energy numbers on Time in Place, an album that showcased the full range of Stern's compositional and improvisational abilities.
