Any jazz fusion fan will recognize the names Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Marcus Miller, and likely their connective thread of cutting their teeth with Miles Davis before they became icons themselves.

Yet those four fusion visionaries have another thread — they’ve also recorded with South Florida-based guitarist and composer Randy Bernsen. His 11th studio album Heart Mind and Soul was released earlier this year via Jericho Jams.

The guitarist’s bandmates boast an equally impressive collective CV – including saxophonists Bob Mintzer (Yellowjackets, Jaco Pastorius) and Bob Franceschini (Mike Stern, Victor Wooten), bassist Jimmy Haslip (Allan Holdsworth, Oz Noy), trumpeters Dan Davis and Derek Sims, keyboardist George Whitty, and siblings Uzi Nizri (organ & piano) and David Nizri (drums).

1. With You Always
2. Prodigal Son
3. Shepherd’s Heart
4. Billy Gate Blues
5. Abba Father
6. Chant 881

The album opens on the precisely sculpted nature of With You Always and the more rounded Prodigal Son and then we get brought forth the velvety sumptuous Shepherd’s Heart, the outright blues-jazz-funk of Billy Gate Blues, the recording rounding out on the aerial mastery shown within in Abba Father, closing on the grooved, near eight minute Chant 881.

Bernsen’s debut record in 1986 featured an absolute dream-team of household names – Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, and Peter Erskine. In the years to follow, the guitarist toured the world and recorded alongside Marcus Miller, Michael Brecker, Toots Thielemans, Wayne Shorter and many more.

In what is increasingly becoming an era of tribute acts, Bernsen continues to prove a highly-original voice as both composer and guitarist with this six-track release, which he says could be the first of a few this year.

www.randybernsen.com