NIGHT AND DAY - BY DAVE LUHRSSEN The Quiet Man Daryl Stuermer was never known as a flashy guy, personally or as a guitarist. But within his chosen field of music hes been called a very lucky man. Discovered on a Milwaukee stage back in the 70s by Frank Zappas keyboardist George Duke, Stuermer went on to tour and recorded with acclaimed jazz fusion violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. From there he became a member of the mega-platinum rock band Genesis and a sidekick for Genesis star Phil Collins, with whom he co-wrote Doesnt Anybody Stay Together Anymore, I Dont Wanna Know and other mainstream hits from the 80s. Always inconspicuous, knowing his place on the lineup, Stuermer exudes quiet confidence, not star power. Nobody watching him pad around his Whitefish Bay yard or his Third Ward studio would guess that hes stood at the edge of the limelight at the music industrys pinnacle. Since moving back to Milwaukee in 1981, Stuermer quietly continued to go about his work, backing the mild-visaged Collins in a variety of settings and working locally on his own projects. His new solo CD Live & Learn is a logical step on a career path laid at the height of jazz fusion in the 70s and refined by his hands-on apprenticeship with Collins. Its a fusion album that wants to be liked by the general public. But if Stuermers much-remembered Milwaukee band from the 70s, Sweetbottom, is a kind of Year 0 in his musical life, there was also a rich pre-history. Hes one of the citys veteran players. Before the Beatles When I started playing guitar at age 11, my brother Duane was already in bands, Stuermer says. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. I wanted to play guitar like he did. It was the early 60s, moments before the Beatles hit America, and Stuermer, now 46, was playing Ventures tunes at grade-school dances. The instrumental guitar bands of those years often threw some tricky chords into their reverberating melodiesthey were apt role models for an aspiring jazz guitarist. It was challenging to learn this music. I was fascinated by the Ventures, Stuermer recalls. This fascination with guitar music of formal complexity led to lessons with well-known Milwaukee jazz guitarist George Pritchett and the formationby the end of the 60sof the band Bertram Grimm with brother Duane, his musical collaborator throughout the years in Milwaukee and the bassist nowadays in the Daryl Stuermer Band heard at Milwaukee festivals and clubs. Bertram Grimm and the Stuermer brothers locally popular early 70s band Family-at-Max played an emerging genre called jazz-rockrock with a full horn section a la Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. By 1973 the Stuermers launched the more musically adventurous Sweetbottom. Encountering the Stars Sweetbottom began as something of a departure for the Stuermersa progressive rock band referencing Jethro Tull and Traffic. Its funny Id end up in Genesis! Stuermer says. At the time of Sweetbottoms inception Genesis was part of the musically ambitious progressive rock movement, not the platinum-pop band they would become. But jazz beckoned. Soon Sweetbottom fell under the spell of the dexterous sounds that bobbed in the wake of Miles Davis. Dubbed fusion, the music attempted to fully merge rock with jazz, and was championed by the likes of Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Most every young musician dreams of being discovered. For Stuermer, the dream came true one night in 1975 when Frank Zappas band came to a Milwaukee club called Sardinos Bull Ring (where Sweetbottom was the house band) and jammed with the locals. George Duke especially liked Stuermers guitar playing and soon recommended the unknown Milwaukeean to Jean-Luc Ponty. Trading the Bull Ring for the brass ring, Stuermer lived in L.A. and out of suitcases for the next six years, recording three LPs with Ponty, passing an audition for Genesis (replacing the bands admired guitarist Steve Hackett) and touring internationally. During those years Stuermer never stole the spotlightthat may have resulted in a musical pink slip!but did his job well. Although Stuermer was hired only as a touring musician and never worked in the studio with Genesis, the bands star Phil Collins tapped him for his solo career in 1981. Stuermer played on a string of big-selling Collins solo albums and helped recreate the hits on global tours. Mr. Consistent Phil always said that Im creative but reliable, Stuermer says. I try to be consistent. Im on time. Im straight on stage. I dont make a lot of mistakes. People see Phil as a likable, accessible guy. They dont know how intense he is in the studio. Hes a workaholic. He likes to be in control of the situation. And Collins obviously likes Stuermer, the only member of Genesis who made the transition to his solo career. After playing on such popular albums as Face Value and Hello I Must be Going and co-writing several hit singles, Stuermer continues to work for Collins. Although he did not play guitar on Collins soundtrack to this summers Disney hit Tarzan, he has accompanied the singer at Tarzan promotional shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and will follow him to the films premiere in Germany and Japan. In recent years Stuermer has also toured with the Phil Collins Big Band, in which the singers repertoire from Genesis and his solo career is rearranged to swing. Stuermer moved back to Milwaukee in 1981 with his wife Michaela Carey Stuermer, a Cleveland native who met the guitarist during a singing stint with Sweetbottom. I realized I could live anywhere and still perform with Genesis. I decided Id rather live in Milwaukee than L.A. I wanted to come back to something a little more normal, he says. Its been a great town to raise the Stuermer children, Kelly, 18, an art student, and Fiona, 11, who plays clarinet. Milwaukee also has been a quiet resting place between the intensity of touring and as good a spot as any to work on his own music. In 1987 the fusion label GRP released Stuermer's first solo album, Steppin Out . It was heavier than what today is called smooth jazz but a little light for rock n roll. It didnt get any airplay he says of the discs failure to reach a wide audience. Like many other musicians in the 90s, Stuermer decided to make and market his own music, releasing his second album, Live & Learn , on his own label. The new collection of ethnic-flavored fusion instrumentals is available through amazon.com and Stuermers Web site, www.urbanisland.com. I realize itll be hard to get it on the radio. Its a labor of love, he says. His intermittent solo albumsaugmented by occasional gigs in Milwaukeehave been a hobby in contrast to his steady job with Collins, but he is willing to capitalize on his resume. Stuermers next CD, featuring instrumental versions of the music he played with Genesis, is scheduled for release next year on an indie label from Colorado. He still gets excited when taking his guitar out of the case. Stuermer doesnt wear the weary, jaded attitude of many veteran musicians. Playing is addictive, he explains. I just want to keep going as long as I can.
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