John Stein began his guitar education at the age of seven. Stein was a long-time professor at Berklee College of Music. He experiences music as a constant challenge to further hone his performing and composing skills and techniques. During his developmental process, Stein was influenced by several jazz artists, both guitarists and other instrumentalists, including Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Hank Mobley, and Bill Evans. The guitarist has seventeen albums as a leader, two of which are for a leading European label, @Jardis. Both of these CDs, @Portraits and Landscapes and @Conversation Pieces, are dominated by Stein compositions, pieces which are characterized by their diverse melodic and harmonic structures. Stein has managed to avoid the deep, dark hole of routine and repetition. The latter album is also an occasion for a revisit by longtime Ray Charles' tenor sax player David "Fathead" Newman. Newman also appeared on Stein's 1999 CD @Green Street. Stein is also featured on Ron Gill's album @Ron Gill Sings the Songs of Billy Strayhorn, which was released in December 1997 by Boston's @WGBH Radio. Since 2005, Stein has been associated with the @Whaling City Sound record label and has released twelve recordings on that label. His newest recording for that label, No Goodbyes, will be released in September, 2023. The guitarist has also appeared at festivals and concerts such as the Boston Globe Jazz Festival and New Orleans' Funky Butt jazz clam bake.