Earth + Sky (2003), by Andy Summers

After four albums for RCA Victor featuring a mix of jazz covers and originals, acoustic guitar duets, and tributes to jazz icons Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus, legendary guitarist Andy Summers goes independent with his Golden Wire label and returns to his own original jazz-rock fusion compositions, tapping into his Police and early solo sensibilities as well as some new sounds he picked up along the way.

While the euphoric “Above the World” recalls “Begin the Day” from the 1984 Andy Summers/Robert Fripp album Bewitched and the title track smacks favorably of Summers’ Police instrumentals, numbers like “Now I’m Free” and “Return” show Summers at the height of his jazz phrasing powers with smooth and seamless beauty and fluidity.

 

The stellar lineup of musicians backing Summers on this outing includes Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Abraham Laboriel on bass, John Beasley and John Novello on keyboards, and Katisse Buckingham on saxophone.

 

This is one of Summers’ best albums and stands firmly alongside his finest work, including his Private Music catalog, Synaesthesia, and Triboluminescence.

 

--Raj Manoharan

Monk 'n' Mingus (2016), by Andy Summers

Okay, this isn’t actually an actual album by Andy Summers. Rather, it’s a playlist I made in 2016 for my iPod consisting of five tracks from Summers’ 1999 album, Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious Monk, and six tracks from Summers’ 2000 Charles Mingus tribute album, Peggy’s Blue Skylight.

What I found is that when I combined those eleven tracks together, the result was a record that is even better than either of those already solid albums. In fact, the collection sounds like it could almost be Synaesthesia II, just entirely composed by Monk ‘n’ Mingus. Which really wouldn’t be surprising at all, since Synaesthesia and many of Summers’ other albums sound like they also could have been composed by Monk ‘n’ Mingus, especially as Summers is heavily influenced by those two jazz icons, in addition to other great artists from the genre.

 

For optional add-ons, you can include the excellent vocal tracks: “Round Midnight” featuring Sting (Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious Monk) and the Peggy’s Blue Skylight songs “Weird Nightmare” (featuring Deborah Harry) and “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat/Where Can a Man Find Peace?” (featuring Q-Tip).

 

So, without further ado, here are the eleven tracks that make up Monk ‘n’ Mingus:

 

From Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious Monk:

 

1. Green Chimneys

2. Shuffle Boil

3. Evidence

4. Ugly Beauty

5. Think of One

 

From Peggy’s Blue Skylight:

 

6. Boogie Stop Shuffle

7. Tonight at Noon

8. Reincarnation of a Lovebird

9. Opus Three

10. Cumbia Jazz Fusion

11. Remember Rockefeller at Attica

 

--Raj Manoharan

Peggy's Blue Skylight (2000), by Andy Summers

After taking on the formidable task of tackling the songbook of Thelonious Monk, guitarist Andy Summers sets his sights on another jazz giant, bassist Charles Mingus.

While the Monk project is a musical curve ball in terms of Summers' usual style, this has more of the comfortable jazz-rock fusion feel that Summers' fans are familiar with. In fact, even though the songs are all Mingus tunes, they sound very much like Summers' compositions.

The lineup of supporting musicians is stellar as always. In addition to Dave Carpenter on bass and Joel Taylor on drums, the players include Randy Brecker on trumpet, Nick Ariondo on accordion, Hank Roberts on cello, John Novello on Hammond B-3 organ, Geetha Bennett on vocals, veena, and tamboura, Rob Thomas on violin, Michito Sanchez on percussion, Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, The Jazz Passengers, and The Kronos Quartet.

The album also features guest appearances by Blondie vocalist Deborah Harry on “Weird Nightmare” and rapper Q-Tip, who recites Mingus's poem “Where Can a Man Find Peace?” over Summers' stunning, stinging rendition of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.”

This is another fine showcase for Summers' patented brand of guitar wrangling.

--Raj Manoharan

Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious Monk (1999), by Andy Summers

Andy Summers takes on one of his greatest challenges yet – essaying the music of his idol, legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.

This album is interesting on so many levels.

For one thing, it's quite something to hear the music of a piano-playing bebop pioneer from the perspective of a guitarist primarily known for rock music.

Also, considering that Monk is to music what Pablo Picasso is to art, the songs on this CD are vastly different from what Police and Andy Summers fans are used to.

In addition, Summers enlists the musical support of a veritable who's who of contemporary jazz players, including Dave Carpenter on bass, Peter Erskine and Bernie Dresel on drums, Joey de Francesco on Hammond B-3 organ, Hank Roberts on cello, Steve Tavaglione on saxophone and clarinet, and Walt Fowler on trumpet. Even Summers' former Police band mate Sting shows up to provide sultry, breathy vocals on “'Round Midnight.”

While this might be an atypically difficult listen for Police and Andy Summers fans, this is a great album with which to broaden their musical horizons.

--Raj Manoharan

Andy Summers Brings on the "Night" with New Solo Album Due October 15, 2021

Legendary Police guitarist Andy Summers will be bringing on the "Night" with his latest instrumental solo album, Harmonics of the Night, which is scheduled for release on October 15, 2021.

This will be the 78-year-old Summers' 13th original solo studio recording since 1987 and his latest work in a music career spanning just over six decades. It is the third part of Summers' mostly self-performed trilogy consisting of Metal Dog (2015) and Triboluminescence (2017). Summers is already looking beyond the Night to his next three albums, which would involve other musicians playing bass and drums and would mark his first solo studio venture with a backing band in 20 years.

Summers has described Night as a collection of beautiful instrumentals, which suggests that it might be similar in sound and feel to his 1988 New Age guitar-and-keyboard classic, Mysterious Barricades, or his 1997 jazz guitar trio record, The Last Dance of Mr. X, or perhaps a combination of both.

Harmonics of the Night will follow the August publication of Summers' first short-story collection, Fretted and Moaning.

https://digital.abcaudio.com/news/polices-andy-summers-releasing-beautiful-new-instrumental-album-harmonics-night-fall

https://superdeluxeedition.com/interview/andy-summers-on-his-new-book-and-the-police-reissues/

--Raj Manoharan

The Last Dance of Mr. X (1997), by Andy Summers

After a scorching remake of the Charming Snakes track "Big Thing" (with Jerry Watts on bass and Bernie Dresel on drums), Summers' guitar leads Tony Levin's bass and Gregg Bissonette's drums through a delectable mix of jazz originals and standards.

Since this is a jazz guitar trio record, there are little or no overdubs, leaving Summers to rely more on atmosphere and texture and draw extensively from his classical training. Of course, Summers also manages to come up with some interesting and unique lead guitar lines in this format. It's also a marvel to hear how much Summers, Levin, and Bissonette can achieve sonically.

In terms of the songs themselves, Summers' compositions blend seamlessly with those of jazz greats such as Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver, and Mongo Santamaria.

This is a pleasant, laid-back, and mellow detour from Summers' usual dark edginess and is similar in tone to his 1991 release World Gone Strange.

--Raj Manoharan

Synaesthesia (1996), by Andy Summers

Andy Summers goes a little bit grunge on this dark, edgy, and lyrical album that plays somewhat like a more muscular version of his 1989 release The Golden Wire.

Summers' thick guitar lines are reinforced with lush textures by Mitchel Forman on keyboards, rocking rhythms by Jerry Watts on bass, and pulse-pounding back-beats by Cream's Ginger Baker on drums, with additional drums by Gregg Bissonette and orchestral accents by The Trouserfly String Quartet, featuring world-renowned violinist Charlie Bisharat.

Summers also plays acoustic bass on one tune, and the title track is performed entirely by Summers on piano and sounds very much like an acoustic version of The Police's synthesizer style, especially from Ghost in the Machine.

This ranks among my top three favorite Andy Summers “band” albums, the other two being World Gone Strange and Earth + Sky. All three are composed entirely by Summers, are his most guitar-centric albums, and feature his most focused, consistent playing.

--Raj Manoharan