The Bridge (2021), by Sting

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner is back in top form with his best all-around solo album since 1996’s Mercury Falling. It is also one of his best albums of all time and certainly his best album of the 21^st century so far.

 

More than any of his offerings in the previous quarter century, Sting’s latest release builds a bridge back to the highs of the first decade of his solo career while still sounding fresh and modern. It marks a welcome return to organic instrumentation with subtle electronic and orchestral embellishments to round out Sting’s classic sonic grandiosity.

 

Now 70 years old, Sting sounds as good as ever, with just a hint of wizened grizzle. His trademark multi-tracked vocals are utilized to great effect on the rousing, Police-like opening number, “Rushing Water.”

 

Other song highlights include “Harmony Road” (with a beautiful sax solo by longtime collaborator Branford Marsalis), “The Hills on the Border,” the title track, and “Captain Bateman’s Basement” (one of three extra tunes on the deluxe edition).

 

The absolute gem of this already stellar collection is “The Bells of St. Thomas,” which is one of Sumner’s finest musical and lyrical compositions.

 

Sting, it’s great to have you back!

 

--Raj Manoharan

MIradas (2021), by Jose Luis Serrano Esteban

For his fourth album, master guitarist Jose Luis Serrano Esteban uses nylon strings to create a well-rounded and immersive sonic environment that is a delight for the ears, the mind, and the soul.

The record is not only a marvel of composition and performance, but also of arrangement, instrumentation, and orchestration, all of which are done masterfully. In addition to Esteban’s guitars, the music comprises synthesizers (Esteban), piano and keyboards (Roger Subirana), violin (Sandra Lopez), flutes (Paula Campos, Carlos Calvo), and clarinet (Santiago Puente), with Nacho Serrano on bass guitar, Cristobal Caballero on double bass, and Mario Sanjuan on drums.

 

The melodies are beautiful and elegant, and Esteban’s pitch-perfect guitar playing is straightforward and accessible in service of the album’s overall light and pleasant pop sound. His note picking and chord strumming are palpable and poignant, thanks especially to the visceral sound mix.

 

This is one of the best guitar albums ever produced and recorded. It is soothing and refreshing and also a great showcase for the virtuosity of all of the musicians involved, especially under the steady hand of Esteban.

 

--Raj Manoharan

Harmonics of the Night (2021), by Andy Summers

Delayed for nearly two years because of the pandemic, Andy Summers’ Harmonics of the Night finally sees the light of day, and it is a welcome musical postcard from the venerable veteran guitarist, especially in these unusual times.

 

The title is very appropriate as the overall feel of the album is very nocturnal. Unlike the previous two installments of Summers’ almost entirely self-performed trilogy (Metal Dog and Triboluminescence), drums, percussion, and synthesizers are minimal or nearly nonexistent, allowing Summers to use mostly his guitars to create quiet serenity out of the shadows.

 

“City of Crocodiles” and “Chronosthesia” percolate with darkly lyrical rhythms over which gradually ascending leads and solos twist and turn and reach and yearn. “Mirror in the Dirt” channels “Chocolate of the Desperate” from Synaesthesia and “If Anything” from Triboluminescence with its edgy guitar phrasing over synthesizers. “Prairie” and “Aphelion” revel in Summers’ classic otherworldly tones. The beautiful and tranquil “Inamorata,” one of two transcendental acoustic guitar pieces on the record, features traces of guitar synthesizer. (A whole solo album of tracks like “Prairie” and “Aphelion” would be awesome, as would a whole solo album of tracks like “Inamorata.”)

 

This is the closest any of Summers’ albums have come to resembling the sound and feel of his 1988 minimalist masterpiece, Mysterious Barricades. As a result, this is Summers’ most pensive, thoughtful, and sensitive effort since that stellar recording.

 

There are also sonic elements that recall Summers’ 1980s albums with Robert Fripp – I Advance Masked and Bewitched – as well as flashes here and there of Summers’ signature sound as found in both his work with The Police and his solo career. But then again, all of Summers’ albums, including this one, are his signature sound, aren’t they?

 

Harmonics of the Night is a cinematic musical journey well worth taking, courtesy of the always reliable and ever dependably unpredictable Andy Summers.

 

--Raj Manoharan

Triboluminescence (2017), by Andy Summers

Summers got his groove back.

For the longest time, I had held out hope that Andy Summers would create another album similar in vein to his first two solo instrumental efforts, Mysterious Barricades (1988) and The Golden Wire (1989), which feature his compositions and guitar playing at their most transcendental and sublime. Triboluminescence rekindles the spirit of those original records, but on a whole other level, and the result is absolutely delightful.

Expounding upon his explorations of self-sufficient sonic possibilities begun with the 2015 industrial tech whack offering Metal Dog, Summers exceeds that accomplishment, using his guitars and other instruments (and cheating slightly with the collusion of cellist Artyom Manukyan on one track) to create alien and otherworldly sounds that transport you into a wondrous dimension of exhilarating sensory perception.

Standout tunes include the haunting “If Anything,” “Elephant Bird” (classic Andy Summers), "Gigantopithecus" (psychedelic reggae rock), “Ricochet” (bluesy funk), the eerie and enigmatic "Sam and Janet" (with a special cameo by "Metal Dog" from the album of the same name), and “Help from Jupiter” (spacey shades of Barricades and Bewitched). (The latter three tracks are digital/vinyl exclusives.)

Summers described his personal musical direction in the late 1980s and early 1990s as “new fusion.” He calls his unique stylings on Triboluminescence “new exotic.” I myself like to think of it as “new mysterious.”

Without a doubt, Triboluminescence certainly ranks as one of Andy Summers’ best albums, right up there with his Private Music catalog, as well as Synaesthesia and Earth + Sky. It is also solid and demonstrable proof that at age 74, Andy Summers is still very much in his prime – and still very much in the top tier of guitar masters.

--Raj Manoharan

Metal Dog (2015), by Andy Summers

At long last, the much-anticipated follow-up to Andy Summers and Robert Fripp's seminal, iconic, progressive experimental albums I Advance Masked and Bewitched is here – except this time, it's all Andy.

As befits his first fully independent, self-released solo recording, Summers truly goes it alone, composing all the music and playing all the instruments himself, including bass, keyboards, drums, and percussion. Summers pulls it off so well that it's easy to forget that he's the only musician in the studio. Of course, as always, his guitars, as well as other stringed instruments, are the focal point of the proceedings, with Summers producing exquisite, elegant leads, rhythms, and solos, covering a range of styles from blues and funk to jazz and rock.

While the 10-track collection definitely has the spirit and elements of the previously mentioned Fripp collaborations, as well as Summers' solo instrumental albums Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, and Synaesthesia, it is at the same time fresh and original.

This is unlike anything Summers has done before, with its variety of textures, tempos, and time signatures. But Andy's classic sounds pop up here and there, reassuring us that our guitar god is still present as ever.

Although every composition is stirring, my favorites are the title track, "Animal Chatter," “Ishango Bone,” “Bitter Honey,” and especially “Harmonograph,” with its slithery, electronic lead guitar. These are the most conventional sounding “songs” on the album, and even then they're unconventional. In a sense, Summers has come full circle from his eclectic musings on the track “Circe's Island” from David Bedford's 1976 album The Odyssey.

In its review of Summers' 1995/1996 release Synaesthesia, Entertainment Weekly wrote, “With Andy Summers, even if you expect the unexpected, you'll still be surprised.” This has been true of each and every project by Summers, and the epic, groundbreaking Metal Dog is certainly no exception.

--Raj Manoharan

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