tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65092730163167328672024-02-06T19:38:30.604-08:00RajMan ReviewsMusings on Movies, Music, and Television (dedicated to Steven H. Scheuer and John N. Goudas)Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.comBlogger662125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-40430426331167875632023-12-30T23:10:00.000-08:002023-12-30T23:10:36.958-08:00Happy Birthday, Andy Summers!<p><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">On New Year's Eve, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Sunday</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">, December 31, 2023</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">, Andy Summers – my favorite guitarist and musician of all time – turns 81</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"> years old.</span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;">I first became acquainted with the music of Summers in 1983 at the age of 10 in a Catholic elementary school classroom when I heard a hypnotic and futuristic-sounding pop/rock song emanating from the radio of Candy, my substitute teacher. When I asked what the song was and who recorded it, I was promptly informed that it was “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police. I was instantly hooked, so much so that that Christmas, my parents got me a vinyl copy of </span><i style="color: #222222;">Synchronicity,</i><span style="color: #222222;"> The Police’s fifth and final studio album and one of the biggest hits of the year. The Police have since remained my favorite rock band of all time.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;">Summers was the guitarist for the mega-popular group, who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reunited for a 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and 2008. Being a good decade older than his bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland, Summers began his professional recording career in the early 1960s, playing for Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (which later became the psychedelic but short-lived Dantalian’s Chariot), Eric Burdon’s New Animals, and Soft Machine. After formally studying guitar at Northridge University in California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Summers returned to England and plied his trade as a session guitarist for Joan Armatrading, Neil Sedaka, Kevin Coyne, and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord before achieving monumental success and international stardom with The Police.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;">After the dissolution of The Police in the early 1980s, Summers scored some Hollywood films <i>(Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Weekend at Bernie’s)</i> and recorded one rock vocal album before establishing himself as an acclaimed and accomplished contemporary instrumental guitarist across a variety of styles, including jazz, fusion, new age, and world music.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;">I was privileged to interview Summers by telephone in Fall 2000 for the January 2001 issue of <i>DirecTV: The Guide.</i> I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Summers posted a notice of the interview in the news section of his Web site. Later, I met Summers in person during his book tour in Fall 2006, just a few months before The Police reunited for a 30th anniversary reunion tour, which I was fortunate to attend twice, first at Giants Stadium in August 2007 and then at PNC Bank Arts Center in August 2008.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span>For a good overview of Summers’ solo work, I highly recommend the following albums: </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mysterious Barricades, A Windham Hill Retrospective, Synaesthesia,</i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span> </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span>and </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The X Tracks.</i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span> </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span>My personal favorite Summers albums are <i>XYZ, </i></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, Charming Snakes, World Gone Strange, Synaesthesia, Earth + Sky, </i></span></span></span><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Fundamental</span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> (with Fernanda Takai), </span></span></span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Circus Hero</span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> (with his rock band Circa Zero), and </span></span></span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Harmonics of the Night.</span></span></em></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #222222;">--Raj Manoharan</span>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-82792074854931608242023-12-30T23:05:00.000-08:002023-12-30T23:05:57.802-08:00Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 - December 10, 2021)<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saturday, December 30, 2023, would have been Michael Nesmith's 81st birthday. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Texas-born Monkees singer and guitarist (the one with the green wool hat) passed away </span>on December 10, 2021,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> in California at the age of 78 .</span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Of all of The Monkees, Nesmith had the most prolific and successful solo career. He pioneered the country-rock music format in the early to mid-1970s, founded the music and video label Pacific Arts, and basically created the concept of MTV. In addition to producing films and music videos, Nesmith also won the very first Grammy Award for Best Home Video for </span><i>Elephant Parts,</i><span> which later led to NBC’s short-lived </span><i>Television Parts.</i><span> Before Nesmith became famous, his mother invented liquid paper and sold it to Gillette for a substantial fortune, which Nesmith inherited.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">For a good overview of Nesmith’s music, I recommend <i>The Older Stuff,</i> <i>The Newer Stuff,</i> <i>Tropical Campfire’s,</i> <i>Live at the Britt Festival, Rays, </i><i>Movies of the Mind, Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs -- The Music, </i>and <i>Live at the Troubadour.</i></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span>More information about Nesmith is available on his Web site at </span></span><a href="http://www.videoranch.com/"><span style="color: #2288bb;"><span>www.videoranch.com</span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span>.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">--Raj Manoharan</span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-79915802522495213312023-02-11T14:56:00.001-08:002023-02-11T15:00:02.178-08:00Fretted and Moaning (Ultimate Edition, 2021), by Andy Summers<p><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you’re an Andy Summers super fan like I’ve been since 1983, then don’t hesitate one moment longer! Be one of the 100 people in the known universe to own a copy of The Ultimate Edition of Andy’s latest tome, <i>Fretted and Moaning,</i> his first collection of short story fiction.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;">The Ultimate Edition is a true collector’s item and a real pleasure to have in your possession. It is packaged in a beautiful blue bespoke box with a foil etching of Andy’s famed Police telecaster on the front. The book is numbered and signed by Andy himself, as is a black-and-white Giclée photographic print taken by Andy of a stagehand holding Andy’s iconic telecaster just before a Police show.</span><br style="background-color: #f1f3f1; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px; line-height: 2.4rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: none;" /><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;">Let me tell you, when I gingerly held the high-quality print in my own hands and beheld it with my own eyes, I was entranced in a hypnotic gaze of surreal subjugation that I could not extricate myself from for quite some time. Certain works of art need to be experienced up close and personal in order to fully appreciate them, and this is absolutely one of them.</span><br style="background-color: #f1f3f1; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px; line-height: 2.4rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: none;" /><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;">The bottom line is, if you haven’t already, get yourself a copy of The Ultimate Edition of <i>Fretted and Moaning</i> by Andy Summers and be one of the lucky 100 to own this rare artifact of beauty.</span><br style="background-color: #f1f3f1; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px; line-height: 2.4rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: none;" /><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And if you do miss out on it, don’t fret and moan. The next time Rocket 88 Books offers a similar Ultimate Edition by or about your favorite artist, whether Andy Summers or anyone else, just get it!</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; color: #191d19; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #191d19;"><span style="background-color: #f1f3f1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-21361204331097823922022-12-30T09:20:00.000-08:002022-12-30T09:20:38.671-08:00Happy Birthday, Andy Summers!<p><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">On New Year's Eve, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Saturday</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">, December 31, 2022</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">, Andy Summers – my favorite guitarist and musician of all time – turns 80</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"> years old.</span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;">I first became acquainted with the music of Summers in 1983 at the age of 10 in a Catholic elementary school classroom when I heard a hypnotic and futuristic-sounding pop/rock song emanating from the radio of Candy, my substitute teacher. When I asked what the song was and who recorded it, I was promptly informed that it was “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police. I was instantly hooked, so much so that that Christmas, my parents got me a vinyl copy of </span><i style="color: #222222;">Synchronicity,</i><span style="color: #222222;"> The Police’s fifth and final studio album and one of the biggest hits of the year. The Police have since remained my favorite rock band of all time.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;">Summers was the guitarist for the mega-popular group, who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reunited for a 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and 2008. Being a good decade older than his bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland, Summers began his professional recording career in the early 1960s, playing for Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (which later became the psychedelic but short-lived Dantalian’s Chariot), Eric Burdon’s New Animals, and Soft Machine. After formally studying guitar at Northridge University in California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Summers returned to England and plied his trade as a session guitarist for Joan Armatrading, Neil Sedaka, Kevin Coyne, and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord before achieving monumental success and international stardom with The Police.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;">After the dissolution of The Police in the early 1980s, Summers scored some Hollywood films <i>(Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Weekend at Bernie’s)</i> and recorded one rock vocal album before establishing himself as an acclaimed and accomplished contemporary instrumental guitarist across a variety of styles, including jazz, fusion, new age, and world music.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;">I was privileged to interview Summers by telephone in Fall 2000 for the January 2001 issue of <i>DirecTV: The Guide.</i> I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Summers posted a notice of the interview in the news section of his Web site. Later, I met Summers in person during his book tour in Fall 2006, just a few months before The Police reunited for a 30th anniversary reunion tour, which I was fortunate to attend twice, first at Giants Stadium in August 2007 and then at PNC Bank Arts Center in August 2008.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span>For a good overview of Summers’ solo work, I highly recommend the following albums: </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mysterious Barricades, A Windham Hill Retrospective, Synaesthesia,</i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span> </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span>and </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The X Tracks.</i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span> </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span>My personal favorite Summers albums are <i>XYZ, </i></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, Charming Snakes, World Gone Strange, Synaesthesia, Earth + Sky, </i></span></span></span><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Fundamental</span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> (with Fernanda Takai), </span></span></span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Circus Hero</span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> (with his rock band Circa Zero), and </span></span></span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Harmonics of the Night.</span></span></em></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #222222;">--Raj Manoharan</span>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-31638755279346950522022-12-30T09:11:00.000-08:002022-12-30T09:11:03.676-08:00Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 - December 10, 2021)<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Friday, December 30, 2022, would have been Michael Nesmith's 80th birthday. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Texas-born Monkees singer and guitarist (the one with the green wool hat) passed away </span>on December 10, 2021,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> in California at the age of 78 .</span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Of all of The Monkees, Nesmith had the most prolific and successful solo career. He pioneered the country-rock music format in the early to mid-1970s, founded the music and video label Pacific Arts, and basically created the concept of MTV. In addition to producing films and music videos, Nesmith also won the very first Grammy Award for Best Home Video for </span><i>Elephant Parts,</i><span> which later led to NBC’s short-lived </span><i>Television Parts.</i><span> Before Nesmith became famous, his mother invented liquid paper and sold it to Gillette for a substantial fortune, which Nesmith inherited.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">For a good overview of Nesmith’s music, I recommend <i>The Older Stuff,</i> <i>The Newer Stuff,</i> <i>Tropical Campfire’s,</i> <i>Live at the Britt Festival, Rays, </i><i>Movies of the Mind, Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs -- The Music, </i>and <i>Live at the Troubadour.</i></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span>More information about Nesmith is available on his Web site at </span></span><a href="http://www.videoranch.com/"><span style="color: #2288bb;"><span>www.videoranch.com</span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span>.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">--Raj Manoharan</span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-39061340946203308532022-09-05T09:13:00.000-07:002022-09-05T09:13:04.406-07:00For the Occasion of TNT's Labor Day Star Wars Marathon<p><a href="https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-236/page/n43/mode/2up/search/236?q=236" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px;">https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-236/page/n43/mode/2up/search/236?q=236</a></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">To all those who labor, in whatever form or context that might be:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">May the Force Be With You!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></p>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-43048956597508282292022-08-16T19:55:00.000-07:002022-08-16T19:55:41.056-07:00Happy Birthday, Eric Johnson!<p><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On Wednesday, August 17, 2022, one of my favorite guitarists, Eric Johnson, will turn 68 years old.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span>I was first introduced to the music of Johnson in 1990 by an employee at a local cable television station I interned at during my senior year of high school. That was the year Johnson, then 35/36 years old, released his breakthrough second album, <i>Ah Via Musicom,</i> which achieved the distinction of having three instrumental songs reach the American Top Ten.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span>Every one of Johnson's albums showcases his incredible electric guitar wizardry and his soft-spoken heartfelt vocals. His latest albums are <i>The Book of Making </i>and <i>Yesterday Meets Today.</i></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span>--Raj Manoharan</span></span></span>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-67090642491076980132022-08-06T20:19:00.001-07:002022-08-06T20:19:09.172-07:00Allan Holdsworth (August 6, 1946 - April 15, 2017)<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Today would have been Allan Holdsworth's 76th</span><span> birthday.</span></span></p><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The late, great guitar master was born on August 6, 1946, in England and passed away at the age of 70 on April 15, 2017, in Southern California, where he had lived for over three decades.</span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I first heard of Holdsworth in the early 1990s when I read some reviews that described the instrumental albums of my favorite musician, Police guitarist Andy Summers, as partly Holdsworthian.</span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I began to read more about the legendary Holdsworth, finally buying my first album of his, <i>Hard Hat Area,</i> upon its release in 1994. I still remember eagerly and excitedly purchasing the CD at a record store in Greenwich Village.</span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I continued to buy Holdsworth's albums throughout the 1990s, culminating with the 2000 release of <i>The Sixteen Men of Tain.</i> Holdsworth put out one more solo album, <i>Flat Tire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie,</i> in 2001, which I never got around to getting back then. After that, Holdsworth went silent, save for the occasional guest appearance on other musicians' albums, as well as live performances and collaborative recordings.</span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I also lost touch with Holdsworth's happenings for nearly two decades, until April 15, 2017, when I read on <i>Yahoo! News</i> to my shock, disbelief, and dismay that Holdsworth had died at 70 years of age. Heartbroken at both his loss and my obliviousness to his life for the previous 16 years, I immediately purchased his 12-CD box set, <i>The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever! The Allan Holdsworth Album Collection</i>, and his 2-CD compilation, <i>Eidolon: The Allan Holdsworth Collection,</i> both released a week prior to his passing, and spent much of the next year immersed in the guitar and synthaxe brilliance of Allan Holdsworth.</span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I highly recommend the following original albums as my top five picks, reviews of which can be found both on this site and on Amazon: <i>Atavachron</i> (1986), <i>With a Heart in My Song</i> (with pianist Gordon Beck, 1988), <i>Hard Hat Area</i> (1994), <i>The Sixteen Men of Tain</i> (2000), and <i>Then!</i> (2003).</span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In addition to his critically acclaimed solo work, which is also sampled on </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The Best of Allan Holdsworth: Against the Clock</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (2005), </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">his unequaled and unparalleled guitar playing is featured on drummer Chad Wackerman’s solo albums </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Forty Reasons</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (1991), </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The View</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (1993), and </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Dreams, Nightmares, and Improvisations</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (2012), which is the last recording of original material by Holdsworth released before his passing.</span></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-441750452689936082022-07-31T22:22:00.000-07:002022-07-31T22:22:15.984-07:00Nichelle Nichols (1932-2022)<p> <span style="font-family: inherit;">A true woman of the future, in more ways than one, both onscreen and off.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">A real icon, inspiration, and role model for women, minorities, and all those who dared to dream.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">May her legacy live long and prosper, to the final frontier and beyond.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></p>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-80885735072988723822022-04-10T21:28:00.002-07:002022-04-10T21:31:20.424-07:00Allan Holdsworth (August 6, 1946 - April 15, 2017)<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Friday, April 15, 2022, marks five years since the world lost the pioneering jazz/rock fusion guitar legend, Allan Holdsworth. He was 70 years old.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In addition to his critically acclaimed solo discography, which is available on </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The Best of Allan Holdsworth: Against the Clock</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (2005), </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Eidolon: The Allan Holdsworth Collection</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (2017), and </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever! The Allan Holdsworth Album Collection</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (2017), his unequaled and unparalleled guitar playing is featured on his frequent drummer Chad Wackerman’s solo albums </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Forty Reasons</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (1991), </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The View</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (1993), and </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Dreams, Nightmares, and Improvisations</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (2012), which is the last recording of original material by Holdsworth released before his passing.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">--Raj Manoharan</span></p>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-58730021451145685372022-04-03T23:32:00.003-07:002022-04-07T18:42:40.536-07:00Divine Tides (2021), by Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej, Wins 2022 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Congratulations to Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej, whose 2021 collaboration, <i>Divine Tides,</i> won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is my review of the record from July 25, 2021:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;">Police drummer and soundtrack composer Stewart Copeland broke major musical ground several decades earlier when he blended his patented percussion and other instrumentation with the tribal and ethnic sounds of the African continent on his 1985 album, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;">The Rhythmatist.</i></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: inherit;">Now Copeland’s at it again, this time in collaboration with Indian composer, keyboardist, and multi-instrumentalist Ricky Kej. Together, the international duo has cooked up a delicious and tasty smorgasbord of world music delights, with the sounds of South Asia at its base.</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; font-family: inherit; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"> </span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; font-family: inherit; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Kej brings to the table his lifelong love of and deep-seated passion for Indian music, along with a stellar line-up of accomplished and renowned Indian, African, and international musicians and vocalists. Copeland brings his unique sense of time and rhythm to the proceedings, as well as his kinetic compositional contributions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; font-family: inherit; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"> </span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; font-family: inherit; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">The result is an eclectic musical mix of East and West that is an essential must-have for fans of Kej and Copeland – especially those looking for a perfect companion piece to <i>The Rhythmatist.</i> This is extraordinary music with epic global sweep.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #201f1e; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">--Raj Manoharan</span></p>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-56927785389879930212021-12-27T15:37:00.001-08:002021-12-27T15:44:58.446-08:00Happy Birthday, Andy Summers!<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">On New Year's Eve, </span><span style="color: black;">Friday</span><span style="color: black;">, December 31, 2021</span><span style="color: black;">, Andy Summers – my favorite guitarist and musician of all time – turns 7</span><span style="color: black;">9</span><span style="color: black;"> years old.</span></span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;">I first became acquainted with the music of Summers in 1983 at the age of 10 in a Catholic elementary school classroom when I heard a hypnotic and futuristic-sounding pop/rock song emanating from the radio of Candy, my substitute teacher. When I asked what the song was and who recorded it, I was promptly informed that it was “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police. I was instantly hooked, so much so that that Christmas, my parents got me a vinyl copy of </span><i style="color: #222222;">Synchronicity,</i><span style="color: #222222;"> The Police’s fifth and final studio album and one of the biggest hits of the year. The Police have since remained my favorite rock band of all time.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Summers was the guitarist for the mega-popular group, who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reunited for a 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and 2008. Being a good decade older than his bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland, Summers began his professional recording career in the early 1960s, playing for Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (which later became the psychedelic but short-lived Dantalian’s Chariot), Eric Burdon’s New Animals, and Soft Machine. After formally studying guitar at Northridge University in California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Summers returned to England and plied his trade as a session guitarist for Joan Armatrading, Neil Sedaka, Kevin Coyne, and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord before achieving monumental success and international stardom with The Police.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After the dissolution of The Police in the early 1980s, Summers scored some Hollywood films <i>(Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Weekend at Bernie’s)</i> and recorded one rock vocal album before establishing himself as an acclaimed and accomplished contemporary instrumental guitarist across a variety of styles, including jazz, fusion, new age, and world music.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was privileged to interview Summers by telephone in Fall 2000 for the January 2001 issue of <i>DirecTV: The Guide.</i> I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Summers posted a notice of the interview in the news section of his Web site. Later, I met Summers in person during his book tour in Fall 2006, just a few months before The Police reunited for a 30th anniversary reunion tour, which I was fortunate to attend twice in August of 2007 and 2008.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span>For a good overview of Summers’ solo work, I highly recommend the following albums: </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mysterious Barricades, A Windham Hill Retrospective, Synaesthesia,</i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span> </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span>and </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The X Tracks.</i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span> </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span>My personal favorite Summers albums are <i>XYZ, </i></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, Charming Snakes, World Gone Strange, Synaesthesia, Earth + Sky, </i></span></span></span><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Fundamental</span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> (with Fernanda Takai), </span></span></span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Circus Hero</span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> (with his rock band Circa Zero), and </span></span></span></span></em><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span>Harmonics of the Night.</span></span></em></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-34465136686283324462021-12-27T15:17:00.003-08:002021-12-27T15:37:48.377-08:00Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 - December 10, 2021)<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thursday, December 30, 2021, would have been Michael Nesmith's 79th birthday. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Texas-born Monkees singer and guitarist (the one with the green wool hat) passed away </span>on December 10, 2021,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> in California at the age of 78 .</span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Of all of The Monkees, Nesmith had the most prolific and successful solo career. He pioneered the country-rock music format in the early to mid-1970s, founded the music and video label Pacific Arts, and basically created the concept of MTV. In addition to producing films and music videos, Nesmith also won the very first Grammy Award for Best Home Video for </span><i>Elephant Parts,</i><span> which later led to NBC’s short-lived </span><i>Television Parts.</i><span> In an interesting side note, Nesmith’s mother invented liquid paper and sold it to Gillette for a substantial fortune, which Nesmith inherited.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">For a good overview of Nesmith’s music, I recommend <i>The Older Stuff,</i> <i>The Newer Stuff,</i> <i>Tropical Campfire’s,</i> <i>Live at the Britt Festival, Rays, </i><i>Movies of the Mind, Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs -- The Music, </i>and <i>Live at the Troubadour.</i></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span>More information about Nesmith is available on his Web site at </span></span><a href="http://www.videoranch.com/"><span style="color: #2288bb;"><span>www.videoranch.com</span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span>.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">--Raj Manoharan</span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-87122782603318485932021-12-10T15:32:00.004-08:002021-12-10T15:41:16.320-08:00Michael Nesmith (1942-2021)<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is with great sadness, but also, as <a href="http://www.videoranch.com">www.videoranch.com</a> says, "With Infinite Love," that I have to report that <span>The Monkees' Michael Nesmith (the one with the green wool hat) has passed away at the age of 78. Nesmith would have turned 79 years old on December 30, 2021.</span></span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Of all of The Monkees, Nesmith had the most prolific and successful solo career. He pioneered the country-rock music format in the early to mid-1970s, founded the music and video label Pacific Arts, and basically created the concept of MTV. In addition to producing films and music videos, Nesmith also won the very first Grammy Award for Best Home Video for </span><i>Elephant Parts,</i><span> which later led to NBC’s short-lived </span><i>Television Parts.</i><span> In an interesting side note, Nesmith’s mother invented liquid paper and sold it to Gillette for a substantial fortune, which Nesmith inherited.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">For a good overview of Nesmith’s music, I recommend <i>The Older Stuff,</i> <i>The Newer Stuff,</i> <i>Tropical Campfire’s,</i> <i>Live at the Britt Festival, Rays, </i><i>Movies of the Mind, Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs -- The Music, </i>and <i>Live at the Troubadour.</i></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span>More information about Nesmith is available on his Web site at </span></span><a href="http://www.videoranch.com/"><span style="color: #2288bb;"><span>www.videoranch.com</span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span>.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">P.S.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Below are excerpts of my review of Nesmith's concert performance at bergenPAC in Englewood, New Jersey, on November 12, 2013:</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">Pop culture icon Michael Nesmith delivered an amazing, energetic performance at bergenPAC in Englewood, New Jersey, on Tuesday night, November 12, 2013, midway through his Movies of the Mind tour.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">Like most people, I became familiar with Nesmith through The Monkees, a made-for-TV rock group that epitomized bubblegum pop music in the 1960s and gave The Beatles and The Rolling Stones a run for their money in terms of record sales. A nostalgic resurgence of Monkeemania in the 1980s led to reruns – which enabled me to get hip to The Monkees as a child – as well as a new album and tour, although without Nesmith, who was busy doing his own thing. When I heard Nesmith sing “What Am I Doing Hangin' Round?” in one episode, I was immediately hooked by his country-style Texan vocals and sought out his solo endeavors.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">After the Monkees TV show ended, Nesmith – whose mother invented correction fluid – pioneered a fusion of country, folk, pop, and rock music. He also furthered the development of music video, inspired the creation of MTV, and won the first Grammy Award for a home video release for his 1982 musical variety program <i>Elephant Parts,</i> which later led to his short-lived summer 1985 NBC series <i>Television Parts.</i></span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">Nesmith also provides the best fan experience out of all of my favorite artists, and not just in terms of live performance. He sells all of his work on his Web site, <span style="color: black;"><span><a href="http://www.videoranch.com">www.videoranch.com</a></span></span><span style="color: black;">.</span> When I bought several CDs to replace my cassette versions, he personally autographed all of them. For a justifiably slightly higher price, you can also order CDs customized for you and/or whomever you wish with tracks and sequencing of your choosing and personally autographed by Nesmith.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">Having been a fan of Nesmith for nearly a quarter of a century now, I never thought I would get the chance to see him perform live, especially given the rarity of his appearances (his last tour was in the early 1990s). That all changed on the night of Tuesday, November 12, 2013, when he stopped by bergenPAC in Englewood, New Jersey, halfway through his Movies of the Mind tour. Fresh off a late 2012 Monkees tour in the wake of band member and British heartthrob Davy Jones's death, as well as brief solo tours in the United Kingdom and America, Nesmith is on a roll.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">I took my folks to the show (Center Orchestra Row N Seats 101-103), and they both enjoyed it immensely. They are both in Nesmith's age range (Nesmith is four months older than my dad). My mom is familiar with The Monkees from way back, having arrived in America the same year the TV show debuted. For some reason, my dad keeps mixing The Monkees up with The Little Rascals, who were not even a musical group. But my dad did watch the Monkees reruns along with the rest of us in the 1980s, so at least he's heard of The Monkees.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">Nesmith was in top form and rocked much harder at age 70 (going on 71) than he did at age 49 on his last tour, based on the double CD I have of that tour as well as footage I've seen on the Internet. He played all of the familiar fan favorites, from “Joanne” from the early 1970s to “Rays” from his 2006 album of the same name, in between providing a nice range of country, folk, pop, and rock music. Nesmith played his signature twelve-string acoustic guitar, with long-time band mate Joe Chemay on bass, Boh Cooper on keyboards, and long-time band mate Paul Leim on drums. The band also featured Chris Scruggs, the grandson of bluegrass banjo legend Earl Scruggs, on pedal steel guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, and mandolin. Scruggs was the musical prodigy of the night, sometimes playing two or more instruments in the same song. All the musicians were excellent and did a standout job bringing Nesmith's songs to glorious and exuberant life.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">Nesmith also introduced each song or group of related/similar songs with narratives that set the scene for each musical tale, hence the tour moniker Movies of the Mind. This feature of the performance fostered intimate camaraderie between Nesmith and the audience and made it more of a personal experience, like hearing campfire tales from an old friend.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="font-size: small;">One thing that struck me about Nesmith is how, unlike the rest of The Monkees and other artists of his generation, he looks so little like his former, younger self. My mom said he looks like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In recent years, Davy Jones said he looked like a German banker. At the same time, it is refreshing and comforting that Nesmith has not gone to extra lengths to “preserve” his youth. Instead, he has chosen to age and mature like a fine wine. Every now and then, though, I saw a semblance of the old, young Nesmith surface. But whenever he opened his mouth to speak and sing, he was unmistakably and undeniably Michael Nesmith through and through.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>--Raj Manohar</span><span>an</span></span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-23747868448698896942021-11-19T20:21:00.001-08:002021-11-23T19:36:54.435-08:00The Bridge (2021), by Sting<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #201f1e;">Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner is back in top form with his best
all-around solo album since 1996’s </span><i style="color: #201f1e;">Mercury
Falling. </i><span style="color: #201f1e;">It is also one of his best albums of all time and certainly his
best album of the 21</span><sup style="color: #201f1e;">st</sup><span style="color: #201f1e;"> century so far.</span></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.”</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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).</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sting,
it’s great to have you back!</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span></p>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-23436969670494445592021-11-06T15:13:00.001-07:002021-11-06T15:13:25.846-07:00MIradas (2021), by Jose Luis Serrano Esteban<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-38801516355074925982021-10-15T21:09:00.003-07:002021-10-27T18:55:11.155-07:00Harmonics of the Night (2021), by Andy Summers<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Delayed for nearly two years because of the pandemic, Andy
Summers’ <i>Harmonics of the Night</i>
finally sees the light of day, and it is a welcome musical postcard from the venerable
veteran guitarist, especially in these unusual times.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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 (<i>Metal Dog</i> and <i>Triboluminescence</i>), drums, percussion,
and synthesizers are minimal or nearly nonexistent, allowing Summers to use
mostly his guitars to create quiet serenity out of the shadows.</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>“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 <i>Synaesthesia</i> and “If Anything” from <i>Triboluminescence</i> 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. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;">(A
whole solo album of tracks like “Prairie” and “Aphelion” would be awesome, as
would a whole solo album of tracks like “Inamorata.”)</span></span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This
is the closest any of Summers’ albums have come to resembling the sound and
feel of his 1988 minimalist masterpiece, <i>Mysterious
Barricades.</i> As a result, this is Summers’ most pensive, thoughtful, and
sensitive effort since that stellar recording.</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There
are also sonic elements that recall Summers’ 1980s albums with Robert Fripp – <i>I Advance Masked</i> and <i>Bewitched </i>–<i> </i>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?</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Harmonics of the Night</i> is a cinematic
musical journey well worth taking, courtesy of the always reliable and ever
dependably unpredictable Andy Summers.</span></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #201f1e; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">--Raj Manoharan</span></p>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-31728091106673885742021-10-09T17:00:00.000-07:002021-10-09T17:00:09.568-07:00Triboluminescence (2017), by Andy Summers<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Summers got his groove back.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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, <i>Mysterious Barricades</i> (1988) and <i>The Golden Wire</i> (1989), which feature his compositions and guitar playing at their most transcendental and sublime. <i>Triboluminescence</i> rekindles the spirit of those original records, but on a whole other level, and the result is absolutely delightful.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Expounding upon his explorations of self-sufficient sonic possibilities begun with the 2015 industrial tech whack offering <i>Metal Dog,</i> 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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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 <i>Barricades</i> and <i>Bewitched</i>). (The latter three tracks are digital/vinyl exclusives.)</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Summers described his personal musical direction in the late 1980s and early 1990s as “new fusion.” He calls his unique stylings on <i>Triboluminescence</i> “new exotic.” I myself like to think of it as “new mysterious.”</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Without a doubt, <i>Triboluminescence</i> certainly ranks as one of Andy Summers’ best albums, right up there with his Private Music catalog, as well as <i>Synaesthesia</i> and <i>Earth + Sky.</i> 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.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-23781283677039175252021-10-03T12:38:00.001-07:002021-10-04T18:36:23.698-07:00Metal Dog (2015), by Andy Summers<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At long last, the much-anticipated follow-up to Andy Summers and Robert Fripp's seminal, iconic, progressive experimental albums <i>I Advance Masked</i> and <i>Bewitched</i> is here – except this time, it's all Andy.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">While the 10-track collection definitely has the spirit and elements of the previously mentioned Fripp collaborations, as well as Summers' solo instrumental albums <i>Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire,</i> and <i>Synaesthesia,</i> it is at the same time fresh and original.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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 <i>The Odyssey.</i></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">In its review of Summers' 1995/1996 release <i>Synaesthesia,</i> <i>Entertainment Weekly</i> 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 <i>Metal Dog</i> is certainly no exception.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-8391239099518043972021-09-25T20:44:00.000-07:002021-09-25T20:44:12.986-07:00Earth + Sky (2003), by Andy Summers<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While
the euphoric “Above the World” recalls “Begin the Day” from the 1984 Andy
Summers/Robert Fripp album <i>Bewitched</i> 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.</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This
is one of Summers’ best albums and stands firmly alongside his finest work,
including his Private Music catalog, <i>Synaesthesia,</i>
and <i>Triboluminescence.</i></span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-82500657982500522812021-09-19T20:53:00.002-07:002021-09-25T19:52:04.746-07:00Monk 'n' Mingus (2016), by Andy Summers<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;">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, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;">Green Chimneys: The Music
of Thelonious Monk,</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;"> and six tracks from Summers’ 2000 Charles Mingus
tribute album, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;">Peggy’s Blue Sky</i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e;">l</i><i style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: inherit;">ight.</i></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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 <i>Synaesthesia II,</i> just entirely composed by Monk ‘n’ Mingus. Which
really wouldn’t be surprising at all, since <i>Synaesthesia</i>
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.</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For
optional add-ons, you can include the excellent vocal tracks: “Round Midnight”
featuring Sting <i>(Green Chimneys: The Music
of Thelonious Monk)</i> and the <i>Peggy’s
Blue Skylight</i> songs “Weird Nightmare” (featuring Deborah Harry) and “Goodbye
Pork Pie Hat/Where Can a Man Find Peace?” (featuring Q-Tip).</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So,
without further ado, here are the eleven tracks that make up <i>Monk ‘n’ Mingus:</i></span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From
<i>Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious
Monk:</i></span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1.
Green Chimneys</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2.
Shuffle Boil</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3.
Evidence</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4.
Ugly Beauty</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5.
Think of One</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From
<i>Peggy’s Blue Skylight:</i></span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6.
Boogie Stop Shuffle</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7.
Tonight at Noon</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8.
Reincarnation of a Lovebird</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">9.
Opus Three</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10.
Cumbia Jazz Fusion</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">11.
Remember Rockefeller at Attica</span></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-82884660845282909732021-09-18T19:42:00.000-07:002021-09-18T19:42:58.308-07:00Peggy's Blue Skylight (2000), by Andy Summers<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.”</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">This is another fine showcase for Summers' patented brand of guitar wrangling.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-89903536269557676692021-09-18T19:27:00.000-07:002021-09-18T19:27:21.813-07:00Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious Monk (1999), by Andy Summers<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andy Summers takes on one of his greatest challenges yet – essaying the music of his idol, legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">This album is interesting on so many levels.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.”</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-46400420935538915852021-09-18T18:51:00.000-07:002021-09-18T18:51:37.207-07:00Andy Summers Brings on the "Night" with New Solo Album Due October 15, 2021<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Legendary Police guitarist Andy Summers will be bringing on the "Night" with his latest instrumental solo album, <i>Harmonics of the Night,</i> which is scheduled for release on October 15, 2021.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">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 <i>Metal Dog</i> (2015) and <i>Triboluminescence</i> (2017). Summers is already looking beyond the <i>Night</i> 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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Summers has described <i>Night</i> 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, <i>Mysterious Barricades,</i> or his 1997 jazz guitar trio record, <i>The Last Dance of Mr. X,</i> or perhaps a combination of both.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Harmonics of the Night</i> will follow the August publication of Summers' first short-story collection, <i>Fretted and Moaning.</i></span></p><p><a href="https://digital.abcaudio.com/news/polices-andy-summers-releasing-beautiful-new-instrumental-album-harmonics-night-fall"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://digital.abcaudio.com/news/polices-andy-summers-releasing-beautiful-new-instrumental-album-harmonics-night-fall</span></a></p><p><a href="https://superdeluxeedition.com/interview/andy-summers-on-his-new-book-and-the-police-reissues/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://superdeluxeedition.com/interview/andy-summers-on-his-new-book-and-the-police-reissues/</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></p>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6509273016316732867.post-13032391219535108182021-09-11T18:30:00.000-07:002021-09-11T18:30:38.314-07:00The Last Dance of Mr. X (1997), by Andy Summers<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a scorching remake of the <i>Charming Snakes</i> 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.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">This is a pleasant, laid-back, and mellow detour from Summers' usual dark edginess and is similar in tone to his 1991 release <i>World Gone Strange.</i></span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">--Raj Manoharan</span></span></div>Raj Manoharanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474654874860244236noreply@blogger.com0