Steve Wyzard THE WORD IS BIG

If I had to recommend just one Andy Summers solo album as his most representative, I would unquestionably pick 1990's Charming Snakes. It's just one of those albums where everything clicks: songs/performances/production/ special guests are all at the highest level. Naturally, without any vocals, it wasn't a best-seller and passed straight into obscurity shortly after its release. Still, Charming Snakes deserves to be heard by anyone who has ever been captivated by Summers's peerless guitar playing and the extraordinary tones/textures seemingly only he can elicit.

At the time this album was dropped onto an unsuspecting public, record companies were heavily investing in "shredding" guitar virtuosi like Eric Johnson and Steve Vai. Recorded over 2 weeks in February 1990, I can't help but wonder if that environment influenced this album's production as there is very little of the haunted atmospherics that Summers is known for. While certainly NOT an exercise in heavy metal excesses, Charming Snakes is bold, brash, and "in your face". Summers contributes jagged guitar lines to "Mexico 1920", multi-guitar layers to "Rainmaker", slide guitar, banjo, and a weird solo to "Mickey Goes to Africa", and where-did-that-come-from guitar patterns to "Monk Gets Ripped" and "The Strong and the Beautiful". His amazing riffs are doubled with soprano saxophonist Bill Evans on "Innocence Falls Prey", and with trumpeter Mark Isham on "Easy on the Ice". (Don't you love these song titles?)

So you want special guests? If anyone comes close to stealing Summers's thunder, it's powerhouse drummer Chad Wackerman, whose busy fills and big sounds are everywhere. The previously mentioned Evans appears on 8 of the 11 tracks, while Isham is on 4 of the 11. Old frenemy Sting plays a funky bassline on the title track. The one and only Herbie Hancock plays on 4 of the 11 tracks, including a solo piano intro to "Big Thing". Co-producer David Hentschel adds a powerful organ to "Mickey Goes to Africa".

"Big Thing" deserves special mention as the album's stand-out track. For those who think Summers is all about pedalboard effects, you really need to hear his big riff and big solo on this epic (7:07) showpiece. On the quieter side, "Charis" offers a brief respite with a guitar/soprano sax duet. Another highlight is the gloomy and brooding "Passion of the Shadow", which has a deceptively simple 6-note line that you will never forget.

Firing on all cylinders, these frantic performances sound as if they were recorded last week. If you've ever had any interest in Andy Summers's post-pop sound world, Charming Snakes is an absolute must-listen, must-have, must-own. There were some live shows after this album's release, and it would have been fascinating to hear how some of these songs would have translated to the concert stage. While most of what the prolific Summers has recorded is worth hearing, this unforgettable album is unequivocally his most powerful compositional statement. Track down a copy and turn up the volume, preferably on a BIG sound system.

Steve Wyzard 21ST CENTURY SUMMERS

After recording two tribute albums to Monk and Mingus, guitarist Andy Summers returns to his own compositions on 2003's Earth + Sky. By this time in his career, Summers had long since eschewed the pop/commercial sounds that had made him world famous. With a long string of mostly instrumental albums behind him, Summers no longer even had a record label to release his work in the USA (I had to import my copy from Germany).

For all the comparisons Summers receives with guitarists like Robert Fripp and David Torn (both of whom he has recorded with), on Earth + Sky his sound palette is much closer to someone like Kevin Eubanks than ever before. Listen to tracks such as the light and airy "Now I'm Free" or "Return" and you will hear this album leans more toward the jazz end of the spectrum. Then there's his trademark boundary-pushing on the title track (a multi-layered guitar extravaganza), "Circus" (where his bluesy lines are doubled with a saxophone), and "Red Stiletto" with its brash chords that lead to a funky jam. When you hear the opening drum flourish on "Above the World", you can be forgiven for thinking it's Stewart Copeland sitting in. Actually it's Vinnie Colaiuta, who at various times all but steals the aural spotlight away from the other players. Summers is also backed by longtime session bassist Abraham Laboriel and two keyboardists who effectively capture the "Fender Rhodes through a Leslie cabinet" tones that add a touch of fusion timelessness.

Acoustic guitar textures are heard on "Parallels" and "Roseville", and the album closes with the ambient blues of "I Choose You". At 51:08, this album doesn't overstay its welcome, although some listeners might have wanted more of the guitar-synth weirdness found on albums such as 1990's Charming Snakes (which receives my vote as his solo masterpiece). Earth + Sky effortlessly brings Summers into the 21st Century, and his compositions and guitar tones are more relevant than ever. If you are a long-time Summers listener, there is much to enjoy here, and this album is highly recommended.

Steve Wyzard STRANGE INDEED!

It is an absolute crying shame that Andy Summers's late 1980s-early 1990s albums on the Private Music label are almost forgotten today. All four, though very different from each other, are exquisitely crafted and have stood the test of time very well. 1991's World Gone Strange, the last of the four, attracted some attention due to its special guests (Tony Levin, bass, Chad Wackerman, drums, Eliane Elias, piano/vocals, Mike Mainieri, marimba/producer), but was his last solo project until 1995's Synaesthesia.

For those who enjoyed the envelope-pushing sounds and atmospheres he added to the pop group that made him world-famous, you'll find plenty of that here. Summers has never been known as a "lead guitarist" per se, but World Gone Strange, more than any of his other work, features extensive amounts of his lucid, fluid soloing. A tangible blues influence makes itself known throughout, above and beyond "The Blues Prior to Richard". This is not just aimless studio noodling: the compositions and arrangements are rock solid, with the title track and "Oudu Kanjaira", with its distinct "eastern" feel, remaining in your head long after the album is over. Three percussionists add extra texture, and wordless vocals appear on a few tracks without becoming a major distraction.

"A little too erratic" and "Too jazz for rock, too rock for jazz" were undoubtably the general reactions to World Gone Strange at the time of release. If you are familiar with Summers's matchless style, there's nothing here that can't be easily assimilated and "figured out". This is not an inaccessible avant-garde work, just a headache for marketers who couldn't deal with a true artist who continued to grow, expand, and progress with each album he released. Highly recommended, even in the 21st century!

js If you enjoy that style of interlocking guitar melodies that Robert Fripp pioneered in the early 80s, then you will probably want to get this album. I actually think this album is probably one of his most successful efforts in this area. The difference with this album is the abscence of a rock beat on almost all of the songs, this really allows the guitars to stand out on their own without a loud beat to battle with. Fripp and Summers are heavily influenced by traditional music from around the world on this outing. Most people recognize the influence of Indonesian gamelan on Fripp's music during this period, but there is also a strong African influence as well. Mbira or thumb piano music from Rhodesia seems to be a strong factor in songs like "Painting" and "Dance". Also, the interlocking guitar style of 80s pop bands from what was then known as Zaire seem to be an influence as well. Traditional music from China and Japan are also an influence on this almost classical sounding album.

Although busy guitar work dominates most of the songs on this album, there are some exceptions. "Under Bridges of Silence" is a sombre ambient soundscape and "Girl on a Swing" is a peaceful Asian influenced melody. "In the Cloud Forest" features Fripp playing a free-ranging solo with his classic Frippertronics guitar sound, something I wouldn't expect on an 80s record. Another interesting song is the title track which is one of the few songs with a pronounced drum beat. It sounds like the perfect blend of 80s Crimson and the Police only without the vocals. There are other songs that are in styles that are hard to describe other than that they sound like styles unique to Summers and Fripp.

Another interesting aspect of this album is the way in which it seems to predict the arrival of Math Rock, and to a lesser extent Nu Jazz and Post Rock, years before any of those genres had a name. I think this album is closer to what is called Math Rock today than Fripp's work in the early 80s version of King Crimson.

This is a great album that sounds better everytime I hear it. Summers and Fripp pull influence from clasical music from around the world and ends up with a glimpse of the future.

Sean Trane While The Police was a band that rode the Punk bandwagon (Outlandos D'Amour remains one of my Punk reference in the matter), this trio was anything but a punk band that was made of untalented kids trying to have their quarter hour of glory, but not learning the trades of musicianship. Nope, these guys were highly talented with Sting being a jazz bassist in Newcastle circles, while Stewart Copeland had drummed with Curved Air for time But clearly, the better musician was Andy Summers, roughly ten years older than the other two and spending his time since the middle 60's looking for a break. For quite a while his destiny coincided with George Bruno (AKA Zoot Money) with whom he started in the British RnB scene, before forming their psychedelic group Dantalion's Chariot, without much success past their first hit-single. When that ended, Summers joined Soft Machine replacing Daevid Allen, where he apparently connected well with Ratledge and Wyatt, but not at all with Kevin Ayers who didn't like Andy's jazz penchants. He ended up being sacked by Wyatt (Ayers didn't have the balls to do it himself) after an American tour, two weeks before anothertour, this time supporting The Jimi Hendrix Experience. It turns out that Ayers would quit Soft Machine a few months later for his own solo career. So Summers phoned Zoot in LA and was taken immediately into Eric Burdon's New Animals (where Zoot was holding the keys) and Andy spent almost two years in that job, until the group's break up and Burdon joining forces with WAR. Summers then went to Uni and studied music. He resurfaced in England in late 74, and ironically was fairly quickly taken in Kevin Ayers'backing band (probably some guilt involved, here)?. But Andy couldn't find a permanent job either. He ended up helping out a punk band Strontium 90 (helped out by Gong's bassist Mike Howlett), where the French guitarist Henri Padovani was a bit too shallow in the musical department. His arrival helped that group's transformation into The Police? the rest is history?. But when Sting was taking the major songwriting workload, letting only remnants to Summers, Andy started to look elsewhere for his musical satisfactions and working with Robert Fripp was definitely one of his long time wish, that came to fruition in the early 80's. Note that these albums were fairly low-key projects since both had major acts going, Fripp having revived King Crimson at the start of the decade. Sooooo what to say of this album? It doesn't sound like either Crimson or Police, but lots of parts are reminiscent of Fripp's austere Crafty League Of Gentleman/Guitarists (or sumthin' similar to that), but that's not to say that Summers let Fripp steal the spotlight. In terms of instrumentation, both are apparently toying with all instruments, including synths, bass and (African) percussions.

Sonically this album is somewhere between the ambient Fripp (No Pussyfooting and the Frppertronics thing) and the Crafty League Of Guitarists, the result sounding like a typical ECM jazz /new agey album of the 80's. Much of the guitar works come from (or will be used) from CLoG, using those Indonesian scales (some more Far-Eastern influences pervade through as well), and the music never goes really dissonant. While a pleasant and unobtrusive listen, this album will not have you riveted to your seat, but it is also gentle music enough not to irate women, and can even be used as cuddling music with the more open-minded ones, despite a certain austerity.

Not exactly my type of album, but Fripp fans should appreciate, because if the album's role distribution seems very egalitarian (the production being handled by both guitarists), in terms of influence, this is definitely more Frippan than Summersian realm. The better of the two albums they made together, even if the second side of Bewitched is somewhat stronger than I Advance Masked.