Andy Summers & Victor Biglione - Strings of Desire

Andy Summers & Victor Biglione - Strings of Desire

Strings of Desire is a collaborative venture between two giutar virtuosos.There is no additional insrumentation other than the musicians themselves playing acoustically.This CD cites jazz,pop and MPB in the liner notes and is packed full of great tunes,10 in all,9 covers kicking off with "frevo", continuing with Jobims "Stoneflower" but including "Night in Tunisia" and a refreshing rendition of the ever popular standard "My Favourite Things" with one original composition by Andy Summers "Samba for Counting the Days". If you havn`t got it ,get it, because anyone who loves music might hear "Strings of Desire" as a valuable addition to their collection.

Frevo *# (Egberto Gismonti)
Stone flower*# (A.C. Jobim)
In your own sweet way#* (Dave Brubeck)
Um abraço no Bonfa (Joao Gilberto)
Night in Tunisia#*(Dizzy Gillespie)
1+2 Blues*# (Larry Coryell)
Django#* (John Lewis)
Stolen moments*# (Oliver Nelson)
My favourite things*# (Richard Rodgers)
Samba for counting the days*# (Andy Summers)

Andy Summers - Earth + Sky

TrackList:
01 Above the World Summers 5:21
02 Now I'm Free Summers 5:26
03 The Diva Station Summers 5:44
04 Return Summers 4:30
05 Earth & Sky Summers 5:36
06 Parallels Summers 4:53
07 Circus Summers 5:44
08 Roseville Summers 4:59
09 Red Stiletto Summers 4:18
10 I Choose You Summers 4:31

Robert Fripp and Andy Summers - (1984) Bewitched

Bewitched is the second and final collaboration between Fripp and Summers, and finds the duo branching out into other styles not covered on their first outing. Their first record, I Advanced Masked, consisted of a lot of short unaccompanied guitar instrumentals that were heavily influenced by classical and folk music from Asia and Africa. The overall tone of that album was very somber and austere. Bewitched, on the other hand, features a full backing band on many of the cuts, and is often more light-hearted than Masked.

Side one of Bewitched opens with Parade, which is an upbeat Police influenced 80’s techno instrumental that would have been a great opening theme for an 80’s sports show. This is followed by What Kind of Man Reads Playboy, an overly long disco beat driven instrumental that features many pointless and silly solos and goes on for what seems like forever. Side one closes with Begin the Day, which sounds like a world beat cross between Santana and The Police and features great solos from both guitarists. This song is one of the better highlights on this otherwise inconsistent album.

Side two opens with Train. This is an excellent futuristic techno-lounge number that sounds a bit like Eno or Kraftwerk crossed with an early 60s exotic synth record. This is followed by the title track, Bewitched, which is a nice instrumental with a short repeating melody that recalls Eno’s work on Another Green World. The following song Tribe, features classic King Crimson style tense chord progressions and buildups, but sounds more detailed and miniature than a Crimson song because it is played by the two guitarists, instead of a full band. The album closes with four very nice ambient instrumentals, each becoming a little more vague than the one before.

This is not one of Fripp’s best records, but it still has some nice music, especially if you like artists like Bo Hanson, Phil Manzenera or Eno who sometimes create music that is a missing link between instrumental progressive rock and 60s synth-lounge exotica.

Studio Album, released in 1984

Track Listings

1. Parade (3:01)
2. What Kind of Man Reads Playboy (11:12)
3. Begin the Day (3:33)
4. Train (4:33)
5. Bewitched (3:53)
6. Tribe (3:23)
7. Maquillage (2:16)
8. Guide (2:34)
9. Forgotten Steps (3:57)
10. Image and Likeness (1:30)

Total Time: 40:18
Line-up/Musicians

- Robert Fripp & Andy Summers / guitars, Roland guitar synthesizer, Jupiter 6 synthesizer, sequencer, drum machine, percussion, tape loop
- Chris Childs / bass
- Sara Lee / bass
- Paul Beavis / drums
- Chris Winter / saxophone
- Jesse Lota / tablas

Robert Fripp and Andy Summers - (1982) Advance Masked

1 I Advance Masked (5:14)
2 Under Bridges of Silence (1:41)
3 China - Yellow Leader (7:09)
4 In the Cloud Forest (2:30)
5 New Marimba (3:38)
6 Girl on a Swing (2:03)
7 Hardy Country (3:00)
8 Truth of Skies (2:07)
9 Painting and Dance (3:24)
10 Still Point (3:08)
11 Lakeland/Aquarelle (1:43)
12 Seven on Seven (1:38)
13 Stultified (1:26)