While Andy Summers is best known as the guitarist
of the Police, he has since forged a successful and acclaimed
solo career with new age-influenced contemporary instrumental
music that, like his work with Sting and company, draws on his
love for jazz and his fascination with creating instrumental textures.
Born Andrew James Somers in Poulton-Fylde, Lancashire, England,
on December 31, 1942, the young Somers (who later changed his
surname to the more easily spelled Summers) moved to Bournemouth
as a child and, upon taking up the guitar at 14, immersed himself
in the local jazz scene. By 16, he was playing in local clubs
and coffeehouses, where he was noticed by Zoot Money. Somers was
invited to join Money's Big Roll Band, with whom he appeared on
the live album The All Happening Zoot Money's Big Roll Band at
Klook's Kleek. Money eventually changed the band into a psychedelic
outfit called Dantalian's Chariot, and when that project dissolved
in early 1968, Somers briefly signed on with the Soft Machine
before rejoining Money in a revamped Animals lineup for the LP
Love Is. When that imploded in 1969, Somers studied classical
guitar and composition at UCLA for four years, in the meantime
giving guitar lessons, gigging with a local Latin-rock band, and
acting with various theater troupes. Upon his return to England
in 1973, Summers became something of a journeyman, touring in
the backing bands of Neil Sedaka, Kevin Coyne, Kevin Ayers, and
David Essex.
Summers met Sting and Stewart Copeland in 1977 while playing
with a band called Strontium 90. The two asked Summers to join
their full-time project, the Police; together, the trio gradually
developed a style centered around jazz- and reggae-influenced
pop/rock, and Sting's strong bass lines allowed Summers to supply
subtle sonic textures and colors on his guitar, and to experiment
with various effects. Summers first stepped out on his own in
1982, teaming with King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp on the
jazz- and Eastern-tinged I Advance Masked. It was followed in
1984 with Bewitched, another Summers/Fripp collaboration, around
the same time the Police officially disbanded.
Eager to establish himself in musical realms outside of rock
& roll, Summers did a bit of movie soundtrack work (Down
and Out in Beverly Hills, 2010, etc.) before returning to recording,
this time on his own. His first solo effort, 1987's harmonically
intricate yet pop-oriented XYZ, met with poor critical response.
Its follow-up, 1988's Mysterious Barricades, was more successful,
emphasizing Summers' textural sensibilities on its jazzy, new
age-influenced compositions. A string of albums in this style
followed through the '90s, notably The Golden Wire (1989), Charming
Snakes (1991), World Gone Strange (1991), Invisible Thread (1993),
and The Last Dance of Mr. X (1997). For 1998's Strings of Desire,
he teamed with South American guitar virtuoso Victor Biglione;
1999's Green Chimneys: Music of Thelonious Monk found Summers
working with a larger ensemble than usual for him, as well as
his first collaboration with Sting since the Police (on a version
of "'Round Midnight"). Following the success of his
Monk-themed album, the guitarist put together an album of interpretations
of compositions by Charles Mingus called Peggy's Blue Skylight,
released in late 2000. Earth + Sky appeared four years later.
Summers continued to record thereafter, releasing First You
Build a Cloud in 2007. He also participated in the Police reunion
tour that same year.
