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Sting set to release new recording ''If On A Winter's Night''...

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:00:01 -0400

To be released October 26, 2009 on Deutsche Grammophon - (Germany: 23 October, USA: 27 October, UK: 2 November)

This fall, Sting will release a new album dedicated to his favorite season - Winter - a season which has inspired countless songwriters over the centuries and produced a wealth of music exploring all of its many guises. If On a Winter's Night... presents an arc of songs that conjures the season of spirits, resulting in a haunting, spiritual and reflective musical journey.

"The theme of winter is rich in inspiration and material," comments Sting; "by filtering all of these disparate styles into one album I hope we have created something refreshing and new." He continues, "Our ancestors celebrated the paradox of light at the heart of the darkness, and the consequent miracle of rebirth and the regeneration of the seasons."

In collaboration with esteemed producer and arranger, Robert Sadin, "If On a Winter's Night..." features traditional music of the British Isles as its starting point. Sting and guest musicians interpret a stirring collection of songs, carols, and lullabies including The Snow it Melts the Soonest (traditional Newcastle ballad), A Soalin' (traditional English "begging" song) Gabriel's Message (14th century carol), Balulalow (lullaby by Peter Warlock) and Now Winter Comes Slowly (Henry Purcell).

Two of Sting's own compositions are also featured on the album, Lullaby for an Anxious Child and The Hounds of Winter, which originally appeared on his previous release Mercury Falling, alongside Hurdy Gurdy Man, - a musical reworking and English translation (by Sting) of Der Leiermann from Schubert's classic winter song-cycle Winterreise.

For this exploration of the themes and emotions of Winter, Sting is joined by friend and long time colleague, guitarist Dominic Miller. Additional guests include an ensemble of three remarkable musicians from Northern England and Scotland: Kathryn Tickell (fiddle and Northumbrian pipes) Julian Sutton (melodeon) and Mary MacMaster (metal string Scottish harp), along with Daniel Hope (violin), Vincent Ségal (cello), Chris Botti and Ibrahim Maalouf, (trumpet), Cyro Baptista and Bijan Chemirani (percussion), the Webb Sisters (vocals) and Stile Antico (vocal ensemble).

The Sage Gateshead is Five! - Kathryn Tickell and Sting to help celebrate the Sage's Fifth Birthday...

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:38:14 -0400

The Sage Gateshead celebrates its Fifth Birthday this year and joining the party are Spiritualized, Northern Sinfonia, Kathryn Tickell with very special guest Sting, Evelyn Glennie and many more... Including YOU!

It's hard to believe with the hundreds of thousands of music making sessions that have taken place both in The Sage Gateshead and around the Northeast, and with almost 2,000 performances to date, that this internationally renowned home for music and musical discovery is only 5 years old!

To celebrate, The Sage Gateshead is holding a weekend of music from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th December.

The programme - as planned to date - includes:

Kathryn Tickell: Northumbrian piper and winner of the Queen's Medal for Music, Kathryn Tickell, is joined by friends including international recording artist Sting who, as a solo musician and member of 'The Police', has sold over 100 million records and received sixteen Grammy Awards and an Oscar nomination for his work.

Dame Evelyn Glennie plays with Northern Sinfonia, orchestra of The Sage Gateshead, in a concert featuring James Macmillan's 'Veni Veni Emanuel', John Taverner's 'The Lamb' and Britten's 'St Nicholas' featuring The Sage Gateshead's vocal regional youth ensemble, Quay Voices - on sale NOW!

classic indie-rock band Spiritualized, with orchestra, chorus and special guests, perform their award winning album 'Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space', which received massive critical acclaim winning NME's album of the year in 1997 (beating Radiohead's OK Computer), and reaching No.4 in the charts - on sale NOW!

Thomas Zehetmair, Music Director of Northern Sinfonia, brings his Zehetmair Quartet performing one of the best loved of Beethoven's quartets seminal British jazz saxophonist Andy Sheppard responds to the Fifth Birthday by creating an event inspired by the number five; a handpicked quintet perform a five-set concert, capitalising on the flexibility of the pentagonal Hall Two - on sale NOW! workshops and many more opportunities for people to make music themselves.

Further details, including on sale dates for the above events, to be announced in the media or visit www.thesagegateshead.org.

Sting comments: "I'm delighted that the region where I grew up is now home to such a successful and vibrant music centre. The wonderful surroundings of The Sage Gateshead provide an opportunity for musicians and music lovers alike to experience and participate in live music and music making. I look forward to finally performing there later this year."

Kathryn Tickell (who will be storming ahead in her new role as Artistic Director of Folkworks in December) comments; "I'm delighted to be able to celebrate the success of The Sage Gateshead's first 5 years with a special Birthday concert and can't wait to welcome Sting onto stage to perform at The Sage Gateshead for the first time."

Anthony Sargent, General Director, The Sage Gateshead comments; "Above all the awards and international recognition The Sage Gateshead has won in these first five teeming years, more rewarding still is the way it has so quickly been taken to the heart of our local community. It was our local community who unforgettably opened The Sage Gateshead that frosty December night in 2004, and we've designed this celebratory weekend, with its wonderful line-up of exceptional musicians, particularly with our local communities, audiences and learners in mind. The Sage Gateshead is their centre, and this is their 5th birthday party just as much as it marks the coming of age of Britain's most exciting new music centre."

Cllr Mick Henry, Leader of Gateshead Council said; "In just five years, The Sage Gateshead has become part of the physical and cultural landscape of Gateshead Quayside and indeed of the whole North East region. I think the real proof of this success is that it's now impossible to think of the Gateshead skyline without this fabulous building. There's a fantastic programme of events planned to celebrate this important anniversary which will excite the residents of Gateshead and the many visitors from outside the area."

Mark Robinson, Executive Director, Arts Council England, North East said; "The Arts Council England, North East is delighted with the ongoing success of The Sage Gateshead. We are proud of our investment in this world-class music venue which has pioneered innovative approaches to learning and participation as well as providing a fitting home for orchestra of The Sage Gateshead, Northern Sinfonia, and bringing internationally renowned musicians to the region. The range of facilities available at The Sage Gateshead gives thousands of opportunities for participation in music to all manner of people from across and outside of the region."

History:

The Sage Gateshead opened at 5pm on Friday 17th December 2004 to crowds of Northeast people waiting to catch a glimpse inside the stunning Norman Foster building and experience this much talked about inclusive musical party; 15,000 people in total over a weekend full of live performance and participatory events were able to say that they were part of the opening of The Sage Gateshead.

Sting's Cherrytree Records session...

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:36:10 -0400

Sting recently recorded several songs at the Cherrytree House for Cherrytree Records. You can check out a performance of 'Fragile' and a background video of Sting's visit to the Cherrytree House now at www.cherrytreerecords.com/ with a third video of 'Message In A Bottle' to come on Monday, June 8.

Remember that you can check out Cherrytree Radio's awesome brand of eclectic tunes at www.cherrytreerecords.com/radio/ (or simply click on the link on Sting's home page so that you can listen whilst browsing the web!)

Andy Summers photo exhibitions in Sydney and Los Angeles...

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:34:12 -0400

Andy has two further photography exhibitions of his 'Desirer Walks The Streets' work coming up in Los Angeles and Sydney. Details as follows:

Australia Exhibition of Photography

Desirer Walks the Streets
Photography Exhibition
June 4-30, 2009

Blender Gallery
16 Elizabeth Street
Paddington, Sydney, NSW
+61 2 9380 7080

and

Los Angeles Exhibition of Photography

Desirer Walks the Streets
Photography Exhibition
June 13-September 3, 2009

Sarah Lee Gallery
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave. #T1
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-829-4938

Sting to perform at Québec City Summer Festival, July 18...

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:06:57 -0400

Sting will be performing at the Québec City Summer Festival in Canada on Saturday, July 18.

Now in its 42nd year, the Québec City Summer Festival continues to turn heads, bring the crowds to their feet, and attract music lovers from far and wide. The party will kick off and wrap up en français with two of Québec's hottest acts, The Lost Fingers and Pierre Lapointe. In the days between, four international sensations -- NTM, Kiss, Plácido Domingo, and Sting -- will bring their talent and energy to the Plains of Abraham!

At other venues around the city, Jeff Beck, Beirut, Sergent Garcia, and Girl Talk are sure to wow audiences with their musical prowess.

"With such a prestigious lineup, the Québec City Summer Festival has staked its claim as the greatest outdoor music event in Canada," noted executive director Daniel Gélinas. "Every year, we pull out all the stops to attract national and international music stars and offer original, exclusive, and one-of-a-kind programming that, from one edition to the next, has helped make Québec City a prime summer destination, and this festival, a unique urban event."

"Thanks to government support, especially from new contributor Industry Canada, we are able to ratchet up the quality even more. We have also received considerable financial assistance from Desjardins to present the five headline Desjardins acts," added Marie-France Poulin, chair of the Québec City Summer Festival Board of Directors.

STING, Saturday, July 18
Bell Stage on the Plains of Abraham

Composer, singer, actor, activist - Sting has won universal acclaim in all these roles, but defies easy labeling. He first rose to fame as the lead singer and bassist for the rock group The Police, then went on to establish an incredibly successful solo career. Sting has evolved into one of the world's most distinctive and highly respected performers, collecting 16 Grammy awards and selling over 100 million albums worldwide.

A show given only in Quebec, from Ontario to the Maritime provinces.

On sale and ticket information will be posted shortly.

Sting to perform at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods CT, July 19. Tickets go on sale to Sting.com Legacy members on April 22, at noon ET...

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:13:48 -0400

Sting will be performing a one-off concert at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Ledyard CT on July 19th, and we are holding a Sting.com members-only presale. Tickets go on sale to Sting.com Legacy members on April 22, at noon ET. The Legacy window will run from noon-3pm ET and at 3pm will open up until 5pm on April 23 for all other members.

Please visit the Sting.com tickets page at that time to participate in this fan club sale. Tickets go on public sale via www.mgmatfoxwoods.com on April 24 at 8am ET.

The band line-up for the performance is Sting, Dominic Miller, David Sancious and Josh Freese.

New to presales? Please take a moment to read through the presale FAQ.

Andy Summers will be in a panel discussion of photography with Ralph Gibson and Danny Clinch in Toronto, June 6...

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:21:39 -0400

Andy Summers will be in a panel discussion of photography with Ralph Gibson and Danny Clinch moderated by Robert Enright on Saturday June 6, at 10.30am in Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West Toronto.

Andy's new book 'Desirer Walks the Streets' will be available at Jackman Hall and Pages bookstore.

The exhibition of photography will take place in Yonge - Dundas square June 5th - 14th.

Andy Summers booksigning, Nunnington Hall, 29 April...

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:01:00 -0400

Andy Summers will be holding a booksigning on April 29 at Nunnington Hall in North Yorkshire where he will be signing copies of his new book 'Desirer Walks The Streets'.

Access to the signing between 3-4pm is available upon purchase of the book.

Nunnington Hall will be hosting a photography exhibition of Andy's work from 'Desirer Walks The Streets' between April 30 and June 7.

More information on the history and location of Nunnington Hall can be found at www.nationaltrust.org.uk.

Sting and Trudie to appear at Hay Festival, May 31...

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:09:48 -0400

On 31 May 2009 following a preview screening of Twin Spirits there will be a special discussion with Sting and Trudie Styler culminating with a Q&A open to attendees.

Twin Spirits is a subtle and moving stage piece which tells the story of the passionate romance and subsequent marriage between composer Robert Schumann and piano protégé Clara Wieck. Sting and Trudie Styler read from the letters between Robert and Clara while their story is narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi, interwoven with music performed by a cast of international singers and musicians.

"This love story - the relationship and the tragedy - provides a great introduction for people who don't normally listen to classical music. Hearing the Schumanns' music at the same time as telling their story is a very intimate, engaging and emotional experience." Sting

"When we started on this adventure with Twin Spirits, I was profoundly moved by the richness and power of the narrative. The passion of Robert and Clara's love transcends the ages. It is a wonderful and moving story which I believe remains fascinating and relevant to today's world." Trudie Styler

5.30pm, SONY Screen, £3 The Royal Opera House and Opus Arte present Twin Spirits. A preview screening of John Caird's film which tells, in words and music, the story of love and tragedy in the lives of Robert and Clara Schumann, read by Sting and Trudie Styler.

[356] 7pm, Barclays Wealth Pavilion, £10 Trudie Styler & Sting talk to James Jolly 'Twin Spirits' The actress and the musician discuss the story of Robert and Clara Schumann, and their own collaboration in the Royal Opera House project. Sponsored by Castle House Hotel.

For more information on booking etc, please visit http://www.hayfestival.com/.

'Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... The Police' premieres in Canada on April 10...

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:55:29 -0400

CTV will premiere 'Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... The Police' in Canada on April 10 at 10pm local.

Confirmed guests of 'Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...' episodes to tape in September at Harlem's world famous Apollo Theater in New York City are: iconic American singer-songwriter James Taylor; jazz legend and winner of this year's Grammy Award for Album of the Year Herbie Hancock; one of the most acclaimed new artists of the past decade, Rufus Wainwright; the brilliant singer-songwriter Roseanne Cash; actor/singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson; international jazz sensation Diana Krall; recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Mellencamp; singer-songwriter Jakob Dylan; the indie duo She & Him (formed by actress Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward); international sensation Norah Jones; singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis; and from the world of opera, the great American soprano Renée Fleming.

As previously announced, the Canada/United Kingdom co-production will also feature The Police, President Bill Clinton, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed, Smokey Robinson, and Sir Elton John, who is also one of the program's Executive Producers.

The series of 13 one-hour episodes features everything from intimate one-on-one interviews with legendary performers and notable newcomers to unprecedented, once-in-a-lifetime musical performances and collaborations.

Consistent with Sir Elton John's long-standing commitment to philanthropy and music, the series producers have struck an exciting association with the (Product) RED (www.joinred.com) campaign created to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund (www.theglobalfund.org) to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa. Select program excerpts and performances will be distributed in a variety of new media and conventional platforms, with a portion of the profits directed to the Global Fund.

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... is produced by Rocket Pictures, SpyBox Pictures, Prospero Pictures and reinvention entertainment, in association with Sundance Channel, CTV, Channel 4 and FremantleMedia Enterprises. Executive Producers are Sir Elton John, Elvis Costello, David Furnish, Steve Hamilton-Shaw, Jordan Jacobs, Martin Katz and Stephen Warden. Co-Executive Producer is Alex Coletti.

Narada Michael Walden Foundation Presents Let the Sunshine In Concert...

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:00:00 -0400

Benefiting Christopher Rodriguez and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Sting, Bob Weir, Narada Michael Walden, Maestro Michael Morgan, The Supremes' Mary Wilson, The Fifth Dimension's Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., David Grisman, Earl Klugh and others will perform at Davies Symphony Hall in support of the 11-year-old Oakland boy.

What: Music industry extraordinaire and Marin County resident Narada Michael Walden has rallied his colleagues and friends, including Sting, Bob Weir, Maestro Michael Morgan of the Oakland East Bay Symphony, The Supremes' Mary Wilson, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. of The Fifth Dimension, Earl Klugh and David Grisman to perform at the Narada Michael Walden Foundation's Let the Sunshine In concert, benefiting Oakland's Christopher (Chris) Rodriguez, an 11-year-old innocent victim of gun violence.

The concert will also support the scholarship fund of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and benefit the work of the Narada Michael Walden Foundation.

When: Mon., May 25, 7 p.m. (Memorial Day)

Where: Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave (at the corner of Grove Street), San Francisco

Ticket Purchase: Online at www.cityboxoffice.com or by calling 415-392-4400. Tickets go on sale Mon., March 30, noon.

Sponsor Packages available: Call George Jackson of the Narada Michael Walden Foundation at 415-812-4300.

Highlight Details: www.naradamichaelwaldenfoundation.com

Details: On Mon., May 25 (Memorial Day), award-winning and platinum-selling music producer, musician and songwriter Narada Michael Walden will present Let the Sunshine In, a concert featuring Sting, Bob Weir, The Supremes' Mary Wilson, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. of The Fifth Dimension, Earl Klugh, David Grisman, Shanice Wilson, Tevin Campbell, Lisa Fisher, Jeanie Tracy, Ralphe Armstrong, Dale "Satchmo" Powers, the Narada Michael Walden Band and other musicians, who will perform in tribute to Christopher (Chris) Rodriguez, an 11-year-old Oakland youth. In 2008, Christopher was hit by a stray bullet while at a piano lesson. He is now paralyzed from the waist down.

Some of the artists will be accompanied by an orchestra of students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The orchestra will be conducted by Maestro Michael Morgan, music director of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and faculty member at the Conservatory. The concert will support the scholarship fund of the Conservatory.

The Let the Sunshine In concert will also benefit the work of the Narada Michael Walden Foundation, which aims to serve, inspire, educate and provide financial support to children, adults, musicians and worthy organizations through the vehicle of music, music production, music management, concerts and donations.

About Narada Michael Walden
(www.naradamichaelwalden.com)

Marin County-based Narada Michael Walden, drummer (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Weather Report), songwriter, producer, performer, three-time Grammy award winner, and Emmy winner has produced countless number-one hits with legendary artists such as Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston. He is credited with launching the careers of Houston and Mariah Carey, and the list of his collaborators reads like a Who's Who of popular music - Sting, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Ray Charles, Al Jareau, Diana Ross, Steve Winwood, Clarence Clemons, Gladys Knight and Barbara Streisand. He also produced soundtracks for popular films including: The Bodyguard, James Bond: License to Kill, and 9½ Weeks.

About the Narada Michael Walden Foundation
(www.naradamichaelwaldenfoundation.com)

The Narada Michael Walden Foundation (NMWF) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit created by Grammy award winning producer, drummer, performer and hit songwriter Narada Michael Walden. The foundation's focus is to serve, inspire, educate and provide financial support to children, adults, musicians and worthy organizations through the vehicle of music, music production, music management, concerts and donations.

The NMWF will provide instruments, education, management, production, concerts, creative services, recording, recording facilities and money primarily but not exclusively to Bay Area children, music programs, musicians and worthy causes throughout the world. The NMWF respects the "light" in every person. Music is our vehicle for allowing individuals and charitable organizations to experience their creativity, love and delight. Performing Stars of Marin, a non-profit that works with the youth of Marin City, Calif., to help them have opportunities in the arts, has long been one of the beneficiaries of the Narada Michael Walden Foundation.

About The San Francisco Conservatory of Music
(www.sfcm.edu/)

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music is one of the world's most distinguished schools of Western musical culture and has earned an international reputation for producing musicians of the very highest caliber. Its better known graduates include Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Jeffrey Kahane, Aaron Jay Kernis, among others.

The Conservatory offers its nearly 400 collegiate and graduate students fully accredited Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in all areas of study related to the creation and performance of music. Its Preparatory Division provides over 500 younger students the finest pre-collegiate music education available in the United States. The Conservatory's faculty and students give more than 400 public performances each year, most of which are offered free to the public. The Conservatory moved to its new home in San Francisco's Civic Center in 2006. For more information or to view a schedule of concert, please visit www.sfcm.edu.

The future of ThePolice.com...

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:39:48 -0400

We know that many of you have been wondering what will happen to ThePolice.com now that the band has completed their hugely successful reunion tour and once again gone their separate ways. We are pleased to tell you that ThePolice.com will remain online as the band's official free-to-access web presence. We have decided to leave the Community area online and we will be making this whole area free for anyone who wishes to join and post including the virtual ticket material. There will be no further membership charges to access the site and no termination date imposed to existing memberships. In addition, for the next three months we'll pick three new members who have subscribed in the previous month at random and each will win a copy of the Police.com fan club DVD.

Andy Summers - Tokyo and UK Photo Exhibitions...

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:46:24 -0400

Desirer Walks the Streets - Tokyo Photography Exhibition

April 1 - April 20, 2009
BLD Gallery

2-4-9-8f Ginza , Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Telephone: 03-5524-3903
Email

SPECIAL EVENTS WITH ANDY

Saturday April 4, 2009
3:00pm Talk by Andy Summers at BLD Gallery
Application by telephone: 03-5524-3903
4:30pm Book signing at the gallery with Andy

Sunday April 5, 2009
1:00pm Book signing at Aoyama Book Centre Main store
Cosmos Aoyama Garden floor 2bf, 5-53-67
Jingumae, Shibuya-ku Tokyo150-0001
Telephone: 03-5485-5511

Desirer Walks the Streets - UK Photography Exhibition

April 30 - June 7, 2009

Nunnington Hall
NR Helmsley

Nunnington, nr York, North Yorkshire, England YO62 5UY
Telephone: 01439 748283
March 12, 2009

Sting, Sheryl Crow and The Canadian Tenors to perform at Sunnybrook's One Night Live™, May 21...

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:00:32 -0400

Chris Noth hosts concert benefiting the Women & Babies Program.

Sunnybrook Foundation today announced that international recording artists Sting, Sheryl Crow and The Canadian Tenors will perform at One Night Live™, presented by Sun Life Financial, on Thursday, May 21. Now in its second year, the concert will be held at the Air Canada Centre, and hosted by Sex and the City's "Mr. Big", Chris Noth.

"We are thrilled that such mega star talent have thrown their support behind Sunnybrook's Women & Babies Program," said Kevin Goldthorp, Chief Executive Officer of Sunnybrook Foundation. "All of the proceeds raised by the concert will assist in building a new state-of-the-art home for our Women & Babies Program and help Sunnybrook continue to provide the very best care for our smallest patients and their mothers, when it matters most."

Tickets for One Night Live™ go on sale Saturday, February 14 at 10 a.m. Ticket prices start at $99 and can be purchased online at www.onenightlive.ca or through Ticketmaster. The money raised will support the construction of the province's most advanced facility for births and high-risk pregnancies. The critical care unit for premature babies, which cares for more of Ontario's most vulnerable babies than any other hospital, will be five times larger than the current facility.

About Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is inventing the future of health care for the one million patients the hospital cares for each year through the dedication of its more than 10,000 staff and volunteers. Internationally recognized leadership in research and education and a full affiliation with the University of Toronto distinguish Sunnybrook as one of Canada's premier academic health sciences centres. Sunnybrook specializes in caring for Canada's war veterans, high-risk pregnancies, critically-ill newborns, adults and the elderly, and treating and preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, orthopaedic and arthritic conditions and traumatic injuries.

Andy Summers' book of photography, ''Desirer Walks the Streets'' published by Nazraeli Press is now available.

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:18:28 -0400

"Desirer Walks the Streets" presents a dark stream of black and white photographs that are culled from Andy Summers's life as a traveling musician. From a working life that outwardly would appear to be extroverted and chaotic, Summers has created a set of quietly compelling images that contradict the obvious. Made between 1983 and 2008, with a preference for the night shot, and covering a wide geographical graph from the Alto Plano of Bolivia to the alleys of the Golden Gai in Tokyo, the photographs convey a sense of intimacy, surrealism and situations that may be described as 'in media res.'

Summers states that his photography may indeed be influenced by his absorption with music and that in a sense the photography he creates is a visual counterpart to the music that never leaves his head. Thus in Summers' musical predilections - that may be termed as a taste for the melancholic, the convulsive melodic line, the dark chord with a few stray notes added - we find the brooding minor key photography he is attracted to. He adds that music and photography are kindred spirits in that they are nonverbal arts, but handily, may have interchangeable terms. He describes his own act of photography as tearing pages from a book and then reshuffling the results into a new visual syntax. "Desirer Walks the Streets" is the third monograph by Andy Summers and his first for Nazraeli Press. Andy Summers has been active as photographer since 1979 with numerous exhibitions, magazine essays, publications, and recently, keynote presentations of his photography. The recipient of a large number of music awards he is also a Doctor of the Arts and a Chevalier des Artes et Lettres.

ISBN: 978-1-59005-256-3 / Hardcover, 9 x 14, 128 pages, 84 duotone plates / $65

Andy has also confirmed two exhibitions in Japan and the UK - visit www.andysummers.com/ for further information.

Historic Police reunion concert airs on Great Performances from tonight...

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:00:01 -0500

'Roxanne', 'Message in a Bottle', Plus Many Other Hits Rock Buenos Aires Stadium.

Starting on February 28 in certain cities, and playing throughout March, check your local listings for broadcast times and dates for 'The Police Certifiable'.

The hits just keep coming in 'The Police: Certifiable', the heavy-rocking concert film of The Police's historic reunion tour stop in Buenos Aires, premiering this March on THIRTEEN's Great Performances (check local listings). Presented in 5.1 digital surround sound on PBS HD, the special captures Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland and Sting - better known as The Police - performing to the record crowd that packed River Plate Stadium to hear such band favorites as 'Roxanne', 'Message in a Bottle' and 'Every Breath You Take'.

"We never sat down and formally discussed, 'Okay, we're breaking up'," says Andy Summers at the top of the telecast. Yet, despite the band's rocketing to stardom in the early 1980s with five smash albums and five Grammy Awards, that's exactly what happened. They parted ways in 1984, with front-man Sting embarking on a hugely successful solo career. "I thought we were taking a one-year sabbatical, but it stretched out a bit longer than I imagined... twenty three years," laughed Copeland.

Happily for the band's fans, however, they rejoined in 2007 for one last time for the now-classic reunion tour which culminated at Madison Square Garden last August. Their massive catalog of hits - including 'Walking on the Moon', 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' and 'King of Pain' - sound as fresh as ever.

A production of Graying & Balding, Inc., 'The Police: Certifiable' is directed and produced by Jim Gable and Ann Kim, with Kathryn Schenker, Martin Kierszenbaum and The Police as executive producers. It was recorded live in performance at River Plate Stadium, December 1 and 2, 2007. David Rudd is director of photography.

The program marks Sting's most recent appearance on Great Performances. In 2007, he brought his lute to the series for 'Sting: Songs From the Labyrinth' and performed (sans lute) in 2006's 'A Tribute to James Taylor'.

An expanded version of 'The Police: Certifiable' (two DVDs, two CDs) is available through Best Buy.

Great Performances is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public television viewers, and PBS.

Visit Great Performances Online at pbs.org/gperf for additional information. Bill O'Donnell is Series Producer for Great Performances. David Horn is Executive Producer.

About WNET.ORG
New York public media company WNET.ORG is a pioneering provider of television and web content. The parent of THIRTEEN, WLIW21 and Creative News Group, WNET.ORG brings such acclaimed broadcast series and websites as Great Performances, Worldfocus, Nature, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Wide Angle, Secrets of the Dead, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, Visions, Consuelo Mack WealthTrack,Wild Chronicles, Miffy and Friends, and Cyberchase to national and international audiences. Through its wide range of channels and platforms, WNET.ORG serves the entire New York City metro area with unique local productions, broadcasts and innovative educational and cultural projects. In all that it does, WNET.ORG pursues a single, overarching goal - to create media experiences of lasting significance for New York, America and the world. For more information, visit www.wnet.org.

The Sunday Times declare 'Message in a Bottle' the song of 1979...

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 05:05:05 -0500

Song of the Year, 1979: The Police - Message in a Bottle

Sting is reportedly worth £200m. If you accept that his fortune was built primarily on the writing of 10 key hit singles of roughly four minutes each in length, that works out, on an admittedly crude measure, at £5m per minute of music. That's luck, some say. Well, yes, undoubtedly. But it is also about skill: in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sting possessed an uncanny knack for coming up with songs that resonated both with mainstream radio and with rock audiences: by the time the Police went their separate ways in 1984, they were the biggest band in the world.

'Roxanne' was the song that brought them to the attention of American record-buyers. In their home country, the track that gave them their first No 1, and put them on course for global domination, was 'Message in a Bottle'. With a background in jazz and prog rock, peroxided hair (dyed for a chewing-gum commercial), songs that welded punk onto a diluted form of reggae and an age range of between 27 and 36 when 'Message' hit the top, the Police were seen by some as old farts trying to board the new-wave bandwagon, and raised as many hackles as they did roars of approval.

What shut the detractors up (or, rather, drowned them out) was Sting's artfully artless song, with its rock-driven verse, propulsive bridge and wide-open chorus, and the final refrain of "Sending out an SOS" (memorably sung back at him by the crowd at Live Aid in 1985). Teenagers latched on to the track and fancied the band.

Older musos appreciated Andy Summers's fiendishly fiddly guitar part and Stewart Copeland's bracingly unpredictable drumming. Radio rotated it. And Sting, wearing - as if already relishing the experience of goading his critics - a bow-tie in the video, preened. Plenty of people wanted to hate the single as much as they did the band; Sting's skill was to write songs that seduced £200m worth of them into surrender.

© The Sunday Times by Dan Cairns

The Police Reunion: Tour Chronicles Book

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:14 -0500

Fan club members who renewed for a second year will recall that as part of their subscription package they were due to receive a DVD and a commemorative PDF tour book.

The DVD's were despatched last autumn, and the 88 page tour book crammed with reviews, comments,interviews and photos is now available to download from www.thepolice.com/members/policetourbook. Just log in, follow the link and save or print the the file.

We'd like to thank everyone that contributed to this book with reviews and photographs and hope that you find it a happy reminder of a great tour from a great band!

Message in a box set - Stewart Copeland talks reunions, DVD documentaries and getting old to Rhythm magazine...

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:00:30 -0500

For years, a reunion of The Police seemed unimaginable but, as Stewart Copeland reveals to Rhythm, it wasn't as if he'd lost touch with Sting and Andy Summers. "We always got along really well socially, just as long as the P-word didn't come up," says Copeland. "'How are the kids doing? How's the new record? How's your new house?' Anything and everything until somebody else at the table says, 'So, guys, are you going to get together and make a record again?' There goes the atmosphere!"

The impulse for the subsequent massive reunion tour came from Sting. "He woke up one morning and said, 'Hey, I want to do a tour,' and he called Andy and me," says Copeland. The new box set, 'Certifiable', captures the band live in Buenos Aires. "The main event is the documentary, rather than the concert in my view," says Copeland. "The fact that it was shot by my son Jordan has nothing to do with my high opinion of it. This opinion is shared by others, including Andy and Sting.

"He established a relationship and rapport with everybody - he was able to get interviews with Andy and Sting that nobody else could get because they've known him all his life and he's a very clever lad. Sting is particularly difficult and Jordan got material from him that nobody else ever has."

The fact that the documentary, 'Better Than Therapy', came to fruition at all was a surprise to Copeland, who describes Sting as being "allergic to film, particularly film of himself". An unexpected side effect has been that the drummer is now similarly afflicted. "I'm now a little bit allergic to seeing myself on the screen," explains Copeland. "I never thought that would happen. You have your inner vision of how groovy you look and then you see film of yourself. That's not what I thought I look like. It was devastating - I still think I'm 25. I look at the film and I see this old bastard. 'Who's that?'"

© Rhythm magazine (Feb 2009)

Click here to read some reviews of CERTIFIABLE.

''It could have been a schmaltzy love fest or nerdishly technical. It wasn't. It had lightness to it, as well as a sense of occasion...'' The Times reviews 'Spectacle'...

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 03:24:45 -0500

A year at Hogwarts wouldn't be enough time to explain to me the black art of television scheduling. For instance: on Remembrance Sunday some genius at the BBC decided to broadcast its Vera Brittain documentary a few hours early, meaning millions of viewers missed it. A more historical grudge - I nurse it to keep it warm, like Mrs Tam O'Shanter's wrath - dates from the Nineties when the BBC scheduled the decade's best two American sitcoms, Seinfeld and The Larry Sanders Show, so as to ensure the nation was asleep when they went out and years of future sales of box sets.

And now there is Spectacle, an event more than a programme that would have graced Christmas night on Channel 4, a treat to compare with the Parkinson that reunited the Goons. In this show, half Inside the Actors Studio, half an MTV Unplugged, Elvis Costello interviewed, and played with, all three members of the Police. My pleasure in this hour-long encounter perhaps locates my youth in the late Seventies more surely than carbon dating, but it would have been shared by millions had only they known it was on.

It opened with Costello singing, and beautifully, 'Every Breath You Take', a Police number, of course. Then the Policemen came on one by one, each representing a facet of the band's warring personality. Andy Summers was quiet and learned, no trouble at all. Stewart Copeland, the barmy American drummer, loudly claimed the band for himself. But the ownership dispute was quelled by the arrival of Sting, exuding authority, charisma and, less expectedly, humour.

Costello worried away at the fake reggaeness of their hit 'Roxanne'. Sting replied that his Geordie accent just sounded Jamaican. The real story was how the song had come to be at all. At the time, he said, all was punk and songs needed titles such as I am Going to Kill You, You Bitch. Costello's 'Alison' had given him confidence to sing a song with "a soppy girl's name". They sang 'Alison' together and I could have sworn Sting teared up, although he had an alternative explanation for his rheum. "When Elvis expresses himself vocally there is a lot of moisture around. Sharing a microphone with him can be challenging and when he says his aim is true - he is right." All four musicians ended by singing 'Watching the Detectives'.

It could have been a schmaltzy love fest or nerdishly technical. It wasn't. It had lightness to it, as well as a sense of occasion. Costello, his face framed by a fedora and sideburns, proved an able interviewer, his skills honed from standing in for David Letterman. And yet this gem of programme was thrown away at 12.05 this morning. Even more extraordinary is that it is part of a series recently made for the American Sundance Channel and acquired by Channel 4. Other editions feature Lou Reed, Smokey Robinson, Herbie Hancock, Tony Bennett and Bill Clinton. The next Spectacle is on tomorrow, even later, at 12.25. It features Elton John.

© The Times by Andrew Billen