Andy Summers and Ben Verdery: ‘First You Build A Cloud’ released August 27 2007
Released August 27 2007 in the UK and Europe on R.A.R. Records (a division of Repertoire Records (UK) Ltd)
The high-profile return of The Police to the world stage in 2007, brings their guitarist Andy Summers and his new album into sharp focus.
Summers’ guitar playing was always at the musical heart of The Police, and when the band split up in the mid 80s, he went off to make music outside of the rock mainstream. This brand new album is further proof of his wide ranging talents.
Recorded in collaboration with Ben Verdery – described as ‘One of the classical guitar world’s most foremost personalities’ by Classical Guitar Magazine, ‘An American original, an American master’ by Guitar Review Magazine, and ‘Iconoclastic’ and ‘Inventive’ by the New York Times – the new album perfectly illustrates both their innovative and eclectic musical careers.
Having shared a stage at the 2002 New York Guitar Festival , the possibility was raised of making a record together. Recalls Andy: “Although our musical disciplines were, at least on the surface, something different – Ben, classical guitar, me, jazz and rock improvisation – we had both played in each other’s main style. This led to an easy exchange, where we were able to create an interesting, hybrid, non-generic style.
Rather than taking the standard route of slowly composing together, we got at it with a shock tactic. In other words, just improvise together – composing in the heat of the moment and trusting the instinct and musicianship built over many years; put another way – blow. This we did. As we moved through takes and ideas of playing together, something crystallised. With Ben playing fantastic arpeggios on various guitars in remote tuning, I found it inspiring to take off over those soundscapes, following Ben’s rhythm and my own ears, as he laid out the harmonies. The result is this album…”