Sting is the rarest of artists. In 1978 – the year he first visited New York, “Roxanne” established him as one of the great voices in music and a formidable songwriter who would go on to pen the most played song on the radio ever. (Which one is revealed in the video) While his commercial success is unsurpassed, his artistic integrity is unquestioned. He plays a mean bass too!

The Police were the most popular band in the world when he walked away from them in the mid 80s. He started his solo career with two albums that immediately established an identity for him apart from his ex-trio: The Dream of the Blue Turtles in 1985 and Nothing Like the Sun in 1987. On both he was backed by the likes of Branford Marsalis and Kenny Kirkland who had built their reputations in the world of jazz. In the decades that followed, he’s explored myriad aspects of that identity as he’s collaborated with the Algerian Raï singer Cheb Mami, the Bosnian lutenist Edin Karamazov, the Jamaican-American reggae singer Shaggy, and The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra among many others.

In this chat, Sting offers insights into the themes explored on his album The Bridge that comes out this Friday. He reveals details of the recording process and uses a fishing metaphor for the creative process. He also expresses his love for his adopted home of New York and explains how he ended up in the TV show Only Murders In The Building. Plus he names his favorite three Police songs as well as his favorite three songs recorded as a solo artist.

This Zoom chat video has been enhanced with fun facts for your amusement. Special thanks to WFUV’s student Sports Manager Alexander Wolz who skillfully edited the video.

Everybody had a hard year, Everybody had a good time
Everybody had a wet dream, Everybody saw the sunshine
Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah, oh yeah – I’ve Got A Feeling by The Beatles from Let It Be

Yes, 2017 was a hard year but we the time to moan and groan is past and the time to buy some timeless, life-affirming music for you or a loved one has come.  This year marked the 50th anniversary of the granddaddy of them all (No, not the Rose Ball) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and you’e got your pick of a half dozen Pepper packages: single and double CDs, a deluxe box of four CDs and two DVDs (containing videos and 5.1 surround mixes of the original album), as well as a double LP that, like the other expanded editions, includes a handful of the album’s songs in embryo and in various stages of development.  All editions feature a stereo remix by Giles Martin (who is the son of George Martin who  died last year at 90) and Abbey Road audio engineer Sam Okell. 

That Ringo flashback was from when I spoke to him last summer.

It is a golden era for vinyl mavens. We now have the opportunity to acquire the entire George Harrison catalog on wax in one package.  Another guy, named Gordon Sumner, also started a solo career after the biggest band in world broke up.   Sting’s complete solo discography has been lovingly re-mastered on180 gram vinyl with original artwork at, where else, Abbey Road.    All albums by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were also made available this year in The Complete Studio Albums Volume 1 covering 1976-1991 and Volume 2 covering 1994-2014.  The Chuck Berry super deluxe Great 28 box is also a tasty treat as it restores the definitive Berry anthology to two LPs along with three other albums of delights including a hot live set from ’63 with Motown’s Funk Brothers backing him up.  

Dynamite live material from The Replacements and Bob Dylan was also unleashed in 2017.  Tapes of The Mats ‘86 Hoboken show has been kicking around for years but that hardly diminishes the excitement of the official release of For Sale.  The performance was captured about 

I spoke to Tommy in January when a new Bash & Pop album came out.

Zimmy was prolific, even by his standards, from 1979 to 1981 as his conversion to Christianity re-lit his songwriting fuse.  As with past eras, Volume 13 of The Bootleg Series presents enough material to satisfy completists while cherry-picking the inevitable treasures found among the live tracks and outtakes from his studio albums of the time: Slow Train Coming, Saved, and Shot of Love.  The packaging is gorgeous and the book of photographs, Pressing On, included in the 9 disc deluxe set is especially lovely.  All of those participating in putting together this and all the volumes of The Bootleg Series deserve praise.  However, I’d like to single out co-producer Steve Berkowitz and co-mixer/masterer Steve Addabbo – both of whom I had a chance to speak with regarding their work with Jeff Buckley last year.

Ho Ho Ho!  Have a fab holiday season and here’s to an excellent 2018 –

Bunny Wailer at BB Kings 5-1-16, Pearl Jam 5-2-16

I was almost resigned to missing the most important living reggae artist coming to NYC for the first time in a decade because I was holding Pearl Jam tickets. However, after being reminded by my pal Dr. Dub (yes, I do know a dude named Dr. Dub who I owe for turning me on to scads of amazing Jamaican music) how feeble it would be to miss the show, I managed to swap the PJ paper to Monday. This was a double horseshoe move as it not only connected me with the realest of the real reggae music but it meant I would see Sting as well as half of Cheap Trick guest on stage with Vedder and pals in an equally epic MSG show.

The interview was arranged last minute and I never thought I’d speak to Wailer, who turned 69 years old last month, but I got a tap on the shoulder shortly before his set ended and I was whisked backstage and then down the hallway for a quick powwow. The conversation yielded an account of his conversion, if you like, to Rastafarianism. The show, that the video gives a taste of, was nothing less than glorious with a dream setlist and tremendous energy coming off the stage and bouncing back off the crowd. Mayor Bill de Blasio was in the house too and burned a fatty (just kidding I have no idea of the circumstances of their meeting) with Wailer prior to showtime.

The same power ping-ponging between performers and audience was palpable the following night at Madison Square Garden. Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron kept upping the ante as they blazed through a set that was heavy on their older material. This is a rare tour in that the fellas don’t have a new record – 2013’s Lightning Bolt being the most recent – and PJ opted to delight the graybeards like myself in the house with the tossing off of tracks like Garden and Porch from Ten. Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick, who were recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, turned up at one point as if from the 70s and demolished a version of Surrender. I was lucky enough to see Cheap Trick, by the way, at Melrose Ballroom on April 10th in Long Island City as they were filmed for an episode of the concert series Front and Center and it was also, naturally, killer.

Finally, it climaxed with Sting joining for a tough Driven To Tears. Vedder set it up by doing a rap about feeling overwhelmed by media messages (including a few indirect but obvious swipes at Donald Trump) before saying there is no better song about that than this one…

Note: Wailer reportedly was unable to perform last night and was hospitalized. Good energy towards Bunny…

Sting Symphonicities At Carnegie Hall

Longtime New York resident Sting is no stranger to the “hallowed sacred venue” (his words) that is Carnegie Hall.   However the former Police frontman‘s performance last week marked a first in that it was the first time he had headlined there by himself as opposed to leading star-studded line-ups in fund-raisers for his rainforest fund.  This show was a benefit as well with the recipient being Carnegie Hall’s own music education programs that offer resources to players running the gamut from beginners to advanced.

Five years ago, Sting recorded Symphonicities with the Royal Philharmonic at Abbey Road Studios.  He revived the concept for this show along with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.  The local ensemble, which plays regularly at Carnegie Hall as well as The Morgan and The Brooklyn Museum, was led by conductor Rob Mathes who did an outstanding job arranging the material.

Sting featured a crowd-pleasing setlist that included 4 Police songs: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, King Of Pain, Roxanne, & Message In A Bottle – the last of which he played solo on acoustic to close the show.  He also included the Frank Sinatra song In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning with Chris Botti accompanying on trumpet.  The two friends, who toured together for two years supporting Brand New Day, also performed that tune in a celebration of Frank Sinatra earlier this month.  You can see a bit of their duet together among other highlights as I was fortunate enough to be at that event as well.  The tuneful trumpeter Chris Botti by the way is at The Blue Note through January 10th 2016.

The event raised over 2 million dollars!

NY Philharmonic Frank Sinatra Tribute

Stars ranging from Christina Aguilera (the Princess of Pop) to Bernadette Peters interpreted songs made famous by a man born in Hoboken, New Jersey almost 100 years ago to the day.  Sinatra: Voice For A Century was a night long on talent at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center on Thursday, December 3rd, 2015.  Seth MacFarlane hosted the event and he displayed his trademark humor while concisely telling Sinatra’s life story.  MacFarlane is an excellent narrator as a gig hosting the Oscars would suggest so solid ground there.  However as a fan of MacFarlane’s work on Family Guy and American Dad as well as Ted, I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear the voice of Brian the Dog (among so many others) sing.

My fears were misplaced as MacFarlane is an outstanding vocalist and clearly a devotee of Mr. Sinatra.  His new album No One Ever Tells You, to say nothing of its cover, are proof of that.  The night was a triumph for him as well as for choreographer Joshua Bergasse, conductor Alan Gilbert, and co-directors Lonnie Price and Matt Cowart.  The show was well paced and dancing complemented the music without competing with it.  Sting and Chris Botti teaming up was a highlight of the evening.  They have excellent chemistry as they’ve performed together at Chris Botti’s residencies at The Blue Note.   My regrets on not getting contributors such as Fantasia or the Broadway talent like Sutton Foster, Kyle Dean Massey, and Billy Porter into the video.  You’ll enjoy their talents along with the rest if you tune in to the PBS TV-13 in New York telecast next Friday December the 18th.  Otherwise check your local (PBS) listing as they say… This is not to be confused with another nifty Sinatra tribute that was on TV this past Sunday night.

Aerosmith front-man Steven Tyler and Foreigner’s Lou Gramm lead charge of stars at festive event…