Though perhaps best (or at least better) known for his work with the Police, guitarist Andy Summers seems to be doing rather well for himself. He may not be filling arenas and attracting screaming teenage girls, but their mothers can scream pretty loud as well, and as it is to them that Summers now appears to be playing, his maturity and ability to look forward work in his favor. Backed by bassist Tony Levin and drummer Gregg Bissonette (except on "Big Thing," which features the touring band of Jerry Watts on basses and Bernie Dresel on cymbal-laden drum set). Summers works well as a frontman. In fact, the lack of single-named eco-conscious smoothies and relatives of famous composers allows Summers to spread out and explore his music. Summers puts his "Soul-O" amp to good use in the original tracks "Big Thing," "Strange Earth," "Mr. X," "Rumplestiltskin," and "The Somnambulist." However, through the predominance of covers of tunes such as Horace Silver's cleanly swaying "Lonely Woman," the sprightly swing of Thelonious Monk's "We See," the samba tinge of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints," and an easy-going take on Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,"Mr. X demonstrates a solid grasp not only of jazz (albeit 'smooth jazz"), but also of a number of other streams as well. This is especially evident on the title track, which repeatedly rolls in like an ambient Latin tide, then flashes sharply and smoothly to such diverse styles as polka and surf (Mr. X must be quite a dancer indeed!), in addition to a sampling of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love." Whether Summers was underappreciated in the '80s remains to be seen, but his solo work definitely deserves attention. ~ Matthew Robinson, All Music Guide.
Tracks
01. Big Thing
02. The Three Marias
03. Strange Earth
04. Afro Blue
05. The Last Dance Of Mr. X
06. Lonely Woman
07. We See
08. Rumplestiltskin
09. The Somnambulist
10. Footprints
11. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Featuring
Andy Summers: Guitar
Tony Levin: Bass
Gregg Bissonette: Drums
Jerry Watts: Bass (1)
Bernie Dresel: Drums (1)
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"Skeleton", meanwhile, is actually an instrumental concept album complete with a mini-novel from Tommy in the booklet which is a rather ambitious approach on a project with no vocals. It's quite different from "Less is More" and is much more full tilt and technical. Tommy really lets go with some outrageous licks on some of the tracks, overall its like a wild fusion of Saga (around their "Head and Tales" period) and Steve Morse, with an outstanding, killer guitar sound the majority of European guitarist can only dream about.
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