Customer Reviews

Synaesthesia

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a very entertaining CD, with a variety of musical styles and innovative song structures. Anyone expecting a nice little package of pop songs is not going to like it and should just move on. Anyone else who would like a dose of intelligent experimentation would do well to listen in. The CD starts with some great raw electric guitar on the opening song "Cubano Rebop" and ends with beautiful Spanish guitar on "I Remember". "Meshes of the Afternoon" reminds me of recent King Crimson while "Umbrellas Over Java" takes one audibly to a distant and mysterious land. The smooth, graceful "Low Flying Doves" drifts along for nearly 6 beautiful minutes until the brash piano chords of "Invisible Cities" wake you up to think "I've not heard a song like that before!" That's what is so nice - the different flavors and textures that Summers creates in the course of one short CD. Only the title song left me wanting, as it seemed a bit long and less interesting than the rest of the CD. But that's the ONLY song I didn't fully enjoy. A refreshing change from the every day, this CD is.

I was first drawn to this album because it was an Andy Summers project but I was not sure what to expect. This album needs 3 or 4 listens to truly appreciate how excellent the playing and compositions are. It is a master piece but as I said may take some getting used to. It will be well worthwhile however to persevere if you are not sure the first time as it gets better and better each listen. With cats like Ginger Baker and Greg Bisonette on drums the quality of musicianship is very high.

It is hard to clasify this album with musical genre, but perhaps jazz fusion would be appropriate. The compositions on this album are diverse and all have something to offer should you be a fan of Andy's music. From "Low Flying Doves" to "I Rememeber", the listener is again reminded of Andy's delicate fretwork and musical prowess.

Iv'e been a fan of Andy Summers for some time now, from the first Police albumn of course. He showed everyone everyone who loves guitar based rock bands, that less is more! He never tried to be the main sound of the band, but, as a 3 piece, played according to that format of guitar, bass and drums. He concentrated on simple, colourful rhythems that utilised some great chords to create a full and balanced sound with Sting on Bass and Stewart Copeland on drums, both brilliant at their instruments to say the least.

His solo albumns as well as collaborations are very interesting and show his versatility with guitar and keyboard sounds.Synaesthesia is my favourite Summers albumn and inspires me to try different approaches to the guitar, as I am a guitar intrumentalist myself.

Andy Summers as Police guitarist is brilliant,as Andy Summers the soloist .... brilliant again.

The mix of tracks on this albumn make it a most enjoyable listen as he mixes a lot of styles and sounds to produce haunting melodies that for any fan of acoustic or electric guitar will appreciate and enjoy.The more you listen to this albumn, the more it wants you to play ... Enjoy!

Tony Ceglinski
Australia

Andy Summers is a genius. From his collaborations with Robert Fripp ("Bewitched" & "I Advance Masked"), his one solo album for MCA ("XYZ"), his releases for Private Music (Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, Charming Snakes, World Gone Strange), his duet albums with John Etheridge (Invisible Threads) and Victor Biglione (Strings of Desire), as well as his albums for RCA (The Last Dance of Mr. X, Green Chimneys and Peggy's Blue Skylight) he has continued to outdo himself and provide solid musicianship, talent, and an amazing range of sounds and styles. This album "Synaesthesia" is a rarity. It was released in 1995 on a German label CMP Records. Andy teams up once again however, with David Hentschel who produced Barricades, Golden Wire and Charming Snakes, and it's good to have this musician and producer together again. Andy does not revert to Ambient music this time out with David, but stays in his jazz mode. There are 9 cuts, all of which are stellar. His musicianship is very sharp. Some of the production is not as 'knife-edge' as earlier Hentschel work, but is recorded and mixed well. Stand out cuts are Cubano Rebop, Umbrellas Over Java, Low Flying Doves and I remember. All in all, a good album, and a worthy addition to your Andy Summers discography. I would like to hear Andy team up with David again & explore more ambient directions again - at least for an album or two. But on Synaesthesia - Andy is still at the top of his game.

Times Square Records presents "SYNAESTHESIA" - featuring Andy Summers giving his all on versatility with composing thrown in --- Andy Summers (born Andrew James Somers 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist and composer best known for his work in The Police --- Summers' primary guitars are the Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster when playing rock, and Gibson electric guitars when playing jazz fusion and jazz --- His playing has been influenced by years of jazz and classical music studies, as well as his work in new age, rock, and other musical genres --- He was born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England.

Although Andy Summers had been essentially self-taught when he began his professional musical career, he studied classical guitar at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) for four years until 1973 --- Summers continues to make heavy use of the ES-335 which is especially suited to jazz music --- He has also used archtop guitars by noted luthier Robert Benedetto --- For the 2007-2008 Police reunion tour, Summers is once again using the Telecaster and others older guitars that he used on Police albums --- Summers strongly prefers analog effects pedals in both studio and live settings and continues to use widely ranging effects setups
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)


SYNAESTHESIA (2007) -Listing of Tracks:
1 Cubano Rebop (5:31)
2 Chocolate of the Desperate (1:10)
3 Meshes of the Afternoon (4:54)
4 Monk Hangs Ten (4:10)
5 Umbrellas Over Java (6:31)
6 Low Flying Doves (5:44)
7 Invisible Cities (5:49)
8 Synaesthesia (5:01)
9 I Remember (4:06)

The following list the credits to this cohesive instrumental album of electric guitar:
SYNAESTHESIA - album credits
Andy Summers Guitar, Mixing, Bass (Acoustic), Main Performer, Arranger, Producer, Piano
Ginger Baker Drums
Jerry Watts Bass
Mitchel Forman Bass, Keyboards
Dave Collins Mastering
Jerry Jr. Watts Bass
Eddie King Remixing
David Paul Jr. Collins Mastering
Steve Richards Cello
Charlie Bisharat Violin, Arranger
Gregg Bissonette Drums, Overdubs
Larry Corbett Cello
Joel Derouin Violin
David Hentschel Producer, Mixing
June Murakawa Assistant Engineer
Norman Moore Art Direction, Design, Photography

Hats off to Times Square Records --- strongly recommend this CD for all music lovers and all others who need to hear some great music --- Andy Summers please stand up and take a bow for this well deserved rare gem you've given us --- this is a keeper!

Total Time: 43 mins on 9 Tracks ~ Times Square Recofds ~ (6/12/2007)

Musical adventure. A number of musicians talk about using painting as an
inspiration to write music.
Andy Summers did it. Synaesthesia is a musical painting.
One of the greatest albums of all time. It's thick and dense. Go taste it.

this is a terrible album for the great summers. I own most all of his solo stuff post-police and this was a huge let down.

The CD snaesthesia by Andy Summers has disappointed at the least. A home made childish scratching on an electric guitar and a playing with all type of effects whithout taking the time to realy find the reasons of such effects. There is neither harmony nor a single music method. The CD is one of the worst CDs I have EVER heard and if it where not Andy Summers, I would not believe that such music is possible to be sold. The sadest thing is that there are music productions and labels who offer such "music", just for the name of the musician. Sorry, I can not say a single good thing for this CD.