Andy Band

After two albums exploring the boundaries of jazz via the music of Thelonious Monk (Green Chimneys) and Charles Mingus (Peggy's Blue Skylight), ex-Police guitarist Andy Summers returns to original compositions with a new band that moves forward through a swarm of genres on Earth + Sky. Employing two keyboard players, John Novello and John Beasley, as well as drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, saxophonist Katisse Buckingham, and bassist Abraham Laboriel, Summers creates a body of work that looks through jazz, rock, and folk forms and is technology based while also using organic rhythms and atmospherics. While some might see this as retrenchment, Summers, unlike so many of the superchopper guitarists out there, is a melodist whose lyricism is inescapable in virtually everything he plays…

Andy Watts - SUPERGROOVE was co-produced by Kenny Neal for his new Booga Music label. It features Andy's signature guitar work and his great band - including bass, drums, keyboards, trumpet, trombone, saxophones and occasional guest harmonica. For vocalists, the album features special guests Joe Louis Walker and Eliza Neals, plus explosive soul singer Roy Young, Danny Shoshan and Gadi Altman.Half of the songs are Andy Watts originals, while the others dig into classics by Freddie King and longtime influence Peter Green, plus compositions by Joe Louis Walker, Coastin' Hank, and others.

Guitarist Andy Summers long ago shed his Police-man's uniform to take a stab at being a jazz fusion guitarist, and this is his toughest test, tackling 13 of Thelonious Monk's most well known pieces. His backing band has some considerable talent; drummer Peter Erskine, organist Joey DeFrancesco, trumpeter Walt Fowler and cellist Hank Roberts are outstanding jazz musicians, and prove their mettle throughout. The CD overall is inconsistent, starting with an out-of-tune bass and an inaccurate reading of the title track. But it gets much better with horn charts, the precise Erskine and searing DeFrancesco saving grace on "Hackensack." Then they really get down with Monk's stealth Misterioso feel on "Brilliant Corners," and an economical Summers works effectively on "Monk's Dream"…

Andy Rock started to play in rock bands in early 2000. The main musical influences of this Greek artist on his music and guitar play come from some of the greatest AOR bands such as Bon Jovi, Richard Marx and Michael Bolton. In 2004, Andy Rock formed the Melodic Rock band WILD ROSE which has released four studio albums Half Past Midnight [Best Debut Release / Newcomer of 2011 (Heavy Paradise / December 2011)], Dangerous [Wild Rose “Dangerous” hits No.1 on import sales in Japan (BURRN Magazine / June 2013)], Hit 'N' Run [First single "Through The Night" from the album "Hit 'N' Run" hit #1 on Classic Rock Chart Week #40 and weeks #43 / #44 / #45 in 2014], with all 3 albums being sold out from their presses and their latest album "4” which was acclaimed as album of the year 2016 by the press.

With his first solo album in 1979 Andy Narell took the steelpan out of the steelband and brought it into the jazz band, and with every album and concert since, he has explored the possibilities and expanded the role of the pan in contemporary music.

This two-CD set is an unusually successful sampler. Although there are a few hits among the 40 selections, many obscurities are also included, and not all of the big bands represented are major names, such as Tiny Bradshaw, Noble Sissle, Spud Murphy, Teddy Powell and Jan Savitt. The emphasis is very much on jazz, and this worthy reissue is overflowing with forgotten classics. The music is programmed in chronological order, so one can experience the evolution of big bands from Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson and Luis Russell to postwar recordings from Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.

Man’s A Wolf To Man is Andy Taylor’s third solo album and his first in 30 years. The record is a pandemic album, and a cancer album, and a state-of-the-world album, but still a triumph of joyful, uplifting music. Originally intended for release in 2020, Andy used the opportunities of the Covid lockdowns to re-examine the album retool it under his own unique circumstances. Then, in 2022 he was given the news that the prostate cancer he had been battling was now terminal and the diagnosis meant he was unable to attend his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of Duran Duran. However, this directly led to a reconciliation between Andy and the band and he is optimistic that pioneering targeted nuclear therapy will give him longer than he had originally believed.