Sting and Co. put on a first-rate performance...
Punkster, pop star, matinee idol - it seems all roads meet in Gordon Sumner, better known to the world as Sting.
His latest musical metamorphosis shows Sting drifting away from the confines of his rock'n'reggae trio, The Police, and into the realm of soft-core jazz with a new solo album, 'Dream of the Blue Turtles', and a host of well-respected jazz sidemen. For Sting, and the fans who saw him perform in the Erwin Center Tuesday night, the trip was well worth it.
As anyone who has watched his evolution with any interest can attest, this man has an un- canny willingness and ability to change. Accordingly, Sting performed several Police standards in concert, but they were starkly different from their recorded counterparts. All of them 'Shadows In the Rain', 'One World Is Enough' (For All Of Us), and 'Driven To Tears' - shared barely recognizable instrumentals. They have been remade in the new image of their composer.
Sting isn't really a world class jazz player, but that's fine because his accompanists can't really rock the house, either. But both give the fusion idea their best and emerge with a vibrant and precise blend of the two. Certain elements are compromised in the process, of course; the intricacies of counterpoint and syncopation offered in jazz, and some of rock music's immediacy and power, for example. But remembering that music is for enjoyment first and analysis second, Sting and Co. put on a first-rate show.
High points of the concert included a medley of 'Love Is the Seventh Wave' and 'One World Is Enough', a chilly reading of 'Moon Over Bourbon Street', in which Sting crooned eerily over Darryl Jones' walking bass line the story of a New Orleans vampire. A Sting film rarity called 'I Burn For You' (from 'Brimstone and Treacle') gave the band its best showcase. There, drummer Omar Hakim and keyboardist Kenneth Kirkland finally stole the spotlight that seemed to settle like a halo over saxophonist Branford Marsalis throughout most of the show.
If the show had any other star, it was Marsalis, who played - and overplayed - marvellously through nearly every selection. When he finally did lighten up, it was to deliver a rap during 'When the World Is Running Down'. I hope nobody tells his brother Wynton, who would probably disown him if he knew.
Sting's voice was the concert's most telling instrument. Hoarse from the outset, the singer's vocal cords seemed to deteriorate gradually, and by the second encore, 'Every Breath You Take' came out a raspy admonition. Sting didn't need to perform an encore, much less two. Tuesday night, he delivered the same speech he gave when the Police toured to support 'Ghost In the Machine'. Just before singing 'Roxanne', Sting said, "This is the first place in America to play this song, and Austin has always meant something special to me. Without you, I wouldn't be here."
New improved Sting. The surprise is that this time, there really is some truth in advertising.
(c) Austin American-Statesman by Kevin Phinney
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