Soul Cages: 1991/92

Stellar Sting - Performance a picture of perfection...

Is a concert performance ever perfect? Is an audience ever treated to a truly flawless musical event in which every song, better yet, every note is just right and absolutely eloquent in its make-up and delivery?

Perhaps not. But Sting's sterling performance at the Garden State Arts Center surely seemed as if it could not possibly have been more rewarding or better presented.

Playing before a sold-out house Tuesday night, Sting not only demonstrated why he is the most intellectually engaging performer in pop today, but he also brought new meaning to the term art-rock. Not just one song or even a couple, but every song Sting performed seemed to be an artistic celebration of jazz-rock genius that included exceptionally rich textures and instrumental shadings, beautifully crafted solos, and a tightly-balanced precision between Sting and his superb band that is rarely achieved on the concert stage.

But perhaps the most impressive aspect of Sting's Shore visit was the strikingly bold and witty arrangements of his songs that enabled him and his group to come ever so close to a musical picture of perfection. Old songs from Sting's days with the group, the Police, new songs from his latest al- bum, 'Soul Cages', and songs from solo albums such as '...Nothing Like the Sun' were re-fitted with exciting new changes both rhythmic and melodic - and featured gorgeous jazz- flavoured, improvisational interludes that kept most Sting fans sitting on the edge of their seats.

Sting's band includes keyboards player-guitarist David Sancious, formerly of Belmar, and a former member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. No review of Tuesday night's concert would be complete without a few words about his contributions.

Sancious might well be the best musician the Shore music scene has ever spawned. His total command of his instruments, his uncanny ability to give each of Sting's songs exactly what they need in terms of background support or structural embellishments, and his remarkably brilliant solos made his homecoming a spectacular triumph.

Sting's sound is, in fact, inextricably linked to Sancious' keyboard virtuosity. To say that Sting would not be able to attain the level of musical brilliance reached at the Arts Center without him would not be stretching things.

There were so many Sting-Sancious highpoints Tuesday night that to mention just a few of them is a tough task. Yet, the stunning interplay of Sting's voice and Sancious' keyboard riffs in Bill Withers' 'Ain't No Sunshine', the savage guitar attack heard in Jimi ever-so-soulful interpretations of Sting Hendrix's 'Purple Haze', and the classics such as 'Every Breath You Take', 'King of Pain', 'Roxanne', 'Soul Cages', and 'If You Love Someone Set Them Free' simply force themselves to the front of the pack.

Sting's show concluded the pop music portion of the Arts Center's 'Summer Nights '91.' If there was a more gratifying way to end the season, I'd love to know about it.

(c) Asbury Park Press by Robert Santelli

The many moods of Sting...

Sting's latest album, 'The Soul Cages', is a somber, reflective work. For the most part, melodies are subdued, and the overall instrumental tone is hauntingly dark.

Logic would have it, therefore, that Sting's concerts in support of that album would reflect the brooding, heady nature of this intensely personal project, prompted by the death of his father.

But Sting, to his everlasting credit, has never been an artist to follow formulas or be restrained by the recorded notes on his albums. Material from 'The Soul Cages' was the anchor for the Tuesday night show at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, but the arrangements of songs, such as the album's title track, 'Jeremiah Blues (Part I)', 'Mad About You' and 'The Wild Wild Sea', were reworked and fleshed out to tap into the fiery dynamics of his excellent three-man support team.

Energetic jazz-and blues-flavored rock replaced the album's moody, orchestral textures as Sting, on bass, teamed with drummer Vinnie Colaiuta to provide the often propulsive rhythms of new tunes as well as Sting mainstays such as 'Fortress Around Your Heart' and 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free' and Police hits such as 'Roxanne' and 'Every Breath You Take'.

Adding the vibrant colors and rich textures that made the arrangements leap to life were guitarist Dominic Miller (whose credentials list stints with the Pretenders, World Party, and King Swamp) and keyboardist David Sancious, a former Bruce Springsteen sideman.

Sting set the mood for the evening in the opening number, a buoyant rendition of 'All This Time', into which he improvised a few lyrics from Wilson Pickett's 'In the Midnight Hour'.

A few bars of a light, almost Celtic folk introduction belied the tale of obsessive love that is the core of 'Mad About You'. But the song's theme was reflected in the tense arrangement that quickly replaced the open, airy intro. Sancious' dark keyboard play combined with Miller's moody guitar work, and the ballad's haunting quality was heightened by Sting's reedy tenor, which took on an eerie edge in the high notes.

Touring for the better part of seven months seems to have taken little toll on Sting's voice, although he did have a bit of trouble sustaining his upper register for 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free'. But this song came near the end of the more-than-90-minute concert, during which Sting, almost 40, put his voice through an intense workout as he brought harder and more impassioned inflections to the title track of 'The Soul Cages', 'Why Should I Cry' (which featured a brief bit of 'Be Still My Beating Heart'), and Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze'.

'Purple Haze' was the surprise Sting gave the audience when he began his tour in February with six sold-out shows at Manhattan's Beacon Theater. With Miller and Sancious, who had strapped on a guitar, trading furious leads, the song back then was transformed into a glorious jam. On this go-round, however, its role has been lessened, serving as a bridge between the rocking refrains of 'The Soul Cages' and 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free'.

(c) The Bergen Record by Barbara Jaeger