Chief of Police Sting, a/k/a Gordon Sumner, has not officially left the force, but he has proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that he has the musical muscle to capture his audience singlehandedly.
He accomplishes this feat without his usual Police partners, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers . He seems to have hand-picked a SWAT team of instrumentalists for his first solo project, "The Dream of the Blue Turtles," and the mix appears to have worked. In the concert tour to support the album, Sting has brought along that same team: Branford Marsalis on sax, Omar Hakim on drums, Darryl Jones on the bass (Sting's usual instrument) and Kenny Kirkland on keyboards - not another blond in the bunch.
The record has been one of the top five album sellers in the country for the last couple of months, and it shows no sign of slowing down.
It says something about the potency of the band and Sting's vocals that he can make listeners overlook a sentiment ripped from a college dorm poster, circa 1969, in the hit If You Love Somebody Set Them (Sic) "Free". The album shows Sting's one-world concerns in "Russians", Children's Crusade and "We Work the Black Seam".
Most listeners have noticed a decided turn toward jazz settings with this band. Some jazz fans may recognize Marsalis as the brother of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. The wily Sting even lured Branford away from his brother's jazz ensemble for the tour. Though Sting has been performing revised charts of some Police tunes, he has also been allowing the band some improvised sections.
Where this leaves the Police is unknown, but Sting's own solo career as an actor has proceeded apace (Dune, The Bride, Plenty), and perhaps he has enough energy and wherewithal to keep all these balls in the air at once. Certainly his sidemen have led the way, because Summers has done two albums with Robert Fripp and Copeland has been involved with solo projects such as the score for "Rumble Fish."
Sting, where is thy depth? His fans will know the answer when he plays the Summit at 8 p.m. on Sunday.
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