Where’s he gonna go next? Well, to Sting. No, this is not a joke. I know, I’ve been all over the map so far, and I assure you, the future bodes no more homogenous. Ten Summoners’ Tales was recorded in 1992 and 1993, Sting’s first ‘pop’ album since the dissolve of The Police in the mid 80’s. Sting recruited Hugh Padgham of the Townhouse Studio in London, who had produced The Police’ final album Synchronicity, to produce and engineer and a handful of his players from his solo ‘jazz’ albums, including guitarist Dominic Miller and phenom drummer Vinnie Colaiuta.
Sting did most of the musical arranging himself (an accomplished bassist/classically trained guitarist), playing off his drummer, guitarist, and keys player. He took many melodic ideas and designating them in his mind for various horns, strings, reeds, and random instruments. He and Padgham finalized these ideas and booked studio musicians where no immediate players were known. Possibly featuring more outstanding players than any pop album in 20 years, the songs of this album sprang to life in the studio in the hands of gifted and disciplined musicians. Sting has recalled with fondness and regret that no other album he has ever recorded brought musicians to life like this one. Hundreds of takes were made of those eleven songs with alternate bridges, newly incorporated solos, and variances on the arrangement so Padgham and Sting would have options. The process of recording finished, the rigorous process of screening takes and making arrangement and editing decisions came to task. This album was recorded on two synched decks of 2” 24-track analog tape. Perhaps only Jason will understand and appreciate the difficulty of making numerous 48 channel edits and arrangement decisions post-recording on this medium. (Nowadays it’s a cinch.) In any case, the album took a few months to finalize and mix. When the album was presented to legendary engineer Bob Ludwig for mastering he ‘gaped in awe’ before his speakers and listened to it seven times before he set to work, calling it one of the most astounding pieces of recording he’d ever heard. The title, by the way, is a play on Sting’s actual name, Gordon Sumner, being ten “tales” and an epilogue.
I love this album because of the staggering musicianship (coolest Hammond Organ burn of all time on ‘St. Augustine in Hell’). While studio musicians are usually very good players, you don’t typically get to hear it on a top 40 record. Believe it or not, that guitar part on Brittany’s song was probably not that dude’s finest minute. This record is different in that regard. Every player on it is doing something neat. Everyone is giving something special to this record. Brian Wilson used to pull that kind of performance out of his players, but even then, session tapes indicate it was often a difficult process. On this record, everyone who came just gave and gave and the result is honestly incredible. If you don’t like Sting, I can completely understand. But a real careful listen to this album will give you a kind of reverence for the musicians who lend their various voices to a song, and the magic that can happen when they decide to let it happen together. That unity may be the hardest thing to achieve in any musical collaboration or performance. It’s especially hard to capture on tape after successive hours in a studio. Believe me, I know.
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