Paid Advertisement

I burned for when jazz took the sting outta The Police

Paid Advertisement

Podcast Audio Vault

Paid Advertisement

400

Even though I unwittingly checked off the โ€œjazzโ€ box on the Columbia House subscription several years before โ€“ and everything about 8-Tracks ghosted the minute shiny, new CDs started arriving in โ€œjewel boxesโ€ โ€“ โ€œThe Dream of The Blue Turtlesโ€  was the first piece of jazz music I owned and fell in love with mainly because everyone else did.

(Full disclosure: I also owned two jazz 8-Tracks from that original penny: Herb Alpert and Chuck Mangione. And I still rise and feel so good anytime I want!)

I was also the king of pain who passed on The Police at Painters Mill and then sold my Capital Centre floor seats to The Police โ€œSynchronityโ€ tour to take every breath at the beach in Ocean City two years earlier. I had no choice but to follow that call from Sting, owing him the debt of my post-adolescent, collegiate ear for his edgy, grown-up solo โ€œjazzyโ€ work.

It took me a few years and a few spins by my friend Michael Fountain to help me appreciate the finer points of โ€œMoon Over Bourbon Streetโ€ and โ€œRussians.โ€

If you havenโ€™t seen the tour film โ€œBring On The Nightโ€ for this album or listened to the double live CD, please consider that homework. They bring these magical songs to life. I love this music, especially โ€œWe Work The Black Seamโ€ and โ€œConsider Me Gone.โ€

Sting has made a lot of hits. He is the hardest-working musician of my lifetime not named Springsteen. The Police were an incredible band. I love virtually every sound ever uttered by the former Gordon Sumner!

I shook his hand once at the Meadowlands, the final time The Police would play together for more than 20 years at the โ€œAmnesty Internationalโ€ 1986 epic with U2 and Peter Gabriel. I will be showing all of my pictures from that show and a zillion others on Saturday during a Facebook Live at 4 p.m. in lieu of the Preakness. We need more storytelling during this pandemic!

I also once infamously impersonated Sting and played his role for three songs one night in March 1999 in the Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba with Andy Summers โ€“ and Iโ€™ll tell that one, too!

I chose โ€œThe Dream Of The Blue Turtlesโ€ for my โ€œalbum a day, every day in Mayโ€ #MusicalNes journey because of the sounds and soulfulness it opened up for my musical taste for the rest of my life.

Sting set me free, free to listen to smooth jazz.

You canโ€™t control an independent heartโ€ฆ

Share the Post:

Paid Advertisement

Right Now in Baltimore

Chuck Pagano is back in Baltimore and we're excited about that

It's quite personal for Nestor Aparicio and his wife, Jennifer, who made Chuck Pagano their first phone call for advice when she was diagnosed with leukemia in 2014. Luke Jones and Nestor welcome the un-retired defensive coaching wizard Pagano backโ€ฆ

Let legendary Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan tell you why he still loves sports

Some of us are getting old and tired and cranky but not longtime Boston sports columnist and ESPN Sports Reporters panelist Bob Ryan, who shares his enduring love of sports and tells Nestor he still attends games and awaits seeingโ€ฆ

Monopolizing the Community Chest for fun and winning

Our weekly visit with Maryland Lottery Executive Director John Martin had plenty of sports updates for Super Bowl week and wagering but it's this new scratch-off that Nestor wanted to talk about plus another week of big wins all overโ€ฆ

Paid Advertisement

Verified by MonsterInsights