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Andy Summers & Benjamin Verdery |  | |
An Evening with Andy Summers & Benjamin Verdery
Bovard Auditorium, University of Southern California
February 24, 2011
First You Build A Cloud, Then You Take A Ride.
On a recent, chilly LA evening, deep in the USC campus, something truly special and unpredictable happened. A rock legend (Summers) and a classical-guitar legend (Verdery) made their debut performance, taking a well-seasoned and eager auditorium of guitar aficionados and lay-person alike on a spontaneous and authentic journey. It is not as if it were the most obvious pairing, between two such divergent musical styles (Summers commented humorously early on that there would be an improvisational approach to the evening). However, it was fascinating to watch Summers’ dynamic, soaring swells by turn take flight, then dive deep with Verdery’s relentlessly lilting, melodic speed. Verdery has incredible accuracy, as well as a contagious sense of humor which comes through in his playing (at one point he produced a tremolo effect using a small plastic fan from the dollar store). Summers brings a steady and curious energy which showcases his tremendous past experience while highlighting his Now.
Whether in the soft reverie of the Hana-spirited Now I’m Free, or in the excitement of the edgy, crowd-pleasing rendition of The Police’s Bring On the Night, Verdery and Summers delivered more than a concert; they built a cloud, invited us to hang out there, kicked us off, caught us and then answered some burning questions.
In a musical world where so many sounds have “been done, ” it is exciting to watch unthought-of evolutions and untraditional leaps of imagination push our musical ears and hearts to new revelations.
Amanda Verdery
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