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100 Greatest Guitarists

85

Andy Summers


andy summers
Ebet Roberts/Redferns
85/100

The Police were a new kind of power trio, and Andy Summers was the main reason. Quickly moving away from punk, he recast jazz chords and reggae rhythms as headlong rock & roll. Summers played as sparely as possible, constructing clipped twitches or dubby washes of sound – leaving ample room for Sting and Stewart Copeland. "His tone and style were just absolutely perfect – he left space around everything," Rush's Alex Lifeson said. "And he can handle anything from beautiful acoustic playing to jazz to hybrid kinds of stuff."

Key Tracks: "Message in a Bottle," "Every Breath You Take"

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