Video Mondays: “A Piece of Time” by Andy Summers

Monday, Monday… life has been more than a little different since schools were shut down on March 16th and COVID19 killed 100,000 Americans (yes, and I personally knew some people who passed, so you “hoaxers” can go “F” yourselves to death!). But I have taken some solace and hope seeing my fellow teachers rise to the challenge and see through to the end of the school year, pivoting the daily-face-to-face grind to working with voices on phones and smiling faces on noisy “shaking cam” videos. I’ve found hope seeing my friends, The Oak Hill Drifters and NEVA continue to share their powerful (and fun) music online on a regular basis. I’ve felt a sense of accomplishment having produced 34 videos and posted the associated images from all of the school events, robotics events and STEAM Lab units from this past year… including a remembrance video marking my 4 years at Fitzgerald. Alas, the violence of the past weekend, the burning of the Farmer’s Market and the Grove less than a mile from where Deb’s mom’s apartment was, the looting and burning of the Santa Monica Promenade and especially the Pike and Pine Ave. in Long Beach, old haunts where I lived from 1995 to 2008, really shook me up and left me numb. I shared my confusion with Deb and she suggested that I listen to “my music,” thinking that might give me some peace.

I have an instrumental playlist (tracks listed below), that I’ve had for years, that became my go-to-therapy, especially in 2012-2014 when I was diagnosed with CIDP and lost the use of my legs for a time. I learned to put on my headphones and drink in the rich sounds of the strings and make peace with my struggling body. One particular track, “A Piece of Time,” by Andy Summers, lead guitarist from the Police, from his “The Golden Wire” CD was both ethereal and powerful and I tried to use the track often in various video projects until I found out about copyright restrictions (oops). Below are the recorded and live versions of the track and an interview with Andy Summers from 1987 sharing his guitar techniques. Enjoy… and find peace in your own way so that we can work together to remake this broken world so that many more of our brothers and sisters can enjoy the benefits of having been born in it.

“A Piece of Time,” Andy Summers from “The Golden Wire” Album

“A Piece of Time” Andy Summers – live version at The Cubby Bear, Chicago IL 1990|10-20

Andy Summers 1987 Interview

JBB’s Nightly Playlist*:

*Please note:, all playlist links are listed through my Amazon Affiliate Link, at no expense to you the buyer, and gets me fractions of pennies for any purchase you make while surfing Amazon after clicking one of the links, regardless if you purchase anything from the list. Thanks (also, these tracks should be available through your streaming service of choice…).