Peter Frampton - Hummingbird in a Box

Mention the name “Peter Frampton,” one imagines long hair, loud, distorted guitars that talk, and Do You Feel Like We Do. But Peter Frampton has always been about more than just loud guitars. There has always been the acoustic, more melodic side of his music. His desire to make such music, as opposed to the loud boogie rock of Humble Pie, is what prompted him to leave that seminal band in 1971 in the first place. His brand of quiet melodicism serves him well on his latest “album,” Hummingbird in a Box. I say “album” in quotations because it’s more like an EP that a full-length album [28 minutes and change].

Just what is Hummingbird in a Box? The cover and the title give the clues. The subtitle is “Songs for a Ballet.” The cover has a ballet slipper-clad leg superimposed over a Les Paul guitar. So how does a rock star come to create music for a ballet? A few years ago, when Frampton still lived in Cincinnati [he calls Nashville home now], he was approached by the director of the Cincinnati Ballet to work on a new collaboration. The ballet company had previously done some work with some of his existing music. Would he like to write some new music for the ballet? The show would work this way – there would be three parts – the beginning and ending parts would be performed to recorded music, while the middle section would have Frampton and his band performing onstage along with the dancers.

For this, Frampton created seven different pieces of music, the totality of them lasting about 28 minutes. Frampton plays most of the instruments himself, except for the drums and percussion. Of the seven numbers, only one is an instrumental [The One in 901, the only “loud” song]. The remainder are mostly acoustic pieces with the electric guitar used as coloring. Instead of using screaming Les Pauls, the electrics sound quiet, cleaner. The opener The Promenade's Retreat sounds initially like something Mark Knopfler would create. The title track sounds like one of Paul McCartney’s acoustic numbers from The White Album. Frampton told the Huffingtom Post the title track refers to a Chinese box that belonged to Mr. Frampton's grandfather, who traveled overseas in the navy. When opened in the right way, the box produced a hidden drawer inside which was a beautiful stuffed hummingbird. On Shadow of My Mind, the guitar tones remind one of Hank Marvin and the Shadows. The jazzy Norman Wisdom shows Frampton’s Django Reinhardt influence. All of the pieces give off a sparse, laid-back vibe. This isn’t your older brother’s Peter Frampton album.

For those who are looking for another loud guitar record from Peter Frampton, look elsewhere because this album is not for you. Some might be disappointed and find the album to be “boring.” But I like it. It’s something completely different. What you get is another side of Peter Frampton’s talent. In my feeble mind, there’s no downside to that.