Sting The Bridge [A&M] On his first studio album since his 2018 collaboration with Shaggy, Sting is back in a big, bass-heavy way on The Bridge, manning fretted, fretless, and acoustic basses, and for the first time including a bass feature (be sure to get the 13-track deluxe edition). The record — inspired by and recorded during the pandemic — kicks off with two radio-ready tracks: the Police-ish “Rushing Water,” and the positive popper “If It’s Love.” The darker, more narrative “The Book of Numbers” and the Celtic march “The Hills on the Border” sit upon Sting’s tasteful, deep-toned fretless parts (courtesy of his tobacco-sunburst fretless Fender Jazz Bass), while “Loving You” rides Maya Jane Coles’ loping synth bass. “Harmony Road” is a pivot point, echoing solo Sting with its 5/4 meter (nicely developed by drummer Josh Freese), angular changes, and a soaring soprano sax solo from Branford Marsalis. “For Her Love” has a “Shape of My Heart”-like start before firmly establishing its own identity. “Captain Bateman” and “The Bells of St. Thomas” are instant Sting classics. The former, featuring Sting’s fretless, Peter Tickell’s fertile fiddle, and Manu Katché’s probing drums, spins an evocative yarn with multiple hook-laden sections. The latter, a simmering jazz waltz with Katché, the ever present Dominic Miller on guitars, and Sting on upright, unfolds with mystery and nuance, both in story and the kind of ear-grabbing harmonic twists Sting favors. And then there’s the gift to us bassists, “Captain Bateman’s Basement.” The lowdown is that Sting took an earlier version of “Captain Bateman,” with just Katché’s ridiculously funky drums and Martin Kierszenbaum’s atmospheric synths, grabbed his ’57 Fender Precision, and improvised on chorus after chorus, doubling the ultra-melodic phrases he plays on bass with his wordless vocals (scat-’n’-play, as they say). Delightfully unexpected, but not surprising when you consider the wide range of approaches Sting has both played on and written for his instrument. –Chris Jisi Eric Clapton  The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions [Mercury Studios] The guitar god’s latest, a fascinating CD/DVD package, is the result of COVID cancelling his May 2021 Royal Albert Hall run. Anxious to play during the lockdown, Clapton enlisted drummer Steve Gadd, keyboardist Chris Stainton, and Nathan East to come to Cowdray House in West Sussex, England, for an intimate, mostly unplugged, 17-track sojourn through his career. (The titular lady — Clapton’s wife Melia — plus his longtime producer, Russ Titelman, and a small crew, were the only other people onhand.) For the first six tracks, including a simmering cover of “Black Magic Woman” and an up, rock version of “After Midnight” (which rides a A-C-D-A-G-F# bass ostinato), East provides warm, wide, tasteful acoustic bass.