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| Composing is painful in that you have to avoid the obvious and somehow rediscover yourself - Al DiMeola |
Al DiMeola |
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| Synopsis: Al DiMeola, born on July 22, 1954 in New Jersey, is best known for his astounding ability for speed on the guitar, and has often been criticized for playing with less feeling than velocity ... he has since proven critics wrong. DiMeola's first break was at nineteen in Chick Corea's Return to Forever (1974) and he has since piloted several personal projects successfully, alternating amid electric and acoustic sets, often shifting gears through musical trends. His prolific career has bridged a wide range of styles from the rapid machine gun like scales to the undeniably striking and fiery passion of Latin influenced melodies, heavily biased by his youthful neighborhood salsa club haunts. For those who play guitar and have never heard of Al DiMeola, you do yourself a disservice of not delving further ...
- Christian Sarraf, Musicfolio 09/99
1976 Land of the Midnight Sun Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. A very impressive debut album, although stylistically, you can tell its from the mid 1970s! The compositions are more free-flowing than on his later albums, so you get to hear Al improvising to a greater extent, while maintaining that loud Les Paul style. This is probably his best FUSION album, in the John McLaughlin era sense, in that, unlike later albums like Elegant Gypsy and Casino, there is no sense of this being a rock record per se. After a few listens, the maturity of the album shows up. Plus there's some dynamic playing on the album from stars like Jaco Pastorius and Chick Corea that help to up the standards. This record proves Al's ability to jam, playing loud fusion electric guitar, while maintaining a sense of melody; a trait McLaughlin doesn't always illustrate. Golden Dawn Suite (featuring Pastorius) is one of the most dynamic fusion tracks I've ever heard...Al is hot on this record, recorded at the same time as the best of the Return to Forever albums he was on, Romantic Warrior.
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
 1977
Elegant Gypsy On his second album DiMeola ignites ... his breakneck speed is ever-present, gathering velvety momentum while adding a splash of rock to the melodious blend. "Mediterranean Sundance" will sweep you up in its tempo and passion as "Lady of Rome" persuades you to reassess your decisions on love tenderly enveloping you in its warmth. A timeless album essential to any collection ...
- Christian Sarraf, musicfolio, 09/99
A masterpiece of composition and musicianship ... Ranging in mood from mellow to fierce this collection of songs satisfies deeply. The musicians are as tight as a drum. They can play this one at my funeral.
- hawker@email.msn.com, Jackson TN,
05/99
Amazing. If you are a fusion person, you MUST have it, if you aren't necessarily a fusion person but like to have music affect your emotions, taking them up, down, and all around, you MUST have this album!.
- a music fan, San Diego CA, 05/99
This record has it all: scorching improvisation duels, technical wizardry, acoustic and electric variants and masterful and original compositions ...
- JDuncan183@AOL.com, New York City, 04/99
The acoustic just blows my mind, like the frenzy chataqua's of Plato! A 100% must-buy!
- a music fan, Pyla Cyprus, 03/99
1978 Casino Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. On this CD, Al is fusing together Jazz, Latin, Rock, Flamenco and Egyptian music together in a beautiful blend. Thanks Al, for introducing me to one of the great musical forms ever.
- ornleifs@hotmail.com, Reykjavik Iceland,
09/99
Elegant Gypsy blew a lot of people away with the super-fast playing on numbers like Race with the Devil and Flight Over Rio. This album is also upbeat, but the compositions are also more measured and soulful. There's one acoustic track, which like the two acoustic numbers on Elegant Gypsy, shows that Al on acoustic has a genuine feel for flamenco and Latin European guitar styles...its not just a question of playing fast! Though the salsa-disco beats on a couple of tracks have dated a bit, this album made me a Di Meola fan and it may well make you a Di Meola fan too!
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1980
Splenidio Hotel Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. This double album features Chick Corea and veteran Les Paul, and serves to further demonstrate DiMeola's undeniable talent and versatility as a fiery, clean and proficient musician ...
- Christian Sarraf, musicfolio, 09/99
Splendido Hotel, Al's first double length album, is notable for mixing plenty of acoustic and electric tunes. This makes it his most diverse album yet; earlier albums were very heavy on the electrics. It includes a tango, a piece for string quartet, a lullaby, a remake of 'Mediterrean Sundance', a song with Al on vocals!, and plenty of fusion stuff to satisfy fans of Elegant Gypsy and Casino. One of Al's best.
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1981
Friday Night in San Francisco A Spanish jazz fusion masterpiece riddled with beautiful solos and enduring talent from 3 mesmerizing guitarists, truly legends of our time ...
- Christian Sarraf, musicfolio, 09/99
This live recording from 1980 matched U.S. fusion guitar heavyweights Al DiMeola and John McLaughlin with Spanish guitar whiz Paco DeLucia. The result, a dazzling technical display, also earned jeers as the international summit of world-class finger-wigglers by critics who felt it was long on chops and short on heart.
- Fred Goodman, amazon.com
Outstanding. San Francisco in 1980 saw the mixing of fusion-jazz power guitarist John McLaughlin and Al DiMeola with Spain's flamenco guitar master Paco de Lucia ... Hardly any other musician of this genre can approach to what the Guitar Trio did on a Friday Night ...
- Cristobal Calderon, Chihuahua Mexico,
08/99
A masterpiece ... this album is perhaps one of the most powerful, rhythmic and inspiring things I've ever heard. Go get it ...
- Eric, Northern California, 08/99
A fiery, furious, unrelenting masterpiece. I'm an atheist, but the music contained in this album is the strongest evidence that there is a God that I've heard yet.
- a music fan, USA, 06/99
1982 Electric Rendezvous Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. This album is quite short at just 35 minutes and is one of Al's most rock orientated. Like his earlier efforts, the acoustic tracks draw on flamenco styles and also feature some nice mandolin playing. This album features the original version of the tune 'Passion, Grace and Fire' and is better than the version on the album of the same name. However for the most part, the album is loud and electric, Al's last real FUSION album, with a touch of early 80s rock n'roll influencing the sound a bit. Overall, its certainly good.
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1982 Tour De Force - Live Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. For those who have not heard Di Meola's studio albums, this might seem a fairly good album, but Al's speciality on albums such as Elegant Gypsy and Casino were incredibly sharp (and fast) interplay between the guitar, the drums and so on. The live versions sound just a little off in comparison, although the one new, original Di Meola composition on the album, Nena, is a real treat and more jazzy in style than any other electric number he was doing at the time.
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1983 Scenario Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. This album is as much a Jan Hammer album as an Al Di Meola album; plenty of sequencers, synthesisers and the likes. Some tracks work, some don't, so of all Al's electric albums thus far, this probably is the least convincing, but there are some moments here and the title track, a ballad for guitar, piano and synthesiser, is one of Al's best compositions.
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1983 Passion, Grace & Fire Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. Recorded with John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia. This is a record of rhythmic guitar improvisations and won't be to everyone's tastes. This is an unusual album in that each guitarist contributes 2 compositions, but the styles of them are radically different. Personally, I find Al's two compositions the most interesting, although one of these, the title track, is not as good as the original studio version on Electric Rendezvous. The other composition, Orient Blue Suite, however, is the perfect vehicle for the Trio and perhaps the most memorable Di Meola composition written for the Trio
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
Very exciting, very red ... This album is blinding in musical colour.
- sjw@trident1.karoo.co.uk, England, 09/99
1985 Cielo E
Terra Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. DiMeola returns to his roots on this chiefly acoustic set, playing a number of unaccompanied solos, creating a soulful mixture of harmonies shaping an interesting and significant endeavor.
- Christian Sarraf, musicfolio, 09/99
Now a rare album, Cielo E Terra is an usual effort from Al. Its basically a solo acoustic guitar record (with some synthesisers and percussion making an occasional, and unnecessary, appearance), but unlikely his earlier solo acoustic tunes, the compositions are not notable for a Spanish or Latin feel or indeed for any particular tune! Actually tunes like Etude sound like improvisations for an angry classical guitarist! Best cuts are the memorable ballad Solace and a great version of Keith Jarrett's Corale for nylon string guitar. Sound production is very 'tinny', so much so than with steel string guitars, its almost jarring on the ear. Worth a listen only for particular fans of Al Di Meola as an acoustic guitarist...
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1985 Soaring Through a Dream Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. Al is truly a master virtuoso, but more than that, the elements of eclectic instruments, musical constructs and ever-changing time signatures are second to none.
- Lee Richan, Utah, 08/99
Smooth and gentle like a breeze ... full of smooth, latin-flavored jazz complementing Di Meola's incomparable speed and technical excellence on guitar ... One of Di Meola's best!
- mpaulsen@thegrid.net, Huntington Beach
California, 04/99
1987
Tirami Su Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. Al DiMeola emphasizes his world music interests on this album adding earthly folk overtones from other lands. A good album for seasoned fans ...
- Christian Sarraf, musicfolio, 09/99
1990 World Sinfonia Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. DiMeola puts together an all acoustic group to play tangos and the likes. Plenty of improvisation for guitar and accordion (or Bandenon), but hardly any memorable compositions. The transcription of a classical piece by Astor Piazzolla is a bit too long and cumbersome. The arrangement of No Mystery suffers from a similar disease, but the final track, an arrangement of Barrios' La Cathedral is amazing. Improvisations based on a classical tune in a semi-baroque style played with incredible passion; for me, one of the stand out moments in Al's career., but the album itself, I find terribly dull.
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1991
Kiss My Axe Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. If listened to late at night, no one around and in the dark, takes you on an incredible journey ...
- woolongong@hotmail.com, Cape Town, 04/99
Di Meola lets go on this one and plays with kind of fire as on his early fusion albums. Some of the tunes are fairly exciting, but I'm not sure if the album really works...maybe Al was getting a little old for this kind of style of playing or the band chemistry wasn't just right. Plus like many albums of the early 90s, its rather long with a couple of tunes that probably wouldn't have made it onto record if it was of LP length. Still its a guitar feast (though with no acoustic guitar tunes) and Al's solos on his Les Paul are more fluid and jazz inflected than anything he had done before.
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1993 World Sinfonia II - Heart of the Immigrants Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. Reflection of the world and its diversity! ...
- a music fan, Raleigh NC USA, 10/98
1994Orange and Blue Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. Thirteen of the most anodyne compositions recorded in the last forty years, with the exception of Ta'alina Chant and Casmir. Al on the cover looks younger than he has since 1979 and demonstrates conclusively that he's a guitar operator rather than a musician. Ta'alina Chant has the vibrant voice of Noa to illuminate it and Casmir sounds as though everybody in the studio grabbed an instrument and joined in, the result being chaotic but rather engaging, and even then one of the percussionists gets very audibly lost halfway through. Since the only percussionist listed is Al himself, this beggars belief, but it is nonetheless true.
- steve@warner79.freeserve.co.uk
7/00
This album marks a change in direct for Di Meola. Instead of playing the loud Les Paul guitars, he plays jazz bodied guitars...rather well, not surprisingly. There are some excellent compositions in the middle section of the album, but on the whole, though the musicianship is really stylish, the album lacks consistency and somehow the music doesn't have a great deal of conviction about it. However for fans of Pat Metheny or particular fans of Al's 1985 album, Soaring Through a Dream, this is worth a listen
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1996 Plays Piazzolla Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. Listeners who still think of Al Di Meola merely as a fusion shredder haven't closely followed the more adventurous paths his career has taken--reflected by acoustic recordings ... which reveal [his] subtle, deep feeling and thinking sides ... approaches the frequently complex music with a combination of great aplomb and sensitivity ...
- JazzTimes 4/97
1996 The Guitar Trio Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. ... they find synergies that carry them to previously uncharted regions of speed-freak guitar nirvana. Their collective attainment is astonishing ... a killer hi-fi demonstration album ...
- Down Beat 3/97
...brims with tight, fiery arrangements, daredevil solos, and inventive compositions, especially from McLaughlin's pen ... it's nice to hear fretboard firepower in the service of more ambitious musicality
- Musician 3/97
The Guitar Trio strikes back. Beautiful and inspiring ... Close your eyes and start a journey.
- a music fan, Belgrade, Yugoslavia,
07/98
1998 The Infinite Desire Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. This is a 'different' sounding album. Al makes a stylistic shift here, recording an album which employs up to date technology like samples and drum beats, and mixes it with laid back, jazz inflected pieces as on Orange and Blue. Plus there's a rather pointless remake (much slower) of Race with the Devil, featuring Steve Vai, a hip-hop version of Beyond the Mirage from the Guitar Trio (the acoustic version worked better) and a pop song sung in Italian. The result is that the album is neither here nor there, but as always, with some memorable tunes; particularly the title track. This album has many of the similar strengths and weaknesses to Scenario and will probably date equally quickly
- omcgee@eircom.net, 04/01
1996 The best of Al DiMeola Just click here! to send us your Review of this album. |
 This Is Jazz No. 31 Al Dimeola Quick links : Audio Samples !!! (Albums)  Acoustic Anthology  Best Of Al Dimeola  Casino  Electric Anthology  Electric Rendezvous  Elegant Gypsy Essence Of Al DiMeola  Friday Night in San Fransisco  Heart Of The Immigrants Infinite Desire Kiss My Axe Land Of The Midnight Sun  Orange & Blue Plays Piazzolla Scenario Soaring Through A Dream Splendido Hotel Tour De Force Live Winter Nights World Sinfonia (Import Albums) Elegant Gipsy Guitar Instruct Live Montreal 88 Live Pal The New York Times "Mr. Di Meola has an impressive stylistic range that embraces both latin & jazz with a softer melodic lyricism." Billboard "Di Meola may have recently been voted best jazz guitarist for the fifth consecutive year by readers of Guitar Player, but he could have easily been voted as best all around guitarist by any guitarist with discerning ears. In one word, Di Meola is incredible." Washington Star "One of the fastest, cleanest, and most musical guitarists of this era." Los Angeles Times "Di Meola's improvising was so explosive that it sometimes seemed on the verge of bursting past the strings of his instrument." Official Homepage ! |
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