Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola's ongoing fascination with complex rhythmic syncopation combined with provocative lyrical melodies and sophisticated harmony has been at the heart of his music throughout a celebrated career that has spanned four decades and earned him critical accolades, three gold albums and more than six million in record sales worldwide. A bona fide guitar hero, perennial poll-winner, and prolific composer, he has amassed over 20 albums as a leader while collaborating on a dozen or so others with the likes of the fusion supergroup Return to Forever (with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White), the celebrated acoustic Guitar Trio featuring fellow virtuosos John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia, and the Rite of Strings trio with bassist Clarke and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. And while his dazzling technique on both acoustic and electric guitars has afforded him regal status among the hordes of fretboard fanatics who regularly flock to his concerts, the depth of Di Meola's writing along with the soulfulness and the inherent lyricism of his guitaristic expression have won him legions of fans worldwide beyond the guitar aficionado set. A pioneer of blending world music and jazz, going back to early Latin-tinged fusion outings like 1976's Land of the Midnight Sun, 1977's Elegant Gypsy and 1978's Casino, the guitar great continues to explore the rich influence of flamenco, tango, Middle Eastern, Brazilian and African music with his World Sinfonia, an ambitious pan-global group that he formed in 1991. Their exhilarating world music fusion has been documented on such releases as 2000’s The Grande Passion (featuring the Toronto Symphony Orchestra), 2007’s Live in London, 2011’s Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody and the stunning 2012 DVD, Morocco Fantasia (recorded at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco and featuring special guests Said Chraibi on oud, Abdellah Meri on violin and Tari Ben Ali on percussion). Growing up in Bergenfield, NJ with the music of Elvis Presley, The Ventures and The Beatles, Di Meola naturally gravitated to guitar as a youngster and by his early teens was already an accomplished player. Attaining such impressive skills at such a young age didn't come easy for Al, but rather was the result of focused dedication and intensive periods of woodshedding between his junior and senior years in high school. “I used to practice the guitar eight to ten hours a day,” he told Down Beat. “And I was trying to find myself, or find the kind of music that suited where I was going with the guitar.” His earliest role models in jazz included guitarists Tal Farlow and Kenny Burrell.

But when he discovered Larry Coryell, whom Al would later dub “The Godfather of Fusion,” he was taken with the guitarist's unprecedented blending of jazz, blues and rock into one seamless vocabulary on the instrument. “I used to ride the bus from New Jersey to see him at little clubs in Greenwich Village,” he recalls. “Wherever he was playing, I'd be there.” In 1972, Al enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and by the second semester there began playing in a fusion quartet led by keyboardist Barry Miles. When a gig tape of that band was later passed on to Chick Corea by a friend of Al's in 1974, the 19-year-old guitarist was tapped to join Corea’s fusion supergroup Return to Forever as a replacement for guitarist Bill Connors. After three landmark recordings with Return to Forever — 1974's Where Have I Known You Before, 1975's Grammy Award winning No Mystery and 1976's Romantic Warrior — the group disbanded and Al subsequently started up his career as a solo artist. His 1976 debut as a leader, Land of the Midnight Sun, was a blazing showcase of his signature chops and Latin-tinged compositions that featured a stellar cast including drummers Steve Gadd and Lenny White, bassist Anthony Jackson and Jaco Pastorius, keyboardists Jan Hammer, Barry Miles and Chick Corea and percussionist Mingo Lewis. Over the course of six more albums with Columbia Records – Elegant Gypsy, Casino, Splendido Hotel, Electric Rendezvous, Tour De Force and Scenario – Al established himself as an influential force in contemporary music. 1980 marked the triumph of the acoustic guitar trio with Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin. Their debut recording on Columbia Records, Friday Night in San Francisco, became a landmark recording that surpassed the four million mark in sales. The following year, 1981, Di Meola was inducted into Guitar Player’s Gallery of Greats after five consecutive wins as Best Jazz Guitarist in the magazine’s Readers Poll and winning best album and acoustic guitarist for a total of a record eleven wins. The three virtuosos in the trio toured together from 1980 through 1983, releasing the studio album Passion, Grace & Fire in 1982. In 1995, they reunited for a third recording, Guitar Trio, follow by another triumphant world tour. In early 1996, Di Meola formed a new trio with the violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and RTF bandmate Stanley Clarke called The Rite of Strings. Their self-titled debut was released in 1995. Di Meola subsequently recorded with the likes of opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti, pop stars Paul Simon, classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco, and Italian pop star Pino Daniele. Over the course of his career, he has also worked and recorded with Phil Collins, Carlos Santana, Steve Winwood, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Milton Naciemento, Egberto Gismonti, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Jimmy Page, Steve Vai, Frank Zappa and Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Di Meola’s 2013 release, All Your Life, was an acoustic tour de force that had him revisiting the music of a seminal influence – The Beatles. “I really credit the Beatles for the reason why I play guitar,” he says. “That was a major catalyst for me to want to learn music, so their impact was pretty strong.” A virtual one-man show of virtuosity, it features the guitar great interpreting 14 familiar Beatles tunes in the stripped-down setting of strictly acoustic guitar. While currently juggling acoustic tours in Europe and electric tours in the United States, Di Meola arrives at the perfect marriage of the two aesthetics on his latest album, 2015’s Elysium, which finds the guitar great blending the lush tones of his nylon string Conde Hermanos acoustic prototype model and a ’71 Les Paul electric (his Return to Forever and Elegant Gypsy axe) in a collection of songs that are at once invigorating and alluring. “It represents a new composition phase for me, whereby the writing became, in a sense, my therapy during a challenging personal transition in my life," he said. Di Meola is currently on tour in Europe and North America. This summer, he will be honored as the 22nd recipient of the Montreal Jazz Festival’s Miles Davis Award, created in 1994 to honor a great international jazz musician for the entire body of his or her work and for that musician’s influence in regenerating the jazz idiom. During a 40-plus year career marked by hugely influential recordings and worldwide tours, Di Meola has regenerated the jazz idiom three times over while dedicating himself to his art. And at age 60, this guitar hero seems inspired to begin a new chapter in his career with the release of Elysium.

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Al Di Meola: Twentyfour

Read "Twentyfour" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
August 15, 2024

Al Di Meola'sTwentyfour is a textured blend of acoustic and electric guitar set against a diverse palette of orchestral colors. Initially conceived as an acoustic project during the pandemic, the album evolved to include contributions from woodwinds, brass, percussion, keyboards, and a chamber orchestra. Di Meola, a New Jersey native and Berklee School of Music graduate, performs on guitar and multiple other instruments. The album's highlights include “Ava's Dance in the Moonlight," where lush orchestration complements Di Meola's ...

Live Review

Al Di Meola at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley

by Jack Gold-Molina
August 10, 2023

Al Di Meola Acoustic Trio Dimitriou's Jazz Alley Seattle, WA June 15, 2023 On Thursday June 15th Al Di Meola brought an acoustic trio to Dimitriou's Jazz Alley in Seattle to perform a set of flamenco influenced jazz. The musicians in his group included Di Meola playing guitar, Italian flamenco guitarist Peo Alfonsi, and percussionist Sergio Martínez. The set consisted of acoustic music that Di Meola has performed throughout his career as ...

Live Review

Al Di Meola at the Boulder Theater

by Geoff Anderson
February 20, 2023

Al Di Meola Boulder Theater Boulder, Colorado February 3, 2023 Psychologically speaking, having a split personality is usually a bad thing. Musically, it can be a delight. Guitarist Al Di Meola has had a musical split personality--one is acoustic, the other eclectric--for decades now. Two sides of the same coin, a sonic swap, aural diversity. And whichever side of the coin comes up, the audience is a winner. Di Meola blasted onto the ...

Album Review

Al Di Meola / Jean-Luc Ponty / Stanley Clarke: Rite Of Strings Live at Montreux 1994

Read "Rite Of Strings Live at Montreux 1994" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
December 2, 2022

By the time Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty and Stanley Clarke were recorded in 1994 at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival—remarkably, in their first time ever playing together in public—each had established a solid reputation in the jazz-fusion field and beyond. Accordingly, it might be seen as destiny that the three would work together in some context and indeed they did on both stage and studio (an album from which came out the year following their appearance in Switzerland).

Album Review

Stomu Yamash'ta: Seasons: The Island Albums (1972-1976)

Read "Seasons: The Island Albums (1972-1976)" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini

by Maurizio Comandini
October 12, 2022

Stomu Yamash'ta è un celebre percussionista giapponese, nato a Kyoto, in Giappone nel 1947. Figlio del direttore della Filarmonica di Kyoto, ha studiato musica all'Università di Kyoto e al Berklee College of Music. Ancora giovanissimo venne notato dal grande direttore d'orchestra Seiji Ozawa e si mise in evidenza come performer di assoluto valore in contesti legati alla musica giapponese tradizionale e di avanguardia, incorporando suggestioni provenienti dalla musica elettronica. Nel 1969 si esibisce con la Chicago Symphony Orchestra diretta dal ...

Live Review

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal 2022

by Mark Sullivan
July 19, 2022

Various Venues Festival International de Jazz de Montréal Montréal, Canada June 30-July 4, 2022 Like everything else, the Covid-19 pandemic stopped the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in its tracks. Forced to cancel the 2020 festival, they instead presented a four-day virtual festival online on June 27-30. Another abbreviated version was presented September 15-19, 2021, featuring mostly Canadian musicians and outdoor stages to comply with health restrictions. This year the festival came roaring ...

Radio & Podcasts

Charlie Mariano, Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke, Return To Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra

by Len Davis
February 27, 2022

From 1977 we play music from Charlie Mariano, from 1985 Al Di Meola with Elegant Gypsy-Live and More. Return To Forever, Stanley Clarke and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.Playlist Gene Lake “Grace Under Pressure" from Cycles (Passin' Thru) 00:00 Charlie Mariano “Helen 12 Trees" from Helen 12 Trees (Edel) 07:14 Al Di Meola “Senor Mouse" from Elegant Gypsy-Live And More (Ear Music) 14:17 Stanley Clarke and Friends “Stratus" from Live At the Greek (Sony) 21:31 Return to Forever “Celebration Suite ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Al Di Meola

Source: Michael Ricci
July 22, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Al Di Meola's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Al Di Meola

Source: Michael Ricci
July 22, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Al Di Meola's birthday today!

Interview

Interview: Al Di Meola on 'Saturday Night in SF'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 11, 2022

As legendary jazz albums go, Friday Night in San Francisco is a cult classic. Recorded live at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on December 5, 1980, the album was released in 1981 and featured three superb guitarists—Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía. All three played acoustic models. In some respects, the album's popularity at the time demonstrated that jazz fusion had run its course and that fans had aged and were ready for a change. The album also ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Al Di Meola

Source: Michael Ricci
July 22, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Al Di Meola's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Al Di Meola

Source: Michael Ricci
July 22, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Al Di Meola's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Al Di Meola

Source: Michael Ricci
July 22, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Al Di Meola's birthday today!

Al Di Meola\'s ongoing fascination with complex rhythmic syncopation combined with provocative lyrical melodies and sophisticated harmony has been at the heart of his music throughout a celebrated career that has spanned four decades and earned him critical accolades, three gold albums and more than six million in record sales worldwide. A bona fide guitar hero, perennial poll-winner, and prolific composer... Read more.

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Award / Grant

Al Di Meola Receives Honorary Doctorate At Berklee's Campus In Valencia, Spain

Source: Margot Edwards
July 25, 2018

Berklee Provost Larry Simpson presented an honorary doctor of music degree on July 9 to legendary jazz, fusion, and world music guitarist, composer, bandleader, and producer Al Di Meola during the commencement ceremony for the master’s degree programs at Berklee’s campus in Valencia, Spain. Di Meola also performed as a special guest at the commencement concert at the City of Arts and Sciences, which drew thousands of attendees. Over a career that has spanned more than four decades, Di Meola ...
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