AL DI MEOLA
A MUSIC BIOGRAPHY
by Arthur Levy
For Al Di Meola, 1982 proved to be the year that would acknowledge his standing as one of the greatest guitarists in the world, acknowledgment that poured in as much for his electric work as for his acoustic work. For the fifth consecutive year, 1977 through 1981, he had conclusively won the "Best Jazz Guitarist" award in the annual Readers Poll of Guitar Player magazine. That accomplishment over a five year period earned him admission into Guitar Player's respected "Gallery of the Greats," as Al became the youngest player in the magazine's history ever accorded that honor.
Moreover, his four Columbia albums, Elegant Gypsy, Casino, Splendido Hotel, and Friday Night in San Francisco (the latter with John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia) had each captured the "Best Guitar Album" award in Guitar Player for the years '77, '78, '80, and '81 respectively. Together with his earlier "Best New Talent" award from 1975, this brought Al's tally of Guitar Player awards to a staggering ten, the highest number won by any guitarist in the magazine's history. And considering the Grammy award predating all of this, that he shared in 1975 with Return To Forever, Al's exceptional career is something of a fascinating success story.
Al arrived as a powerful and influential force in music on his own terms, playing a brand of music that cannot be categorized. This blend includes elements of rock, jazz, classical, Mediterranean and Latin rhythms woven into beautiful melodies played on acoustic and electric instruments. His excellent technique on the guitar has won kudos around the world, fitting tributes to the early years of hard work he invested in the perfection of his craft.
TOUR DE FORCE - "LIVE" is Al's latest Columbia album and the seventh that he's produced himself (with co-producer/engineer Dennis MacKay). It represents a logical progression from his previous album, Electric Rendezvous, since it records the final night on-tour of the band that he assembled for that album: Jan Hammer on keyboards, bassist Anthony Jackson, drummer Steve Gadd, and percussionist Mingo Lewis. (For the new album and those dates, one also encounters second keyboardist Victor Godsey, with percussionist Sammy Figueroa and Al's regular keyboardist Philippe Saisse on hand in the studio.)
Close observers of Al's music through the years will recognize the same basic foursome from the "Elegant Gypsy Suite" which, appropriately, has been chosen to open TOUR DE FORCE "LIVE". Also from the Elegant Gypsy album is another familiar piece that reunites these musicians in a live setting, "Race With Devil On Spanish Highway" Equally familiar is "Egyptian Danza," whose live version here revitalizes the original from the Casino album. Two new compositions make their live debut on the album, Al's "Nena," and Jan Hammer's "Advantage." Also from Jan's pen is the tune that opened side two of Electric Rendezvous with an explosion (and closes this new LP), "Cruisin'."
His early training with jazz guitarist Robert Aslanian emphasized reading, picking technique, and technical proficiency, as well as the ability to appreciate and play many types of music. Al loved to listen to rock 'n' roll, as well as jazz, and invested time listening to Larry Coryell, Doc Watson, Kenny Burrell, George Benson and, of course, the Ventures.
In 1971, Al enrolled at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, majoring in instrumental performance. By the second semester he was playing with the Barry Miles Quartet. During a quartet date back in New Jersey, friend Mike Buyukas made a live tape that was eventually heard by Chick Corea. Following six months more with the quartet, Al reenrolled at Berklee to study arranging.
Until a few months later: "I was just sitting around my apartment in Boston one Friday afternoon," he relates, "when Chick Corea phoned and asked me to come to a rehearsal in New York. At the time he was my favorite musician and Return To Forever was my favorite group. For me it was a dream come true. There couldn't have been anything better happening in my life. In ten minutes I packed some clothes in a bag, got a ride to New York, and never saw that apartment again." There was a weekend of rehearsing, and Al debuted onstage with RTF at Carnegie Hall the next night. He was 19 years old, collecting a standing ovation for a very auspicious beginning in the big time.
Together, Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White set high standards for the new jazz-rock fusion, touring consistently and recording three landmark albums, Where Have I Known You Before, No Mystery - for which Al shared RTF's 1975 Grammy for "Best Jazz Performance by a Group", and Romantic Warrior. The latter two LP's each offered a composition by Al, revealing his direction for the future as a major songwriter of original music, since Al now composes the majority of all material on his own solo albums.
When Corea dismantled RTF in 1976, Al was already working on his first solo LP for Columbia, Land of the Midnight Sun, which he produced himself. The success of that first album set the pace for him as a formidable record producer and composer, as evidenced by the releases of Elegant Gypsy in 1977; Casino in 1978; Splendido Hotel in 1980; Friday Night in San Francisco in 1981; and Electric Rendezvous in 1982. Worldwide sales of these six albums have reached nearly 4 million copies, firmly establishing Al as a major recording artist with an international following.
Splendido Hotel was an ambitious and highly rewarding project for Al as a producer, composer, and arranger. It was recorded in New York with his regular band at the time, including Philippe Saisse on keyboards (who composed the LP's "Roller Jubilee"), and offered many highlights. A vocal, "I Can Tell," was co-written with Saisse and mixed by Phil Ramone (Billy Joel's producer). "Splendido Sundance" was a first, as Al played both parts of a breathtaking acoustic duet, typical of his search for original challenges. The Brazilian "Silent Story In Her Eyes" and the duet "Two To Tango" both featured Chick Corea, who also wrote the music for the guitar concerto "Isfahan," recorded with the Columbus Boy-choir. Attention was also focused on the split-channel, updated version of "Spanish Eyes" with legendary guitarist Les Paul, fellow New Jerseyite and a close friend of Al's since '77.
Thus began a non-stop tour schedule the month the LP was released, starting in July, 1980, with a series of five concerts with Santana. The sell-out tour then continued (without any second act) as "An Evening with Al Di Meola," climaxing October 4th at the Palladium in New York City.
Al had already begun to formulate his next artistic challenge: an acoustic trio with Paco De Lucia of Spain and John McLaughlin from England, a truly international grouping. A fast two weeks later they were premiering in Germany. The sold-out tour was the rave of the Continent, through Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, England, and Spain until the end of November. Three days later they crossed the Atlantic to play Carnegie Hall, then cross-country to the Santa Monica Civic, and finally up to the Bay Area for Friday and Saturday nights at the Warfield (December 5-6th). Thus, Friday Night in San Francisco, the album title, an awesome live recording in both its analog configuration and its half-speed mastered extended-range Mastersound audiophile pressing.
Al was back on the road in mid-January with Philippe and "the band" for a quick junket to Japan, eight sold-out shows in four cities through the end of the month. They headed for Mexico three weeks later, another sell-out at the Sports Arena with heavy television coverage on the government station there. Those proved to be the last major dates with "the band" for 1981.
The acoustic trio reconvened on the last day of March for a cross-country U.S. tour, thirty standing room only shows in thirty days, coinciding with the late-April release of Friday Night. They played in San Juan, P.R., on May 2nd, setting the scene for "Passion, Grace & Fire." In June Al settled into the recording studio to begin work on ELECTRIC RENDEZVOUS. Work was punctuated in August for another month back with the trio (encompassing a return to Mexico, San Francisco's Greek Theater, the Hollywood Bowl, and another full-scale European itinerary of about two dozen shows). On September 5th, Al returned to San Francisco to make his first appearance at Mimi Farina's Bread & Roses Festival (featuring Paul Simon, Joan Baez, and Robin Williams) at the Greek Theater. Again, Al originated another unique acoustic trio for the special benefit occasion, as his acoustic guitar joined with Philippe on marimba, and Andy Narell, considered the world's top steel drum player. They earned a standing ovation from the 8,500 fans.
The Friday Night trio, however, had succeeded beyond anyone's imagination. What had started out as a challenging project had turned into an international phenomenon, selling (to date) nearly three-quarters of a million copies worldwide, quite an achievement for acoustic music these days. For Al, the trio constitutes virtually a second career. For the public, the trio certainly deserved the "#1 New Jazz Group" of the year award which was given by Cashbox and Record World magazines in their year-end issues. Holland's prestigious Edison Award for "Best Live Instrumental Album" of 1981 was just one of many international honors accorded the project overseas.
As 1982 began with the early-January release of Electric Rendezvous, no time was wasted in putting the specially-chosen band on the road (Al, Jan Hammer, Anthony Jackson, Steve Gadd, and Mingo Lewis). The "dream band" tour began at the Warfield in San Francisco and covered eleven cities coast-to-coast, every date a sold-out standing room only event. The trip climaxed in New York at the Savoy, which was videotaped for future broadcast (although at least three numbers have already been distributed, "Electric Rendezvous," "Cruising," and "Ritmo de la Noche"). The finale came two nights later in Philadelphia, though, as that one-tour-only band recorded the music that is heard on TOUR DE FORCE -"LIVE".
Later on in February, music industry conventioneers were treated to a rare impromptu performance at the annual NARM convention, as Al played with Chick Corea and Dave Grisman before the conclave. The segment was videotaped and telecast the very next week on "Entertainment Tonight."
In late-March, touring resumed, as Al, Anthony Jackson, and Mingo Lewis were joined by Philippe Saisse (replacing Jan Hammer) and Simon Phillips (of Jeff Beck and Stanley Clarke bands; replacing Steve Gadd). The twenty-two date itinerary concentrated on new markets in the southeast and southwest, playing to capacity audiences nightly. A high point came on the fourth night out when, while visiting Atlanta, Al was made an honorary citizen of the city for "Outstanding Merit" by the new Mayor, former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young.
On May 15, Al and his band headlined the Hammersmith Odeon in London (his second time there as a headliner), the sold-out show marking the opening of a three week European tour of seven countries, including Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Holland, and wrapping up in Nice on the French Riviera. It's worth noting, by the way, that CBS artists Herbie Hancock and Jeff Beck were in the audience that night at Hammersmith; and in Frankfurt, a touring Paul Simon spent his night-off listening to Al Di Meola.
As the summer came to an end, Al had gone back to London to record a studio album with the trio (McLaughlin and De Lucia), which is expected for release at the beginning of 1983. Most recently, Al is working on composing material for his electric band's next album, to begin recording in December for release in the spring, 1983. As for the perennial question of a reunion of Return To Forever, the group will be reuniting for a national tour during the months of March and April, 1983.
"I'm doing the music I like and it's a great high," Al said. "I've established a following and now I want to reach more people." The excitement and challenge of his music in both acoustic and electric styles is proven with each new project he takes on, as every performance is, indeed, a tour de force!
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