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<!-- #thumb --> <p>One thing that the music world is not short of is great acoustic and electric guitarists. However, there aren’t very many who are recognized internationally by their piers as being a virtuoso on both. Al Di Meola is. Al is adept at blending his mastery of fusion, flamenco, tango, Middle Eastern, Brazilian and African music with frightening ease and skill. Al’s major influences are the Beatles, jazz guitarists Tal Farlow and Kenny Burrell. It was his discovery of guitarist Larry Coryell, whom Al dubbed “The Godfather of Fusion”, and his blending of jazz, blues and rock seamlessly that stopped him in his tracks. “I used to ride the bus from New Jersey to see him play at Greenwich Village. Wherever he was playing, I was there.” The defining moment that would change the course of Al’s career was a gig recording of the band headed by fusion keyboardist</p>
<p>Barry Miles during his second semester at Berklee College of Music in 1971. A friend of Di Meola’s passed this recording to Chick Corea that resulted in 1974 invitation for the 19 year-old Di Meola to join the fusion super group Return to Forever to replace guitarist</p>
<p>Bill Connors (an amazing musician). Al recalls, “I was just sitting around my apartment in Boston on a Friday afternoon when Chick called and asked me to come to a rehearsal in New York. I couldn’t believe it. But in 10 minutes I packed some clothes in a bag, got a ride to New York and never saw that apartment again.”</p>
<p>Following a weekend of rehearsals with Chick, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, Al made his RTF debut at Carnegie Hall on July 3, 1974, a seismic shift is his career. “Playing with Chick in Return to Forever was a significant step in my development as a player,” Al offers,” Chick was another major influence in my life, He has always been a wonderful supporter, major musical inspiration and a friend.” After three ground breaking recordings, Where Have I Known You Before (1974), the Grammy Award wining No Mysteries (1975) and Romantic Warrior (1976), RTF disbanded. Al then started his solo career and in 1976 released his debut recording as a leader, Land of the Midnight Sun and six more albums with Columbia Records. In 1980, Di Meola would join fellow guitar virtuosos Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin to form an acoustic guitar trio. Their debut recording, Friday Night in San Francisco, which sold more that two million records.</p>
<p>Blah, blah, blah, blah. Enough gab. Take it away, Al!</p>
<p>Al with RTF:</p>
<p>As a leader:</p>
<p>With Jean-Luc Ponty and Stanley Clarke:</p>
<p>With Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin:</p>
<p>I had the great pleasure of experiencing Al Di Meola live with RTF during their reunion tour in 1982, one of the top five concerts I’ve ever attended. Al Di Meola-guitarist extraordinaire!</p>
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[Source: http://www.pstracks.com/music/al-di-meola/12114/]
<p>Barry Miles during his second semester at Berklee College of Music in 1971. A friend of Di Meola’s passed this recording to Chick Corea that resulted in 1974 invitation for the 19 year-old Di Meola to join the fusion super group Return to Forever to replace guitarist</p>
<p>Bill Connors (an amazing musician). Al recalls, “I was just sitting around my apartment in Boston on a Friday afternoon when Chick called and asked me to come to a rehearsal in New York. I couldn’t believe it. But in 10 minutes I packed some clothes in a bag, got a ride to New York and never saw that apartment again.”</p>
<p>Following a weekend of rehearsals with Chick, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, Al made his RTF debut at Carnegie Hall on July 3, 1974, a seismic shift is his career. “Playing with Chick in Return to Forever was a significant step in my development as a player,” Al offers,” Chick was another major influence in my life, He has always been a wonderful supporter, major musical inspiration and a friend.” After three ground breaking recordings, Where Have I Known You Before (1974), the Grammy Award wining No Mysteries (1975) and Romantic Warrior (1976), RTF disbanded. Al then started his solo career and in 1976 released his debut recording as a leader, Land of the Midnight Sun and six more albums with Columbia Records. In 1980, Di Meola would join fellow guitar virtuosos Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin to form an acoustic guitar trio. Their debut recording, Friday Night in San Francisco, which sold more that two million records.</p>
<p>Blah, blah, blah, blah. Enough gab. Take it away, Al!</p>
<p>Al with RTF:</p>
<p>As a leader:</p>
<p>With Jean-Luc Ponty and Stanley Clarke:</p>
<p>With Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin:</p>
<p>I had the great pleasure of experiencing Al Di Meola live with RTF during their reunion tour in 1982, one of the top five concerts I’ve ever attended. Al Di Meola-guitarist extraordinaire!</p>
<center><a href="http://www.pstracks.com/music/al-di-meola/12114/emailpopup/" onclick="email_popup(this.href); return false;" title="Forward to a friend and help us engage more readers" rel="nofollow"><img class="WP-EmailIcon" src="http://www.pstracks.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-email/images/email.gif" alt="email Al Di Meola" title="Al Di Meola" /></a>*<a href="http://www.pstracks.com/music/al-di-meola/12114/emailpopup/" onclick="email_popup(this.href); return false;" title="Forward to a friend and help us engage more readers" rel="nofollow">Forward to a friend and help us engage more readers</a></center><br /><!-- // MAILCHIMP SUBSCRIBE CODE --><center><a href="http://eepurl.com/eSzBY">Get new and fresh stories like this each morning by joining the folks reading Paul's Posts. Click here </a></center>
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[Source: http://www.pstracks.com/music/al-di-meola/12114/]