Al Di Meola

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Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola 2006 1.jpg
Al Di Meola at the Granada Theater, Dallas, Texas, December 6, 2006
Background information
Birth nameAlbert Laurence Di Meola
Born (1954-07-22) July 22, 1954 (age 70)
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Songwriter
  • composer
  • musician
InstrumentGuitar
Discography Al Di Meola discography
Years active1974 – present
Labels
Formerly of Return to Forever
Website aldimeola.com

Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as guitarist with the group Return to Forever in 1974. The 1970s and 1980s saw albums such as Land of the Midnight Sun , Elegant Gypsy , Casino and Friday Night in San Francisco earn him both critical and commercial success. [1] [2]

Contents

Di Meola's career is peppered with high-profile collaborations. The list includes Chick Corea, Stanley Jordan, Jaco Pastorius, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia, Jean-Luc Ponty, Steve Vai and others.

Early life

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, [3] into an Italian family with roots in Cerreto Sannita, a small town northeast of Benevento, Di Meola grew up in Bergenfield, where he attended Bergenfield High School. [4] [5] He has been a resident of Old Tappan, New Jersey. [6]

When he was eight years old, his discovery of Elvis Presley and the Ventures inspired him to start playing guitar. Hearing The Beatles for the first time, though, was what that truly cemented his desire to become a musician. His older sister introduced them to Al on the family's 1963 Christmas, through their Meet the Beatles! LP. "Listening to that album really changed my life", said Di Meola. Watching their string of appearences on the The Ed Sullivan Show, two months later, further strengthened his drive. Di Meola started his classes with guitar teacher Robert "Bob" Aslanian, who directed him toward jazz standards. He was also trained in theory, reading and other useful skills. "He was my biggest influence", said of his first teacher. [7] [8]

By the late 1960s, Di Meola became keenly aware of the rock explosion. Besides British Invasion acts such as The Rolling Stones and The Who, he was particularly fond of the stateside acts coming from California. He liked country rock stars The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills and Nash, as well as the SF's Bay Area psychedelic rock scene, namely Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. "I loved all those bands", said he. [8]

Although he grew to appreciate the "whole package" of late 1960s and early 1970s rock icons Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Carlos Santana, he never looked up to them as role models. "I never thought of the rock players as having good technique", he pondered. Di Meola was rather inspired by jazz guitarists George Benson and Kenny Burrell and bluegrass and country guitarists Clarence White and Doc Watson. His musical direction solidified when was exposed to jazz rock pioneers Larry Coryell and John McLaughlin. [7] [8]

Career

1970s

Di Meola with Return to Forever at Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, New York, 1974 Return to Forever 1974.jpg
Di Meola with Return to Forever at Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, New York, 1974
Di Meola with Chick Corea in Rochester, New York, 1976 Al Di Meola & Chick Corea.jpg
Di Meola with Chick Corea in Rochester, New York, 1976

He attended Berklee College of Music in 1971. [3] There, he practiced up to eight hours a day. [7]

At nineteen, he was hired by Chick Corea to replace Bill Connors in the pioneering jazz fusion band Return to Forever with Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. [3] His short, two-year period with RtF's proved to be the group's career peak. He recorded three albums with Return to Forever, helping the quartet earn its greatest commercial success as all three albums cracked the Top 40 on the U.S. Billboard pop albums chart. [1]

No Mystery's title track won a Grammy for the Best Jazz Performance By A Group, but the band didn't show up for the event because they firmly believed they wouldn't win. Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald presented the prize. [9] Debuting at #170, Romantic Warrior peaked at #35 on May 1975, spending 3 weeks on the Billboard Top 40 and a total of 15 weeks on Billboard 200. [10] The album went on to win a gold RIAA certification on May 24th, 1990 for selling an excess of 500,000 copies. [11] [12]

As Return to Forever was disbanding around 1976, Di Meola began recording solo albums on which he demonstrated a mastery of jazz fusion, flamenco, and Mediterranean music. [13] His sophomore album, Elegant Gypsy (1977), went gold in July 24, 1989. [12]

In the beginning of his career, as evidenced on his first solo album Land of the Midnight Sun (1976, on which Jaco Pastorius and the ex-members of RTF collaborated), Di Meola was noted for his technical mastery and extremely fast, complex guitar solos and compositions. But even on his early albums, he had begun to explore Mediterranean cultures and acoustic genres like flamenco. Notable examples are "Mediterranean Sundance" and "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" from the Elegant Gypsy album (1977). Di Meola continued to explore Latin music within jazz fusion on Casino and Splendido Hotel .

From 1976 to 1978 he played with Stomu Yamashta in the supergroup Go on three records.

1980s

Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia performing in Barcelona, Spain in the 1980s Tres GUITARRISTAS (asi, con mayusculas).jpg
Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucía performing in Barcelona, Spain in the 1980s

In 1980, Al Di Meola recorded the best-selling Friday Night in San Francisco live album with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía. It became one of the most popular live albums for acoustic guitar, selling more than two million copies worldwide. [1] [14]

The trio reconvened in 1982 to record a studio album, Passion, Grace & Fire (1983). In the 2005 spanish remaster of the album, flamenco scholars José Manuel Gamboa and Faustino Nuñez weigh in their impressions on the liner notes. Though somewhat lacking the "warmth" of the live setting of their debut, Passion, Grace & Fire is a more balanced effort. The three performers contribute with two compositions each. [15]

The latter half of the 1980s came with noticeable shifts in Di Meola's music. One was the adoption of the Synclavier guitar synthesizer into his compositions.

The second shift was the start of a "Brazilian" phase of sorts. In Cielo e Terra (1985) he collaborated with drummer and percussionist Airto Moreira. By then, Moreira had a stellar track record in jazz fusion, having recorded and performed with Miles Davis and Chick Corea. [16] [17] [18]

Al Di Meola was one of the select invitees to Les Paul's 72nd birthday celebration on June 8th, 1987, at NYC's Hard Rock Cafe. He was invited to an impromtu jam with Les Paul and Jimmy Page, who earlier played over a 12-bar blues progression with Les' sidemen, playing riffs in the vein of Willie Dixon's "I Can't Quit You Baby". Other atendees included Bo Diddley, John Sebastian, Rick Derringer, Robby Krieger, Jeff Beck, Nile Rodgers and Elliot Easton. [19]

1990s

Except for the occasional electric guitar foray on albums such as 1991's Kiss My Axe , he spent most of the next two decades exploring both acoustic and world music.

In the mid-1990s Al Di Meola, Stanley Jordan and Jean-Luc Ponty worked for five weeks on what became the The Rite of Strings album. Their world tour included a South American leg, starting at Argentinan capital Buenos Aires, where they played for 7,000-strong crowd at the Luna Park stadium. They proceeded to visit Brazil for five dates: two on São Paulo and one each in Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Porto Alegre. [20] [21]

2000s

Al Di Meola rediscovered his love of the electric guitar in 2006, [22] and the DVD of his concert at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival 2006 is subtitled Return to Electric Guitar. [23]

On September 23, 2008, PRS Guitars unveiled their first Al DiMeola signature model: the Al Di Meola Prism. The guitarist went on the 2008 Return to Forever reunion tour with it. [24]

2010s

Di Meola at Leverkusener Jazztage (Forum/Leverkusen/Germany) on November 7, 2016 Al Di Meola - Leverkusener Jazztage 2016-AL1913.jpg
Di Meola at Leverkusener Jazztage (Forum/Leverkusen/Germany) on November 7, 2016

In 2018, Di Meola was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from his alma mater, Berklee College of Music. [25]

2020s

On January 11th, 2023, Al Di Meola wrote a heartfelt eulogy for Jeff Beck in his official Facebook page. "There was no one like Jeff" he said, praising his "most unique style." He reminisced how he grew up listening to Truth (1968) and Beck-Ola (1969). He also remembered how he loved Beck's 1976-1979 visits to his Hammersmith Odeon shows on London. [26]

Personal life

In July 2016, Al Di Meola married Stephanie Kreis after meeting after a 2013 concert of his in Budapest. [27]

Al has two daughters from a previous relationship; Oriana [28] and Valentina. [29] He also has a daughter with Stephanie, named Ava. [30] Additionally he is a first-time grandfather with his grandson named Orion [31] [32] from daughter Valentina.

In September 2023 while performing on stage in Bucharest, Romania Di Meola suffered a heart attack. He was admitted to a local hospital where he was treated for ST elevation myocardial infarction. [33] He took some time off from performances, but began performing again in January 2024. [34]

Musical style

Picking technique

Besides the impressive speed and accuracy of his alternate picking, another hallmark of Al Di Meola's style is his palm muting. [35] [36] In an interview to Rick Beato, Di Meola explained how he developed and practiced this technique: "[...] when I was younger, and the neighbors downstairs in the next yard, I didn't really want them to hear me play. So I would mute my strings. So I got kind of got used to the palm on the bridge and muting. But I also liked the fact that the notes popped". [37]

Di Meola espouses the advantages of palm muting when playing the electric guitar:

If you're playing, let's say, a Les Paul or a guitar with a lot of amplification in a sustained setting, and you go down low, it's pretty messy. So I would try to clean that up by muting so that you don't have this 'wash' of sound, if you know what I mean. It cleans up the wash, in a sense. So that kind of became a thing. [37]

In regard to his right-hand picking technique, Al di Meola advocates for the importance of picking all notes as much as possible. He stear clears from sweep picking and hammer-ons, which he deems as "shortcuts". In his opinion they're detrimental, in the long run, "for playing more intricate kinds of music". [38]

Whammy bar

Although fond of whammy bars, they're also notably absent from his playing style. Al di Meola's 1971 black Les Paul, featured on his early solo records, came with a Bigsby, which he had removed for a variety of reasons. He cited tuning issues, along with loss of tone and "some sustain capabilities." [39] In the 1980s di Meola acquired a PRS solid-body with a tremolo. He later quit using it, confessing he was "afraid of the obvious comparisons to other players." [40]

Legacy

Al di Meola made an impression on a whole generation of hard rock and heavy metal guitar heros. The list includes Mr. Big's Paul Gilbert, Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt and Dream Theater's John Petrucci. [35] The late Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads, at one point, declared that di Meola was his favorite guitarist. [41] Neoclassical legends Yngwie Malmsteen and Tony MacAlpine also sang praises for him. [42] [43] The latter said, back in 1987:

He's someone I greatly admire. I knew everything he ever did, every song from Return to Forever to all his solo albums. He was like the big guy to me. I picked up some things from him, like the right hand muting technique with the palm and the sheer speed and cleanless of execution. He was a big inspiration to me. He's mellowed out lately with Cielo e Terra and Soaring Through a Dream , which is cool. But I really like what he was doing before. I really hope he will incorporate that stuff back into what he's doing. I think he'll probably go back to that one day, and it'll be pretty amazing I'm sure. [43]

Al Di Meola's influence extends to other genres of as well. Toto guitarist and session musician Steve Lukather said Al was "incredible" and that his "sound and style [...] smacked me in the face". Along John McLaughlin, he was one of the 12 guitar players that shaped Lukather's style. [44]

Al Di Meola has been inducted for Guitar Player's "Gallery Of The Greats" by winning 5 times in one or more categories of the magazine's Annual Readers Poll. He has been awarded 14 times so far, on four different categories: "New Talent" (1975), "Jazz" (1977-1981), "Guitar LP" (1977, 1978, 1980, 1981) and "Acoustic Steel-String" (1983-1987). [45]

Guitar World magazine included Al Di Meola on their top 50 fastest "shredders" of all time list. He was featured alongside other rock and jazz luminaries, such as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Jason Becker, Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale and others. Di Meola personally dislikes the term, though, which he finds limiting. He sees himself as more of a composer than a virtuoso. [46] [47]

Al Di Meola, along with former bandmates Return to Forever, received in 2008 the BBC Jazz "Lifetime Achievement Award" by Beatles producer George Martin. They performed Romantic Warrior's title track at the event. [48] In the same year he received a honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater , the Berklee College of Music. [49]

Discography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards [50]

Guitar Player Magazine [45] [51]

Berklee College of Music

BBC Jazz Awards

Latin Grammy Awards [52]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Prato, Greg. "Al Di Meola". AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  2. ↑ Smith, Toby (November 6, 2009). "Al Di Meola, World Sinfonia Australian Tour – March 2010". Music Feeds. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 697. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  4. ↑ Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians, jazz.com, backed up by the Internet Archive as of January 26, 2009; accessed September 11, 2017. "Di Meola was born to an Italian family with roots in jazz fusion on July 22nd, 1954 in Jersey City, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan. He grew up in Bergenfield, New Jersey, located in Bergen County.... When Di Meola completed his studies at Bergenfield High School, he enrolled in classes at the Berklee College of Music in Boston."
  5. ↑ Al Di Meola profile, Concord(entertainment company); accessed September 11, 2017.
    "Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on July 22, 1954, Al Di Meola grew up with the music of The Ventures, The Beatles and Elvis Presley. ... 'In the '60s, if you didn't play like Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page, you weren't accepted,' he recalls of his high school years in Bergenfield, New Jersey."
  6. ↑ Stewart, Zan. The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats, The Star-Ledger , September 28, 2003, backed up by the Internet Archive as of September 29, 2007. Accessed September 11, 2017. "Al DiMeola – One of the most dynamic of contemporary guitarists, Jersey City native DiMeola lives in Old Tappan."
  7. 1 2 3 Guitar World Staff (July 22, 2016). "Al Di Meola: "It's Bullshit When Guitarists Say, "One Note Says So Much More Than 100"". Guitar World . Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Myers, Marc (July 11, 2022). "Interview: Al Di Meola on 'Saturday Night in SF'". JazzWax. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  9. ↑ Di Meola, Al (February 4, 2024). "[RtF Grammy award]". Facebook . Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Album / Return To Forever / Romantic Warrior". Billboard Database. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  11. ↑ "RIAA Gold & Platinum Program". RIAA . Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  12. 1 2 "RIAA - Gold & Platinum Searchable Database". RIAA . Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  13. ↑ Yanow, Scott (2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. San Francisco: Backbeat. p. 57. ISBN   978-1-61713-023-6.
  14. ↑ Scheel, Christian. "Al Di Meola World Sinfonia". Nova Concerts. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  15. ↑ Gamboa & Nuñez 2005, page 2.
  16. ↑ Costa, Sérgio (March 2, 2017). "A paixão latina e a guitarra elétrica com Al Di Meola". Segunda Opinião (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  17. ↑ Aiex, Tony (July 25, 2018). "Al Di Meola vem ao Brasil e nós batemos um papo com o músico". Tenho Mais Discos Que Amigos! (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  18. ↑ Airto Moreira was part of Davis' personnel on the double-LP Bitches Brew (1970) and the live albums Miles Davis at Fillmore (1970), Live-Evil (1971) and Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West (1973). After his brief stint with Miles he was recruited by Chick Corea, along with wife/singer Flora Purim. They exhibited their talents on Corea's Return to Forever (1972) solo album and RtF's debut, Light as a Feather (1973).
  19. ↑ Lalaina 1987, pages 14-15.
  20. ↑ Chrispim Marin, Denise (September 30, 1995). "Acústico do Rite of Strings vem ao Brasil". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Al Di Meolaa's 1995 Concert History". Concert Archives. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  22. ↑ "In Conversation with Al Di Meola" – special feature on the Speak a Volcano DVD
  23. ↑ Speak a Volcano: Return to Electric Guitar (2007) DVD
  24. ↑ Premiere Guitar (September 22, 2008). "New PRS Al Di Meola Prism Guitar". Premiere Guitar . Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Al Di Meola Gets Honorary Berklee Doctorate". JazzTimes. April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  26. ↑ Di Meola, Al (January 11, 2023). "[Jeff Beck eulogy]". Facebook . Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  27. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  28. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  29. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  33. ↑ "US guitarist Al Di Meola suffers a heart attack on stage in Romania but is now in a stable condition". AP News. September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  34. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  35. 1 2 Griffiths, Charlie (July 19, 2024). "'A relentless speed and accuracy rarely heard before on the electric guitar': Al Di Meola's peerless alternate-picking style changed the landscape of guitar playing – just ask John Petrucci and Nuno Bettencourt". Guitar World . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  36. ↑ Barnard, Simon (January 24, 2023). "How to palm mute on guitar: a metal and punk essential". Guitar World . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  37. 1 2 Slavković, David (March 8, 2022). "Al Di Meola Explains Why It's 'Torture' to Record an Album Today, Talks Unusual Way How He Developed Palm Muting Technique". Ultimate Guitar . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  38. ↑ Wyatt, Keith (1991). "Al di Meola: REH Master Series". REH Video. Retrieved August 25, 2024– via YouTube.
  39. ↑ Prato, Greg (July 22, 2024). "'I Love the Vibrato Bar, But...': Al Di Meola Reveals Biggest Problems of Guitars With Tremolo Bridges". Ultimate Guitar . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  40. ↑ Widders-Ellis 1992, p. 71.
  41. ↑ Carew 2018, p. 45.
  42. ↑ Sharma, Amit (December 26, 2019). "Yngwie Malmsteen: the 10 guitarists who impressed me most". MusicRadar. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  43. 1 2 Milkowski 1987, page 82.
  44. ↑ Daly, Andrew (March 11, 2024). ""Jimi Hendrix scared me. Learning about the Hendrix E chord was amazing… I figured out where to put my fingers and kinda eked it out on my own": Steve Lukather names the 12 guitarists who shaped his sound". Guitar World . Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  45. 1 2 "Gallery of the greats" (1990), pp. 24-25.
  46. ↑ Guitar World Staff (March 11, 2015). "Need for speed: The 50 fastest shred guitarists of all time". Guitar World . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  47. ↑ Jomatami (August 4, 2020). "Al Di Meola Explains His Problem With 'Shredders,' Names Surprising Connection With Iconic Rock Song". Ultimate Guitar . Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  48. ↑ Fordham, John (July 23, 2008). "BBC Jazz Awards 2008: A winning shindig". The Guardian . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  49. ↑ "Honorary Degree Recipients". Berklee College of Music . Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  50. ↑ "Grammy Award winners – Al di Meola". Grammy.com. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  51. ↑ Sievert (1990), pp. 28-29.
  52. ↑ "Latin Grammy Award nominees – Al di Meola". LatinGRAMMY.com. Retrieved August 8, 2024.

Bibliography

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