| Elegant Gypsy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 1977 | |||
| Recorded | December 1976–January 1977 | |||
| Genre | Jazz rock | |||
| Length | 37:00 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Al Di Meola | |||
| Al Di Meola chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide |  [2] |
Elegant Gypsy is the second album by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. It was released in 1977 by Columbia Records.
Elegant Gypsy was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, Land of the Midnight Sun . The distinctive music on the album is a speedy fusion of jazz and rock, with lightning-fast guitar riffs intermixed with lyrical acoustical passages. The songs include explorations of Latin music themes, including acoustic genres like flamenco. [3]
The inspiration behind one of di Meola's signature songs, “Race with Devil on Spanish Highway”, came from The Kinks’ garage rock classic "You Really Got Me". It the first song he attempted to play on the guitar, when he was between eight and nine years old. [4]
Elegant Gypsy won an annual award for Best Guitar Album in Guitar Player .
Janice Dickinson is the model on the album cover.
All songs by Al Di Meola unless otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Flight Over Rio" | Mingo Lewis | 7:16 |
| 2. | "Midnight Tango" | 7:28 | |
| 3. | "Mediterranean Sundance" | 5:14 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Race with Devil on Spanish Highway" | 6:18 |
| 5. | "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" | 1:46 |
| 6. | "Elegant Gypsy Suite" | 9:16 |
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Billboard 200 | 58 [5] |
| 1977 | Billboard Top Jazz Albums | 5 [5] |
John McLaughlin, also known as Mahavishnu, is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues. After contributing to several key British groups of the early 1960s, McLaughlin made Extrapolation, his first album as a bandleader, in 1969. He then moved to the U.S., where he played with drummer Tony Williams's group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his electric jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, and On the Corner. His 1970s electric band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, performed a technically virtuosic and complex style of music that fused electric jazz and rock with Indian influences.
Albert Laurence Di Meola 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. From 1976 to 1978 he played with Stomu Yamashta in the supergroup Go on three records. 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.
Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhunters, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever is often cited as one of the core groups of the jazz-fusion movement of the 1970s. Several musicians, including Clarke, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Al Di Meola, came to prominence through their performances on Return to Forever albums.
9012Live: The Solos is the third live album by English rock band Yes, released as a mini-LP on 7 November 1985 by Atco Records. Recorded during their 1984 world tour in support of their eleventh studio album, 90125 (1983), the album features a selection of solo tracks performed by each of the five band members, plus live versions of two songs from 90125. The album was a companion release to the band's 1985 concert film, 9012Live. In 2009, the album was reissued in Japan by Isao Kikuchi for Warner Music Japan, with two bonus tracks.
No Mystery (1975) is a studio album by jazz-rock fusion band Return to Forever, and the second featuring the quartet of Chick Corea, guitarist Al Di Meola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White.
Where Have I Known You Before is a studio album by Return to Forever, the first featuring guitarist Al Di Meola, and the second since leader Chick Corea switched to mostly electric instrumentation, playing music heavily influenced by progressive rock, funk and classical.
Romantic Warrior is a studio album by the American jazz fusion band Return to Forever, their first recorded for Columbia Records, after releasing their previous four albums on Polydor. In February 1976, the group retreated to Caribou Ranch near Nederland, Colorado to record. It was the first album to remove the "featuring Chick Corea" credit from beside the band name on the album cover. Despite the music being more dense and avant-garde than the funkier No Mystery, it remains the band's highest selling album with over 500,000 copies sold in the US alone.
Tour de Force — Live is a live album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1982 and recorded on February 4, 1982 at Tower Theatre in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. Additional keyboards and percussion were overdubbed in the studio.
Land of the Midnight Sun is the debut album by jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 1976.
Splendido Hotel is a double album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1980.
Electric Rendezvous is the fifth studio album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1982. It features flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía on “Passion, Grace & Fire”.
Scenario is an album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 1983. Musicians include keyboardist Jan Hammer, bassist Tony Levin and drummers Bill Bruford and Phil Collins.
Return to the 7th Galaxy: The Anthology is a 1996 compilation of 1972-1975 recordings made by bands assembled by Chick Corea under the name Return to Forever. The collection includes tracks from the albums Light as a Feather, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before and No Mystery, together with four previously unreleased tracks.
Kiss My Axe is an album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1991. It is a jazz fusion album, with significant world music influences. Like its predecessor, Tirami Su (1987), it is credited to "The Al Di Meola Project", although the two albums have an almost entirely different set of backing musicians.
Consequence of Chaos is an album by Italian-American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 2006. The album features guest appearances by Chick Corea, Steve Gadd, John Patitucci and Barry Miles.
Go Too (1977) is Go's third album. Go was founded by Stomu Yamashta, Steve Winwood and Michael Shrieve. For this album, Jess Roden replaced Steve Winwood. The style of the music became modified accordingly. In addition, Linda Lewis was hired as a singer. Together with Paul Jackson, Jr. and the orchestra of Martyn Ford the album unified various soundscapes.
Orange and Blue is an album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1994.
The Infinite Desire is an album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1998. Pianist Herbie Hancock plays acoustic piano on one pice, guitarist Steve Vai also plays electric guitar on another. Other guests include Pino Daniele on vocals, Mario Parmisano on keyboards, piano and strings and Rachel Z also on keyboards.
Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody is an album by Italian-American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 2011.
Stories to Tell is the fourth solo studio album by Brazilian jazz singer Flora Purim that was released in 1974 on Milestone Records.
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