Al Di Meola

[HeyMikey]

I got to see one of my guitar heroes again last night. Al Di Meola - The Electric Years tour at the Nashua Arts Center. The setting was in a nice, relatively small new theatre with good acoustics. What a treat!

He played a number of his older tunes, several off the Elegant Gypsy album, which I pretty much wore out back in the day. The band was well rehearsed and tight as Al lit up his iconic black Les Paul. So good! He added a couple new acoustic pieces during the second half that will be part of an upcoming album.

This was my third time seeing him. Before this I saw the Al/John/Paco acoustic tour in the 90’s and a few years ago the Return To Forever reunion with Chic and the gang.

 

[merlin6666]

One of my 70s fusion guitar heroes for sure. Does he still play an Ovation acoustic?

 

[Minnesota Flats]

I first became aware of him back during the 1970s when he replaced Bill Conners in Return to Forever. I thought that Conners' playing was actually a better fit for that group, but that's just a matter of my own personal taste. There is no denying that Dimeola is an utter monster of a guitarist/musician.

 

[HeyMikey]

He did not play an Ovation. I couldn’t tell what kind it was, but it was a nylon string I think with an aggressive Florentine cutaway so he could get way up the neck.

 

[HeyMikey]

He mentioned that he was 17 or 18 when he joined RTF. They recruited him after a year at Berkeley SoM. His first gig with them after a few weeks of rehearsal was at Carnegie Hall.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

He mentioned that he was 17 or 18 when he joined RTF. They recruited him after a year at Berkeley SoM. His first gig with them after a few weeks of rehearsal was at Carnegie Hall.

Hey: no pressure, eh?

 

[jp]

As a kid, I first saw Al Di Meola on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, blazing away on a Les Paul. I distinctly remember my mouth dropping open, and my adolescent brain exploding and thinking, "Who and what the hell is this?" I had never heard anything like that at all. He completely blew me away.

I really wish I had seen him, Paco De Lucia, and John McLaughlin on one of the Friday Night in San Francisco tours. RTF would have been amazing too. Awesome that you got to see him!

 

[ronbo]

Love Al, but I've never got to see him! I was just playing his "Scenario" album the other day...what a great player with an interesting and classy style.

 

[Harp Tail]

This is for those who may have not yet watched it. I briefly met Di Meola at a restaurant in Chicago long ago and he was extremely pleasant. His musicality needs no further endorsement.

 

[walrus]

As pointed out by @JohnW63 previously, there is a Guild F-512 on a stand at 9:26.

Guild Sighting - Al Di Meola

Al has a Guild 12 string. At 9:26. Looks like an F-512 to me.

letstalkguild.com

Also shows up here:

Al Di Meola - Strawberry Fields Forever

Guild 12-string in the background! walrus

letstalkguild.com

 

[HeyMikey]

He mentioned that he was 17 or 18 when he joined RTF. They recruited him after a year at Berkeley SoM. His first gig with them after a few weeks of rehearsal was at Carnegie Hall.

Just re-listening to this interview he tells the same RTF story but says it was 2-3 days rehearsal before Carnegie Hall. So either i misheard him at the concert or he got mixed up on the timeframe. I do recall when I saw the RTF reuinion a few years back that he and others were reading from charts a lot of the time so it seems possible that it was only a few days. At that level of musicianship very possible.

I also recall him talking about the acoustic duet (mediterranean sundance) with Paco on Elegant Gypsy saying it was just the two of them in the studio together live playing off of each other around the basic progression.