jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

Return to Forever 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 Headhun ...

Elegant Gypsy ''Elegant Gypsy'' is the second album by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. It was released in 1977 by Columbia Records. Background ''Elegant Gypsy'' was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, '' Land of the Midnight Sun''. The ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. into an Italian family with roots in

Cerreto Sannita Cerreto Sannita (; nap, label=Campanian, Cerrìte ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 60 km northeast of Naples and about 25 km northwest of Benevento. Cerreto Sa ...

, a small town northeast of

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

, Di Meola grew up in Bergenfield, where he attended

Bergenfield High School Bergenfield High School is a four-year, comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bergenfield, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Bergenfield Public Schools. Be ...

. He has been a resident of

Old Tappan, New Jersey Old Tappan ( ) is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,750,Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and

the Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

to start playing guitar. His teacher directed him toward jazz standards. He cites as influences jazz guitarists

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

and

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

and bluegrass and country guitarists

Clarence White Clarence White (born Clarence Joseph LeBlanc; June 7, 1944 – July 15, 1973) was an American bluegrass and country guitarist and singer. He is best known as a member of the bluegrass ensemble the Kentucky Colonels and the rock band the Byrd ...

and

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...

.

Career

He attended

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in 1971. At nineteen, he was hired by

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

to replace

Bill Connors Bill Connors (born September 24, 1949) is an American jazz guitarist who was a member of Chick Corea's band Return to Forever. After leaving Return to Forever, he recorded three acoustic albums and then three electric albums as a leader/soloist ...

in the pioneering

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

band

Return to Forever 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 Headhun ...

with

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jaz ...

and

Lenny White Leonard "Lenny" White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". He has won ...

. 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. As Return to Forever was disbanding around 1976, Di Meola began recording solo albums on which he demonstrated a mastery of jazz fusion,

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

, and Mediterranean music. His album ''

Elegant Gypsy ''Elegant Gypsy'' is the second album by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. It was released in 1977 by Columbia Records. Background ''Elegant Gypsy'' was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, '' Land of the Midnight Sun''. The ...

'' (1977) received a gold certification. In 1980, he recorded the acoustic live album, '' Friday Night in San Francisco'', with

Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (;), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flam ...

and

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...

.

In the beginning of his career, as evidenced on his first solo album '' Land of the Midnight Sun'' (1976, on which

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...

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 ''Elegant Gypsy'' is the second album by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. It was released in 1977 by Columbia Records. Background ''Elegant Gypsy'' was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, '' Land of the Midnight Sun''. The ...

'' album (1977). His early albums were influential among rock and jazz guitarists. Di Meola continued to explore

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

within jazz fusion on ''

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

'' and '' Splendido Hotel''. He exhibited a more subtle touch on acoustic numbers "Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars" from the ''Casino'' album and on the best-selling live album with McLaughlin and de Lucia, '' Friday Night in San Francisco''. The latter album became one of the most popular live albums for acoustic guitar, selling more than two million copies worldwide. Al Di Meola - Leverkusener Jazztage 2016-AL1913

Al Di Meola - Leverkusener Jazztage 2016-AL1913

In the mid-1980s, Di Meola began to incorporate the Synclavier guitar synthesizer into his compositions. Except for the occasional electric guitar foray on albums such as 1991's ''

Kiss My Axe ''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", a ...

'', he spent most of the next two decades exploring acoustic music and world music. He rediscovered his love of the electric guitar in 2006, and the DVD of his concert at the

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is o ...

Jazz Festival 2006 is subtitled ''Return to Electric Guitar''. In 2018, Di Meola was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from his alma mater, Berklee College of Music.

Discography

* 1976 '' Land of the Midnight Sun'' ( Columbia) * 1977 ''

Elegant Gypsy ''Elegant Gypsy'' is the second album by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. It was released in 1977 by Columbia Records. Background ''Elegant Gypsy'' was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, '' Land of the Midnight Sun''. The ...

'' (Columbia) * 1978 ''

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

'' (Columbia) * 1980 '' Splendido Hotel'' (Columbia) * 1981 '' Friday Night in San Francisco'' with

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...

,

Paco de Lucia Paco is a Spanish nickname for Francisco. According to folk etymology, the nickname has its origins in Saint Francis of Assisi, who was the father of the Franciscan order; his name was written in Latin by the order as ''Pater Communitatis'' (fat ...

(Columbia) * 1982 ''

Tour De Force – Live ''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 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Additional keyboards and percussion were overdubbed in the studio. ...

'' (Columbia) * 1982 ''

Electric Rendezvous ''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 (who recorded '' Friday Night in San Francisco'' with Di Meola and John McLaughlin) on “ ...

'' (Columbia) * 1983 '' Passion, Grace & Fire'' with John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia (Columbia) * 1983 ''

Scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; ) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally pi ...

'' (Columbia) * 1985 '' Cielo e Terra'' (Manhattan) * 1985 ''

Soaring Through a Dream ''Soaring Through a Dream'' is an album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1985. Track listing #"Capoeira" (Al Di Meola, Airto Moreira) – 9:21 #"Traces (Of A Tear)" (Di Meola) – 9:00 #"Broken Heart" (Di Meola) – 5:00 #"Ju ...

'' with Al Di Meola Project (

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

) * 1987 '' Tirami Su'' with Al Di Meola Project (Manhattan) * 1988 ''

Kiss My Axe ''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", a ...

'' with Al Di Meola Project (

Tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

) * 1991 ''

World Sinfonia ''World Sinfonia'' is an album by jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1991. Track listing # "Perpetual Emotion " (Al Di Meola) – 3:30 # "Orient Blue" (Di Meola) – 2:57 # "Tango Suite Part I" (Ástor Piazzolla) – 8:49 # " ...

'' (Tomato) * 1993 '' Heart of the Immigrants'' (Mesa) * 1994 '' Orange and Blue'' (Bluemoon) * 1995 ''

The Rite of Strings ''The Rite of Strings'' is a collaborative album by virtuosi Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty, recorded after their world tour in 1995. The album was recorded at Studio 56, Hollywood. The trio reunited for a performance at the F ...

'' with

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jaz ...

,

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz violinist and composer. Early life Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano. At sixteen, he was admitt ...

* 1996 ''

The Guitar Trio ''The Guitar Trio'' is a reunion album by Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin, released in 1996 after 13 years without playing together. This 1996 effort has three originals apiece from McLaughlin and Di Meola, two by de Lucía and ...

'' with John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia (

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

) * 1996 ''

Di Meola Plays Piazzolla ''Di Meola Plays Piazzolla'' is an album by Al Di Meola which is a tribute to Argentinian composer Ástor Piazzolla. Eight of the ten songs were written by Piazzolla. Di Meola is accompanied by percussionist Arto Tuncboyacian and Dino Saluzzi, ...

'' (Bluemoon) * 1998 ''

The Infinite Desire ''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 ...

'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

) * 1999 '' Winter Nights'' (Telarc) * 2000 '' World Sinfonía III – The Grande Passion'' (Telarc) * 2002 '' Flesh on Flesh'' (Telarc) * 2005 '' Cosmopolitan Life'' with

Leonid Agutin Leonid Nikolayevich Agutin (russian: link=no, Леонид Николаевич Агутин; born July 16, 1968) is a Russian pop musician and songwriter, Meritorious Artist of Russia (2008). He has been active since the 1990s. He has released te ...

(Ole) * 2006 ''Vocal Rendezvous'' (SPV) * 2006 ''

Consequence of Chaos ''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. Track listing All ...

'' (Telarc) * 2007 ''

Diabolic Inventions and Seduction for Solo Guitar ''Diabolic Inventions and Seduction for Solo Guitar, Vol. 1: Music of Astor Piazzolla'' is an album by Italian-American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 2007. Track listing All songs by Ástor Piazzolla #"Campero" – ...

'' (In-Akustik) * 2007 ''Live in London'' * 2008 '' World Sinfonia – La Melodia'' * 2008 ''He and Carmen'' with Eszter Horgas * 2010 ''One Night in Montreal'' (Jazz Hour) * 2011 '' Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody'' (Telarc) * 2013 ''All Your Life: A Tribute to the Beatles Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London'' * 2015 ''Elysium'' (In-Akustik) * 2017 ''Morocco Fantasia'' (In-Akustik) * 2018 ''Elegant Gypsy & More Live'' (Ear Music) * 2018 ''Opus'' (Ear Music) * 2020 ''Across the Universe '' (Ear Music) * 2022 ''Saturday Night in San Francisco''

References

External links

Official site

Al Di Meola Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2015)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Meola, Al 1954 births Living people 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American jazz guitarists Jazz fusion guitarists Jazz-rock guitarists Lead guitarists Return to Forever members Columbia Records artists American jazz musicians Latin jazz guitarists Berklee College of Music alumni Bergenfield High School alumni American people of Italian descent People from Bergenfield, New Jersey Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey People from Old Tappan, New Jersey Guitarists from New Jersey American male guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians