I didn't expect it to blow me away as it did but it is so good it is impossible to ignore. This is my all-time favorite DiMeola composition, loved it to death for decades. It was a call from keyboardist Chick Corea in 1974, though, that truly set his career in motion. It is the inclusion of this that gives the album its most unique qualities. The rhythm section is so tight, it will make one cringe with delighted respect. He emerged in 1985 with the music for two new albums, Cielo e Terra and Soaring Through A Dream, both of which showed a new maturity and subtlety of approach.
Merging jazz rock, Latin and Spanish music and, occasionally, progressive rock, Elegant Gypsy accounts for one of the most impressive albums recorded in the jazz fusion genre. He has been a resident of. So instead of just mentioning Brazil it would be positive to actually mention it musically. What it lacks is the energy and creative integrity that underscores World Sinfonia sessions and his classic. Song to the Pharoah Kings 8:50 6. If you want to listen to an album that will definitely not let you down, with impressive guitar work and guitar-led compositions, look no further: Elegant Gypsy is what you most certainly need.
This is so good , its absurd! Although sounding tentative on his first album with the band, 1974 , Di Meola emerged as a key contributor on 1975 and 1976. Helping out is Hernan Romero on percussion and guitar and Roman Hrynkiv on the Ukrainian bandura, one of the most spectacular and beautiful instruments ever created. However, most the album revolves around the stringed instrument. 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. Hrynkiv also composed three of the four Winterludes which I think are really improvisations. Awards: Grammy Award, with group Return to Forever, for No Mystery, 1975; Thomas A. This is a master class performance and one that should be heard by all progheads.
Overall, I consider this as a very good album and I recommend those of you who love jazz-rock fusion kind of music would enjoy this album. On these last two tracks we get some of the most versatile and beautifully constructed guitar music that emerged from the 70s. By the 1990s, Di Meola recorded albums closer to and modern Latin styles than jazz. Compilation released on October 18, 1999 Connoisseur. Song With a View 6:26 9. He began to incorporate the guitar synthesizer on mid-1980s albums such as. For a while I gave up on fusion, thought it was just flash and no substance, probably because I wanted something a bit more prog leaning.
He cites as influences jazz guitarists and and bluegrass and country guitarists and. This recently reissued 1985 date has plenty of electric bombast, along with ample examples of 's piercing acoustic style. Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 Review 868230 I was drawn to this merely due to the high rating it has received and the plethora of reviews that rave eloquently at what a masterpiece this is. Well, actually I do not expect Al plays this style of music and initially I did not quite favor this kind of music. Beautiful keyboard playing from Barry Miles really gives the music a nice, proggy feel in the second part of the suite. Though the tour proved that the intensity was still very much alive, no record was released of this powerhouse fusion unit, together. Record company — Mesa Records, 209 East Alameda Ave.
The symphonic strings are a serene nuance that resonates with my senses, and it gets quite wild at the end with African congas and bongos in a short burst of inspiration. Known for his works in and , he began his career as a guitarist of the group in 1974. Detroit Free Press, January 1, 1991. Di Meola continued to explore within jazz fusion on and. The 9:00 minute title track comes next and it's rather seductive opening has a real Latin feel to it. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia. His signature sound, the ringing sustain of a Les Paul played through a Marshall stack is an integral part of al those projects.
The title track is more or less the same, but then he diverts with the next two. When Di Meola completed his studies at Bergenfield High School, he enrolled in classes at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Land of the Rising Sun is the solo debut from Al Di Meola, released right after Romantic Warrior. Smile From A Stranger is a slow romantic piece, not really my style, and Rhapsody Of Fire finishes off the side with some fine acoustic Spanish guitar however it does have that awful synthesized harmonica synth sound that permeated commercial fusion in those days. Arabella begins as a typical Spanish-based piece, but by the end becomes an electric fusion extravaganza. None of those band members are familiar to me, unlike guest musicians such as bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Peter Erskine. Original elpee featured picture innersleeve.
Piazzolla, Argentinian by birth, had brought a fascination with jazz and a solid grounding in classical composition to bear on the music of his native country, performing for many years with the influential group Quinteto Nuevo Tango. Song With A View begins as another Spanish sounding piece, but builds to a great, and surprisingly subtle guitar solo by the end. Even the brief and subtle cover of Bach's 'Sarabande From Violin Sonata in B Minor' intrigues, giving the listener a brief acoustic time-out, whilst the beautiful and all-to-brief 'Love Theme From Pictures Of The Sea' leaves the listener desperately wanting more. While not as exciting as the better Return To Forever songs, it's still good. In spite of the whole album being filled with them, there are three in particular that amaze me every single time I listen to them: the guitar lines in Flight Over Rio, which make us feel like we are indeed inside an airplane and the solo is just mind blowing ; the speeding melodies of Race With Devil On Spanish Highway, which perfectly translate the feeling of being behind a racing car, the speed, the competition, the meandering curves. The music is more Cielo y Terra than Elegant Gypsy.
It's a vintage player and I really love the sound quality; it's natural and it has a powerful basslines. It separates the men from the boys. The third part of the suite is the longest and features some real menacing guitar riffs from Di Meola and a real funky bass groove laid down by Pastorius. This is an amazing album and can easily be recommended to jazz-fusion fans and progheads alike. I already knew who Chick Corea was, and I believe I just heard about Return to Forever. It opens with some quirky time sigs and a jazz fusion feel.
Overall, the album is pleasant, yet ultimately one dimensional. It is such an organic album that moves smoothly from one musical arrangement to the other. Since then, he has recorded for a variety of labels including Rhino, Tomato and Telarc. The guitar picking gets frenetic later and there is a soaring lead break that spins wildly out of control, and leaves me breathless. The guitars hold onto the melody and at times get funky, and there is a really nice finger picking thing with some speedy work and a wandering bassline that consistently maintains the rhythm. What I like about it though, is his unique latinesque stamp, even if it does tend towards the mellow rather than the passionate.