Guitarist Al Di Meola first
rose to prominence as a blazing jazz fusion artist before his playing
matured and he began to conquer other styles, such as acoustic Latin
music. Born on July 22, 1954 in Jersey City, New Jersey, Di Meola
briefly studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston during the
early '70s before accepting a job replacing guitarist Bill Connors in
fusion trailblazers Return to Forever (a group that also included
monster instrumentalists keyboardist Chick Corea, bassist Stanley
Clarke, and drummer Lenny White) in 1974. It was with Di Meola that
Return to Forever enjoyed their greatest commercial success, as such
releases as 1974's Where Have I Known Before, 1975's No Mystery, and
1976's Romantic Warrior cracked the U.S. Top 40 before Di Meola jumped
ship to launch a solo career.What followed remains some of the finest jazz fusion guitar-based recordings ever: 1976's Land of the Midnight Sun, 1977's Elegant Gypsy (which would eventually earn gold certification in the U.S.), and Casino, plus 1979's Splendido Hotel. Di Meola then united with fellow guitar greats John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía for 1980's Friday Night in San Francisco. Throughout the '80s and '90s, he racked up numerous accolades (including earning yearly top honors in Guitar Player magazine polls), kept on issuing solo releases on a regular basis, and played with others, including releases by Stomu Yamashta, Paul Simon, Stanley Jordan, and David Matthews, as well as further work with such former bandmates as Corea, Clarke, de Lucía, and McLaughlin.
During the '90s, Di Meola turned his back almost entirely on fusion to concentrate more on acoustic-based world music, as evidenced by such releases as World Sinfonia, Di Meola Plays Piazzolla, and Heart of the Immigrants, among others. During the 2000s, Di Meola continued this eclectic approach with releases like 2003's Revisited, 2006's Consequence of Chaos, 2007's Diabolic Inventions and Seduction for Solo Guitar, Vol. 1: Music of Astor Piazzolla, and 2008's live album He and Carmen with flutist Eszter Horgas. In 2011, Di Meola delivered the Latin and world music-infused studio album Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody, featuring bassist Charlie Haden and Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba.
The lushly textured fusion effort Elysium followed in 2015. Two years later, Di Meola delivered the concert album Morocco Fantasia, recorded live at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. Along with Di Meola's band, the show featured guest appearances by Moroccan musicians oud player Said Chraibi, violinist Abdellah Meri, and percussionist Tarik Ben Ali. In 2018, he delivered Opus, which featured contributions from Cuban-born pianist Kemuel Roig.
Studio :
1976 - Land Of The Midnight Sun
1977 - Elegant Gypsy
1978 - Casino
1980 - Splendido Hotel
1982 - Electric Rendezvous
1983 - Scenario
1985 - Cielo E Terra
1985 - Soaring Through A Dream
1987 - Tirami Su
1991 - Kiss My Axe
1991 - World Sinfonia
1993 - World Sinfonia - Heart Of The Immigrants
1994 - Orange And Blue
1996 - Di Meola Plays Piazzolla
1998 - The Infinite Desire
1999 - Winter Nights
2000 - World Sinfonia - The Grande Passion
2002 - Flesh On Flesh
2006 - Consequence Of Chaos
2006 - Diabolic Inventions And Seduction For Solo Guitar
2006 - Vocal Rendezvous
2011 - Pursuit Of Radical Rhapsody
2013 - All Your Life - A Tribute To The Beatles
2015 - Elysium
2018 - Opus
2020 - Across the Universe
Live :
1978 - Calderone Hall Hempstead, New York
1978 - Midnight Tango - Live at the New York Palladium
1982 - Tour De Force - 'Live'
1988 - One Night In Montreal
1991 - World Sinfonia - Live In London
1995 - Live '95 (2CD)
2008 - La Melodia - World Sinfonia Live In Milano
2009 - Burghausen Germany Wackerhalle
2009 - World Sinfonia - Live From Seattle And Elsewhere
2012 - Live At The North Sea Jazz Festival
2017 - Morocco Fantasia
2018 - Elegant Gypsy & More Live
Compilations :
1990 - Greatest Hits
1991 - The Collection
1992 - The Best Of Al Di Meola (The Manhattan Years)
1994 - The Essence Of Al Di Meola
1995 - Acoustic Anthology
1995 - Electric Anthology
1997 - This Is Jazz
1999 - The Collection
2000 - Anthology (2CD)
2002 - Fugata
2014 - Collection
Collaboration:
1981 - Friday Night in San Francisco
1983 - Passion Grace & Fire
1990 - Super Guitar Trio & Friends
1995 - The Rite Of Strings
1996 - The Guitar Trio
2005 - Cosmopolitan Life
2007 - Armentos - Midsummer Night In Sardinia
2008 - He & Carmen
2008 - The NYC Session - Beautiful Love
