Home » Jazz Articles » Live Review » Al Di Meola Delivers A Blazing Set At The Knitting Facto...

158

Al Di Meola Delivers A Blazing Set At The Knitting Factory (Los Angeles)

By

View read count
Al DiMeola and a new World Sinfonia group brought their intriguing fusion of rhythmic and electronic flair to the Knitting Factory October 8th. Their strong Latin jazz and buoyant world melodies were blended extremely well with a heavier electronic jazz/rock feeling which brought standing ovations from the audience several times during both well-attended shows. Di Meola’s compositional control over his fusion band resulted in a satisfying mixture of pre-composed structures of varying complexity, raw improvisational energy and beautiful melodic appeal.
Playing songs from both critically acclaimed Telarc recordings, THE GRAND PASSION and his most recent, FLESH ON FLESH, the handsome guitar virtuoso dazzled patrons with his skill and techniques for transforming the original melodies and strict rhythmic structure of Astor Piazzolla’s “Fugata” into a fresh and memorable theme by using heavily inflicted syncopation and unpredictable harmonies, meter and timbre. However, it was such original songs as “Zona Desparata” “Flesh on Flesh,” and “Saffire Soleil” that set the images of Di Meola’s blazing guitar brilliance in our memories. It was pure emotion ­ satisfying, sensual, complex and joyful.
As one of the world’s most accomplished and imaginative “sonic engineers” in contemporary fusion, Al Di Meola made use of numerous types of guitars. Their gleaming beauty only added to the visual excitement as he absorbed and returned the intense but loving energy the audience was giving off. Mario Parmisano’s acoustic piano synths produced a bright, electronic timbre that sounded great in this particular room and Alejandro Herrera, the newest member of the group, held down the rhythm logic on electric bass. From the changes that would stop on a dime to the lyrical beauty of Alejandro Santos’ flute floating in the air, to Ernie Adams’ excellent drumming and Gumbi Ortiz's percussive genius, each member was so purely complimentary that each of their musical sentences were punctuated at just the right harmonious moments and completed with the stylistic plurality that only Al Di Meola can deliver.
Among the many stellar moments during the concert was Di Meola’s rhythmic duet with percussionist Gumbi Ortiz. Al Di Meola developed this high-energy improvisation with the looseness and rhythmic dancing quality of electronic jazz while Ortiz added fiery Latin conga beats and thunder from his seat box. Together, they produced some great adventurous heat that brought on a robust round of applause.

Al Di Meola is more varied in artistic scope and musical technique than the Al Di Meola who revolutionized and was the epitome of electronic rock/jazz fusion of previous decades. He is more soulful, his arrangements more tasteful and orchestral but at the same time, still appealing when he injects a heavy dose of rock into the world mix. He continues to erode the distinction between the genres with this excellent fusion ensemble. You'd be highly disappointed if you missed his exciting performance. Stay in touch with Al Di Meola and World Sinfonia at www.telarc.com

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Jazz article: Bark Culture At Solar Myth
Jazz article: Hingetown Jazz Festival 2025
Jazz article: Hayley Kavanagh Quartet At Scott's Jazz Club

Popular

Read Take Five with Pianist Irving Flores
Read Jazz em Agosto 2025
Read Bob Schlesinger at Dazzle
Read SFJAZZ Spring Concerts
Read Sunday Best: A Netflix Documentary
Read Vivian Buczek at Ladies' Jazz Festival

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.