Al Di Meola

It was a Friday night in 1980, December 5th to be exact: the Warfield stadium in San Francisco filled up lazily. The stage that was being set up was simple: three small wooden chairs, three microphones with the booms set at rather low height.Here comes the first hero of the evening on stage, the living legend Al Di Meola, with an outfit that smacks of a modern cowboy..His trusty acoustic guitar is placed on an easel next to one of the chairs. pick up the mic and.....

Super Guitar Trio brings together three legends of jazz guitar: Larry Coryell, Al Di Meola & Biréli Lagrène. These three virtuoso musicians have collaborated at various times in their career, but this concert from 1989 comes from the only tour they have done together as a trio. They perform a mixture of tracks from each of their solo repertoire plus special arrangements of some of their favorite tracks by other artists. For jazz musicians, playing at Montreux is always a highlight and the three guitarists are clearly inspired by playing together in the unique Montreux atmosphere.

A high point of the Moroccan music festival is the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. Al Di Meola's fantastic appearance in 2009 also represented a summit of different cultures and religions - Al Di Meola (guitar), Peo Alfonsi (2nd guitar), Fausto Beccalossie (accordion), Gumbo Ortiz (percussion), Victor Miranda (bass), Peter Kaszas (drums), and with special guests from Morocco, Said Chraibi (oud), Abdellah Meri (violin) and Tari Ben Ali (percussion). On his third trip to Morocco, the public gave this exceptional guitarist a rousing reception and showed its openness towards Western music.

Guitarist Al di Meola, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and bassist Stanley Clarke, all of whom recorded numerous albums as leaders during the 1970s and 1980s, join forces for this 1994 concert in Montreux. Each musician's compositions are featured in this mostly acoustic performance, though charts were necessary to help them find their way through unfamiliar pieces. There is a noticeable lack of ego apparent on-stage, with no one player trying to steal the spotlight. For his solo feature, "Eulogy to Oscar Romero," Ponty incorporates the use of a digital delay to accompany himself, while Clarke's and di Meola's solo performances are more in the context of the concert. CD The Rite of Strings, which was recorded the following year.

This DVD draws on three of Al Di Meola's performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The earliest from 1986 is a solo acoustic performance. The concert from 1989 is by the Super Guitar Trio, which sees Di Meola join forces with fellow guitarists Larry Coryell and Bireli Lagrene. The final concert from 1993 features Di Meola with guitarist Chris Carrington and percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan, who also provides vocals on some tracks. This gives a total of over 2 hours of live music.Track Listing from July 14, 1986: 1. Vertigo Shadow, 2. Orient Blue Suite, 3. Passion, Grace & Fire, 4. Atavism Of Twilight, 5. Enigma Of Desire, 6. Cielo E Terra, 7. Etude, 8. Capoiera. Track Listing from July 17, 1989: 1. PSP No. II, 2. Tango Suite (for two guitars), 3. Orient Blue Suite / Traces Of A Tear, 4. Musette De Paris Avec La Rue Dupierre No. 5, 5. Brazilliance, 6. Waltz, 7. No Mystery, 8. Spain. Track Listing from July 13, 1993: 1. Indigo, 2. No Mystery, 3. Tango Suite.