| Al Di Meola | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Birth Name: | Albert Laurence Di Meola |
| Birth Date: | 22 July 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Instrument: | Guitar |
| Years Active: | 1974 – present |
| Discography: | Al Di Meola discography |
| Past Member Of: | Return to Forever |
Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954)[1] is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as guitarist with the group Return to Forever in 1974. From 1976 to 1978 he played with Stomu Yamashta in the supergroup Go on three records. The 1970s and 1980s saw albums such as Land of the Midnight Sun, Elegant Gypsy, Casino and Friday Night in San Francisco earn him both critical and commercial success.[2] [3]
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey,[1] into an Italian family with roots in Cerreto Sannita, a small town northeast of Benevento, Di Meola grew up in Bergenfield, where he attended Bergenfield High School.[4] [5] He has been a resident of Old Tappan, New Jersey.[6]
When he was eight years old, he was inspired by Elvis Presley and the Ventures to start playing guitar. His teacher directed him toward jazz standards. He cites as influences jazz guitarists George Benson and Kenny Burrell and bluegrass and country guitarists Clarence White and Doc Watson.[7]
He attended Berklee College of Music in 1971.[1] At nineteen, he was hired by Chick Corea to replace Bill Connors in the pioneering jazz fusion band Return to Forever with Stanley Clarke and Lenny White.[1] 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.[2]
As Return to Forever was disbanding around 1976, Di Meola began recording solo albums on which he demonstrated a mastery of jazz fusion, flamenco, and Mediterranean music.[8] His sophomore album, Elegant Gypsy (1977), eventually went gold, certified by the RIAA in July 24, 1989.[9] In 1980, he recorded the acoustic live album, Friday Night in San Francisco, with Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin.[2] In the beginning of his career, as evidenced on his first solo album Land of the Midnight Sun (1976, on which Jaco Pastorius 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 album (1977).
His early albums were influential among rock and jazz guitarists. Di Meola continued to explore Latin music within jazz fusion on Casino 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.[10]
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, he spent most of the next two decades exploring both acoustic and world music. He rediscovered his love of the electric guitar in 2006,[11] and the DVD of his concert at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival 2006 is subtitled Return to Electric Guitar.[12] In 2018, Di Meola was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from his alma mater, Berklee College of Music.[13]
In July 2016, Al Di Meola married Stephanie Kreishttps://registry.theknot.com/stephanie-kreis-al-di-meola-july-2016/14348641 after meeting after a 2013 concert of his in Budapest.[14]
Al has two daughters from a previous relationship; Oriana[15] and Valentina.[16] He also has a daughter with Stephanie, named Ava.[17] Additionally he is a first-time grandfather with his grandson named Orion[18] [19] from daughter Valentina.
In September 2023 while performing on stage in Bucharest, Romania Di Meola suffered a heart attack. He was admitted to a local hospital where he was treated for ST elevation myocardial infarction.[20] He took some time off from performances, but began performing again in January 2024.[21]
Besides the impressive speed and accuracy of his alternate picking, another hallmark of Al di Meola's style is his palm muting.[22] [23] In an interview to Rick Beato, di Meola explained how he developed and practiced this technique: "[...] when I was younger, and the neighbors downstairs in the next yard, I didn't really want them to hear me play. So I would mute my strings. So I got kind of got used to the palm on the bridge and muting. But I also liked the fact that the notes popped".[24]
Di Meola espouses the advantages of palm muting when playing the electric guitar:
Al di Meola made an impression on a whole generation of hard rock and heavy metal "guitar heros". The list includes neoclassical legend Yngwie Malmsteen, Mr. Big's Paul Gilbert, Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt and Dream Theater's John Petrucci.[25] [26]
Guitar World magazine included Al di Meola on their top 50 fastest "shredders" of all time list. Di Meola personally dislikes the term, though, which he finds "limiting". He was featured alongside other rock and jazz luminaries, such as Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale and others.[27]
Al di Meola, along with former bandmates Return to Forever, received in 2008 the BBC Jazz "Lifetime Achievement Award" by Beatles producer George Martin. They performed Romantic Warriors title track at the event.[28] In the same year he received a honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater, the Berklee College of Music.[29]
See main article: Al Di Meola discography.
Grammy Awards[30]
Guitar Player Magazine[31]
Berklee College of Music
BBC Jazz Awards
Latin Grammy Awards[32]