“I never thought I’d be back with this sound, but here I am. Fusion Lives!”
After 20 years of cleaning out his musical carburetor by focusing on acoustic and world music, guitarist Al Di Meola returned to the electronic mix of jazz, rock and flamenco that he pioneered back when Nixon was in the White House. Borrowing back from a friend the original Gibson Les Paul that he used in those wonderfully head banging days, Dimeola and his air tight team of Gumbi Ortiz/perc, Phillipe Saisse/key-mar, Joel Taylor/dr and Bakithi Kumalo/b filled the packed to the rafters Canyon Club with a wondrous mix of music and muscle.
Material like “Flight Over Rio” had Di Meola mixing hand-faster than eye solo runs over frantically frenetic and complex rhythms while his signature ringing tone before he bent the strings until they begged for mercy on “Dark Eyed Tango.” A mix of intoxicatingly intricate guitar work and rollicking rhumba’d percussion on “Dinner Music of the Gods” had moments of guitars and keyboards going back and forth like a fencing match.
After taking the crowd to the top of the fusion mountain, Di Meola brought up his acoustic guitar and did some lovely solo work that showed his prowess as he went from dynamic stomps to delicate whispers on his opening tune. On what sounded like a take of “Blackbird,” Di Meola caressed the strings and brought out Andalusian moods, just as Saisse came back on stage to take his marimbas and deliver an exciting ping pong match during the volcanic yet lyrical “Fantasia Suite.”
The band came back on stage, plugged in and returned to lyrical and exotic pieces such as the melodic mayhem of “Midnight Tango” in which Di Meola did everything to the strings except use them for fishing lure. Just as the band was galloping to the finish line on the deep grooves of “Babylon” and the exotic “Spanish Highway,” Steve Vai ambled on stage for the encore and showed the audience (which ranged from William Shatner to Joe Bonamassa) as he teamed with Di Meola to give the audience a seminar on how to tear apart and re-assemble two electric guitars within a 10 minute jam session on “Flight Over Rio.” Music that is two score years old never sounded fresher!
Upcoming shows at the Canyon and Saban include Gregg Allman Apr 28-29, Robbie Krieger May 17, Bonnie Raitt May 27, Robben Ford June 12 and Robin Trower June 18.
