For the past few tours, guitarist Al Di Meola has performed music from his wide ranging catalogue with his electric guitar and focusing on material from his hard hitting classic Elegant Gypsy album . This time around, his “Past, Present, and Future” tour had him unplug (so to speak) and deliver material through the filter of sounds from the Latin Quarter of the Mediterranean and South America. And, while the leader eschewed his Les Paul, the music coming from his quartet was still as electrifying, with sparks flying throughout the two hour concert.
His team of pianist Kemuel Roig, percussionist Sergio Martinez and Fausto Beccalossi on the accordion took songs like “Azzura” and “Turquoise” and weaved back and forth to Di Meola’s mix of mind boggling digital dexterity and fascinating rhythms. As Di Meola would take his strings and coax out intricate themes, melodies and excursions, Roig would insert suave counter themes or lyrical answers while Beccalossi squeezed out exotic harmonic sighs.
After the frantic and avalanche of drama on a piece such as the rapid table dance of “Mawazine,” Di Meola joked “We’d like to now try something difficult” and took the audience through narrow streets of Morocco with his fingers racing through the galloping “Nilonga Noctiva” while Martinez kept the music building up to an avalanche with his wide selection of hand percussion. Di Meola’s fingers did a table dance with flair on “Frozen In Time,” with his acoustic guitar creating sounds ranging from an electric guitar to a brooding oud while Beccalossi whistled and serenaded through the flamenco sketches.
Di Meola then showed his talents as a Latin interpreter, taking songs from the Beatles’ songbook and giving them a pencil’d mustache. Andalusian spices abounded on a flowing read of “Because” and “I’l Follow The Sun” while his phalanges danced like a ballerina and created droplets of yearning dew as his team created a festive atmosphere for a rich balm of “Hey Jude.” His encore of “Mediterranean Sundance” sealed an evening that summarized the legendary guitarists career, displaying a rich and glorious past, a virtuosic present and, with his 3 year old daughter joining him on tour, an exciting future. Judging by the response of the enthusiastic crowd, Di Meola with his restlessly creative talents and world-wide style of the jazz spirit still has no where to go but up. His mix of technique and melody is a true reflection of, as one of his albums states, a Grande Passion.
Upcoming shows at The Lobero include Jim Messina 10/01, Leo Kottke 10/08, Dorado Schmitt 11/04, Richard Thompson 11/09 and Joshua Redman 11/12