Location: Ljubljana / Cvetličarna / Slovenia
Date: Saturday, 16.11.2008
After two postponed concert dates (first announced for November 2006, then unsuccessfully pushed to May 2007, and finally third time lucky; sincere congratulations to the organizer of this event for that), the legendary guitar virtuoso Al Di Meola has finally made it back to our capital. Mr. Di Meola hardly needs an introduction, but for anyone who isn’t familiar with his life and work, he’s one of the most respected and influential guitarists of our time, best known as a master of numerous innovative guitar techniques, especially in jazz fusion and Latin jazz, even though he’s tried his hand at plenty of other styles over the course of his career. Ever since he first broke through as a member of the legendary jazz fusion band Return To Forever, countless fans of the six-string have regarded him as one of the greatest technical masters of the electric guitar, including in terms of his influence on many renowned rock guitarists who first made a name for themselves in the 80s.
His show at Cvetličarna turned out to be a night of many highlights, one that satisfied most of us who came to watch the guitar giant at work, lovers of musical perfectionism and fans of the fusion of traditional jazz and Latin melody. It could have gone quite differently, though, because the pre-show signals weren’t exactly promising. Due to a flight delay, the concert started an hour late, and the soundcheck hadn’t even been done yet. The devil could easily have had his fun and we’d have gotten a much weaker performance than usual, but Al and his crew proved not only to be true professionals, they were also in great spirits throughout the whole show, after some initial hesitation. Through the organizers, Al apologized for the unfortunate hiccup and invited everyone present to sit in on the soundcheck, which would be followed directly by the concert. When the maestro himself finally strolled onto the stage, the soundcheck suddenly morphed into a full-blown performance, an acoustic one of course, since on this tour Al is presenting some of his favorite Latin jazz creations under the rhythmic influence of tango.
Al’s backing band included Italian Faust Beccalossi on accordion and occasional vocal improvisations, his compatriot Peo Alfonsi on second acoustic guitar, and longtime collaborator Gumbi Ortiz, a Cuban on percussion, who after more than 20 years of working together is without a doubt a crowd favorite. Gumbi is above all a master of an unusual Afro-Peruvian percussion instrument called the cajón. You could describe it as a big wooden box, which Gumbi, seated, drummed with his hands across the front in dynamic strikes, coaxing out vibrating sounds of the kind we most often hear in African-Latin ethno music. Beccalossi’s accordion also slotted perfectly into the fiery blend of tango and traditional jazz, and he complemented it with passionate vocal improvisations that easily whisked us off to the cafés of Buenos Aires on a busy evening street. Even though Alfonsi mostly held down the rhythm on the second acoustic guitar, the maestro gave him a few moments to show off his fast-fingered technique, tearing up the scales at lightning speed and proving what an excellent guitarist and student he is.
Of course, most of the people at this gig came first and foremost for the maestro’s breathtaking guitar artistry. In recent years, well, actually for quite a while now, Al has been steadily abandoning the electric guitar and prefers to enjoy the quieter acoustic waters, which was bad news for anyone hoping this evening for a display of electrified jazz fusion from the early days of his solo career, or even a Return To Forever classic from the reunion. Al gave up that kind of electric expansiveness a few years back, though he still sometimes gets the urge to “grab” the instrument that made him famous. By his own account, that’s mostly due to hearing problems caused by years of exposure to (way too) many decibels. As expected, his guitar work this evening was a real feast for the eyes and a special treat for lovers of musical perfectionism. The man delivered an incredibly energetic fusion of traditional jazz and Latin rhythms on his guitar, all with an amazing technique for moving between fast, energetic runs and calm, tender moments of pure romance. It was precisely this display of insane speed, which he personally popularized far and wide in the 80s (for better and for worse), together with an incredibly soft touch in picking the strings, that took the audience’s breath away most this evening too. Even today the maestro easily remains a phenomenon unto himself and a subject of all kinds of guitar-theory debates.
There was also a hilarious moment mid-set when Al suddenly praised a guy in the front row and asked if he was a drummer, since he always claps in such a tight, on-the-beat way. The guy shook his head, pulled out his wallet, and from it a whole bunch of guitar picks, hinting that he was a guitarist, though it was also a very sly tactic for scoring concert souvenirs. Al proposed swapping picks. The guy, of course, couldn’t hide his joy.
Most of the tracks that night leaned on Al’s latest live album “World Sinfonia – La Melodia” (2008), which is in many ways a tribute to the famous Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla, since it features quite a few rearranged pieces of his. Of course, there was no shortage of Al’s solo material either, like “Infinite Desire”, “Misterio”, “Turquoise” and the indispensable classic “Mediterranean Sundance”, which comes from his jazz fusion era, specifically the legendary album “Elegant Gypsy” (1977). The latter was played as an encore, after the maestro, following thunderous applause, had almost been about to slip off the stage, but he simply couldn’t let down such loyalty, having been convinced all night long that the crowd was with his band to the very end. Another special moment, I’d even say a must-have of the night, was a short “duel” between Al and Gumbi over who would hit or miss a given note first. The maestro and his crew wrapped up the show with a moving rendition of the traditional Argentine piece “No Potho Reporsare”.
It was all over in a flash. Al’s superb performance left absolutely nobody indifferent in the jam-packed Cvetličarna hall, which also had a surprisingly high percentage of young people (not a trivial detail for a jazz gig), as he and his band confirmed his reputation as one of the best guitarists in the world in acoustic fashion. Those who were worried he might repeat that catastrophic 1994 show, when he played without a backing band in a half-empty Tivoli hall and left the stage after just an hour, could breathe a big sigh of relief, because this night the maestro was in splendid form and charmed the entire hall with his blend of jazz and acoustic Latin melody in tango rhythms, plus breathtaking guitar acrobatics. Although he came across as sincerely friendly and approachable the whole evening, Al is often also considered a rather moody musician who can walk off the stage at the first opportunity if the vibes from the audience aren’t right. This time there wasn’t a moment’s need for such a drastic measure, as he was probably surprised himself by the incredible loyalty of the Ljubljana crowd, which deserves its own praise for the wonderful flow of positive vibes from the stage and back again. Let’s hope this evening stays in the maestro’s fond memory for a long time and that he’ll honor us with another visit very soon.
words: Peter Podbrežnik
photos: Mia Milharičič
