AL Di MEOLA - Splendido Hotel/Electric Rendezvous
BGO Records BGOCD927
Splendido Hotel: Al Di Meola (acoustic and electric guitar, mandocello, celeste, drums, castanets, vocals); Phillippe Saisse (keyboards, synthesiser, marimba, background vocals), Tim Landers (bass); Robbie Gonzalez (drums); Eddie Colon (percussion); Steve Gadd (drums); Anthony Jackson (bass); Mingo Lewis (percussion); Les Paul (guitar); Chick Corea (piano); Peter Cannarozzi (synthesiser); David Campbell (violin); Carol Shive (viola); Dennis Karmzyn (cello), Raymond J. Kelley (cello); The Columbus Boychoir (vocals).
Recorded CBS Recording Studios, NYC, Electric Lady Studios, NYC and Love Castle Studios, LA. No recording dates
Electric Rendezvous: Al Di Meola (acoustic and electric guitar); Jan Hammer (keyboards); Anthony Jackson (bass); Steve Gadd (drums, percussion); Mingo Lewis (percussion); Phillippe Saisse (keyboards), Paco de Lucía (acoustic guitar).
Recorded: CBS Recording Studios, NYC, Electric Lady Studios, NYC, Minot Sound Studios, White Plains. No recording dates.
In 1974, when Al Di Meola was a 19-year old student studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he was invited by Chick Corea to join his band, Return to Forever (RTF). This tells you all you need to know about Di Meola’s prowess as a musician. No surprise that the young guitarist jumped at the chance, and played on three of the band’s albums. RTF was one of the most influential jazz-fusion bands around (along with the likes of Weather Report, Headhunters and Mahavishnu Orchestra) and Di Meola soon gained a reputation as a player to watch.
When Di Meola was just 22, he signed a solo contract with Columbia Records, and in 1976, released his debut album, Land of The Midnight Sun. The album had an impressive cast of supporting musicians including his three former RTF band members (Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White), as well as Steve Gadd and Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and bassists Jaco Pastorius and Anthony Jackson. Also present was percussionist Mingo Lewis, who had toured with RTF, and would compose at least one tune on Di Meola’s first five albums. Not surprisingly, the album showcased Di Meola’s guitar skills, many of them straight out of the jazz-fusion guitarist’s handbook, with lightning-fast riffs, blistering runs, scorching lines, and complex chord changes and harmonies.
Di Meola’s follow-up albums, Elegant Gypsy and Casino, both featured the rhythm section of Gadd, Jackson and Lewis, and were also well received. This release picks up Di Meola’s career from here, with Splendido Hotel being the guitarist’s fourth solo album and released in 1980. It was an ambitious project, a double LP album with a broader musical palette than earlier releases, and featuring several guest appearances, including Chick Corea and guitar legend Les Paul.
The first track, ‘Alien Chase On Arabian Desert’ is a follow-up to the classic jazz-fusion instrumental, "Race With Devil On Spanish Highway" from Elegant Gypsy, a frenetic number that features some out-of-this-world guitar shredding. Here, it’s a nine-minute suite which starts with synthesisers fading up and bursting out into spacey sound effects, similar to the theme music from a Sci-fi TV series. A minute in and there’s a transformation into a mid-tempo groove with a Middle Eastern theme, with Di Meola’s mandocello sounding like an Oud. A powerful bass riff and clattering percussion lead into the next section, which unleashes explosive electric guitar runs and thundering drums fills. The final section sees the return of a slow section before the song ends. After that piece, you need to catch your breath and the next number lets you do just that, ‘Silent Story In Her Eyes’ is a Latin-themed piece with a sublime cha-cha rhythm and feel. The tune includes a fine piano solo by Chick Corea. ‘Roller Jubilee’ is a driving disco/pop tune with a bass line similar to that on The Rolling Stones’ ‘Miss You.’
‘Two To Tango’ is a delightful duet between Di Meola on acoustic guitar and Corea on acoustic piano. As the title suggests, there is great interplay between both instruments, which take on the role of two dancers gyrating together on the dance floor, with shifting dynamics and changing time signatures; movement and drama – it’s a well-executed piece.
‘Al Di’s Dream Theme’ has a deceptive intro, as Di Meola plays some graceful figures over a dream-like backing track. But soon, the tune bursts into life with slap bass, heavy drumming and screaming guitar. The bass line-up is interesting on this song: Anthony Jackson plays the main bass track, but the slap bass parts are supplied by Tim Landers, because Jackson is a musician who resolutely refuses to play in the slap style. ‘Dinner Music Of The Gods’ is a frenetic jazz-rocker with various musical twists and turns. Driven by a powerful bass riff, Di Meola’s guitar soars off into the stratosphere. A slow section has Saisse playing harpsichord-sounding keyboard with Di Meola on acoustic guitar.
‘Splendido Sundance’ has Di Meola duetting with himself on acoustic guitar, courtesy of overdub technology. On many jazz-fusion albums of the 80s, you’ll find a vocal track and this record no exception. Record executives, it seems, were always looking for a hit or at least a track that got lots of radio play. Sometimes, the move paid off (at least in commercial terms), as with George Duke and Stanley Clarke’s ballad ‘Sweet Baby,’ but most of the time, you wish the artist had stuck to playing his or her instrument. ‘I Can Tell’ is a pop ballad in which Di Meola sings lead vocals and also plays drums and guitar. Phillippe Saisse plays keyboards and sings background vocals.
Should you feel the desire to sing along, the song’s lyrics are printed in full in the CD booklet, and include lines such as: “I can tell you are the one I know, I can be sure/When lies are real it hurts a little more.” Di Meola’s vocals aren’t bad (and Saisse’s background vocals sound like a choir of Barry Gibbs), but the song is pretty forgettable. The Bert Kaemfert song ‘Spanish Eyes’ is a midtempo duet between Di Meola and Les Paul. It’s a pleasant version, but could have been cut to half its five-minute length.
Much more satisfying is the near-twelve-minute suite ‘Isfahan’ (an ancient Persian city), co-written by Chick Corea, who also plays piano on this all-acoustic piece, which has elements of classical and Middle Eastern music. Its dramatic opening has the voices of a boys’ choir soaked in reverberation – it’s like sitting in a vast cathedral. In the opening section, there’s a melancholy quality to the music, with the plangent sound of a string section accompanying Di Meola’s acoustic guitar - it’s like walking around the ruins of an abandoned and decaying ancient city, and imagining a time when the streets and markets were bustling with life. Half way through, the tempo picks up and the Middle Eastern influence is even more pronounced. There’s also an extended section featuring some excellent interplay between Corea and Di Meola. I enjoyed this piece a lot. The closing number ‘Bianca’s Midnight Lullaby’ is a two-minute number that has Di Meola gently strumming an acoustic guitar and mandocello.
Splendido Hotel was a mixed bag that received a mixed reception, with many fans expressing disappointment in the move away from Di Meola’s previous albums. However, one has to have some sympathy for any artist who wishes to expand his or her repertoire or explore new musical avenues. Like many double albums of the time, this record would have made a stronger single album, but there is enough good music on it to recommend it to anyone with a liking for jazz-fusion.
Electric Rendezvous, released in 1982, marked a return to Di Meola’s earlier works, with a streamlined band that included Steve Gadd, Anthony Jackson, Mingo Lewis and Jan Hammer (this was also his tour band). Jan Hammer, best known for his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Jeff Beck (he appears on two of Beck’s jazz-rock-fusion albums, Wired and There & Back) plays on almost every track. Guitarist Paco de Lucía guests on one tune - Di Meola, de Lucía and John McLaughlin toured and recorded several albums together.
‘God Bird Change,’ written by Mingo Lewis is a powerful, driving jazz—Latin-funk track with a heavy, percussive groove. Its sound is very much in the Santana style (a band Lewis had played with), with a percussive break, funky clavinet riff, soaring guitar lines, and Hammer plays a slick minimoog solo. It’s an excellent start to the album. The title track is a near eight-minute suite, beginning with Di Meola playing a slow, sweet melody on one guitar and a flurry of arpeggios on another. The track switches to a mid-tempo Latin-jazz groove and then becomes a jazz-rock number, with a driving guitar riff and Di Meola cranking up his guitar for some furious playing. Hammer plays a lively solo on minimoog, which reminds me of his playing on the track ‘Blue Wind’ (which he also composed), on Jeff Beck’s Wired album.
‘Passion, Grace & Fire’ (which would be used for the title of the 1983 album released by Di Meola, de Lucía and John McLaughlin) is a fiery acoustic guitar duet between Di Meola and de Lucía, whose playing is neatly encapsulated by the song’s title. I’d recommend listening to this track with headphones (Di Meola plays in the right channel, and de Lucía, the left) – it’s an aural treat.
Jan Hammer’s ‘Crusin’ is a jazz-rock tune that would fit well on a Jeff Beck fusion album. It’s dominated by Hammer’s organ and synthesiser, with Di Meola adding supporting guitar riffs and phrases. A mention here too, for the rock-solid rhythm section of Gadd and Jackson. ‘Black Cat Shuffle’ was composed by keyboardist Phillipe Saisse (it’s the only number he plays on) and it sounds like it says on the tin – a bluesy shuffle with a howling guitar solo from Di Meola.
‘Ritmo De La Noche’ (Rhythm of the Night) starts off as a sensuous, Flamenco-infused number with a slow cha-cha rhythm that gradually increases in tempo with a winding organ solo, heavy percussion and some furious guitar, before returning to the slow section for the coda. ‘Somalia’ is a short (1:40), moving piece, featuring an acoustic guitar/synthesiser duet and a pretty melody. It’s almost like a prelude to the closing number, ‘Jewel Inside A Dream,’ a dreamy ballad featuring acoustic guitar and a whistling synthesiser that has echoes of ELP’s 1972 hit ‘From The Beginning’ (I’m by no means the first person to make this observation). Whatever, it’s a lovely ending to the album. The two albums in this package may not be the strongest in Di Meola’s canon (his first three albums set the bar very high), but they are by no means the weakest, and both provide plenty of good listening to fans of this era of jazz-fusion.
Reviewed by George Cole
BGO Records BGOCD927
Splendido Hotel: Al Di Meola (acoustic and electric guitar, mandocello, celeste, drums, castanets, vocals); Phillippe Saisse (keyboards, synthesiser, marimba, background vocals), Tim Landers (bass); Robbie Gonzalez (drums); Eddie Colon (percussion); Steve Gadd (drums); Anthony Jackson (bass); Mingo Lewis (percussion); Les Paul (guitar); Chick Corea (piano); Peter Cannarozzi (synthesiser); David Campbell (violin); Carol Shive (viola); Dennis Karmzyn (cello), Raymond J. Kelley (cello); The Columbus Boychoir (vocals).
Recorded CBS Recording Studios, NYC, Electric Lady Studios, NYC and Love Castle Studios, LA. No recording dates
Electric Rendezvous: Al Di Meola (acoustic and electric guitar); Jan Hammer (keyboards); Anthony Jackson (bass); Steve Gadd (drums, percussion); Mingo Lewis (percussion); Phillippe Saisse (keyboards), Paco de Lucía (acoustic guitar).
Recorded: CBS Recording Studios, NYC, Electric Lady Studios, NYC, Minot Sound Studios, White Plains. No recording dates.
In 1974, when Al Di Meola was a 19-year old student studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he was invited by Chick Corea to join his band, Return to Forever (RTF). This tells you all you need to know about Di Meola’s prowess as a musician. No surprise that the young guitarist jumped at the chance, and played on three of the band’s albums. RTF was one of the most influential jazz-fusion bands around (along with the likes of Weather Report, Headhunters and Mahavishnu Orchestra) and Di Meola soon gained a reputation as a player to watch.
When Di Meola was just 22, he signed a solo contract with Columbia Records, and in 1976, released his debut album, Land of The Midnight Sun. The album had an impressive cast of supporting musicians including his three former RTF band members (Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White), as well as Steve Gadd and Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and bassists Jaco Pastorius and Anthony Jackson. Also present was percussionist Mingo Lewis, who had toured with RTF, and would compose at least one tune on Di Meola’s first five albums. Not surprisingly, the album showcased Di Meola’s guitar skills, many of them straight out of the jazz-fusion guitarist’s handbook, with lightning-fast riffs, blistering runs, scorching lines, and complex chord changes and harmonies.
Di Meola’s follow-up albums, Elegant Gypsy and Casino, both featured the rhythm section of Gadd, Jackson and Lewis, and were also well received. This release picks up Di Meola’s career from here, with Splendido Hotel being the guitarist’s fourth solo album and released in 1980. It was an ambitious project, a double LP album with a broader musical palette than earlier releases, and featuring several guest appearances, including Chick Corea and guitar legend Les Paul.
The first track, ‘Alien Chase On Arabian Desert’ is a follow-up to the classic jazz-fusion instrumental, "Race With Devil On Spanish Highway" from Elegant Gypsy, a frenetic number that features some out-of-this-world guitar shredding. Here, it’s a nine-minute suite which starts with synthesisers fading up and bursting out into spacey sound effects, similar to the theme music from a Sci-fi TV series. A minute in and there’s a transformation into a mid-tempo groove with a Middle Eastern theme, with Di Meola’s mandocello sounding like an Oud. A powerful bass riff and clattering percussion lead into the next section, which unleashes explosive electric guitar runs and thundering drums fills. The final section sees the return of a slow section before the song ends. After that piece, you need to catch your breath and the next number lets you do just that, ‘Silent Story In Her Eyes’ is a Latin-themed piece with a sublime cha-cha rhythm and feel. The tune includes a fine piano solo by Chick Corea. ‘Roller Jubilee’ is a driving disco/pop tune with a bass line similar to that on The Rolling Stones’ ‘Miss You.’
‘Two To Tango’ is a delightful duet between Di Meola on acoustic guitar and Corea on acoustic piano. As the title suggests, there is great interplay between both instruments, which take on the role of two dancers gyrating together on the dance floor, with shifting dynamics and changing time signatures; movement and drama – it’s a well-executed piece.
‘Al Di’s Dream Theme’ has a deceptive intro, as Di Meola plays some graceful figures over a dream-like backing track. But soon, the tune bursts into life with slap bass, heavy drumming and screaming guitar. The bass line-up is interesting on this song: Anthony Jackson plays the main bass track, but the slap bass parts are supplied by Tim Landers, because Jackson is a musician who resolutely refuses to play in the slap style. ‘Dinner Music Of The Gods’ is a frenetic jazz-rocker with various musical twists and turns. Driven by a powerful bass riff, Di Meola’s guitar soars off into the stratosphere. A slow section has Saisse playing harpsichord-sounding keyboard with Di Meola on acoustic guitar.
‘Splendido Sundance’ has Di Meola duetting with himself on acoustic guitar, courtesy of overdub technology. On many jazz-fusion albums of the 80s, you’ll find a vocal track and this record no exception. Record executives, it seems, were always looking for a hit or at least a track that got lots of radio play. Sometimes, the move paid off (at least in commercial terms), as with George Duke and Stanley Clarke’s ballad ‘Sweet Baby,’ but most of the time, you wish the artist had stuck to playing his or her instrument. ‘I Can Tell’ is a pop ballad in which Di Meola sings lead vocals and also plays drums and guitar. Phillippe Saisse plays keyboards and sings background vocals.
Should you feel the desire to sing along, the song’s lyrics are printed in full in the CD booklet, and include lines such as: “I can tell you are the one I know, I can be sure/When lies are real it hurts a little more.” Di Meola’s vocals aren’t bad (and Saisse’s background vocals sound like a choir of Barry Gibbs), but the song is pretty forgettable. The Bert Kaemfert song ‘Spanish Eyes’ is a midtempo duet between Di Meola and Les Paul. It’s a pleasant version, but could have been cut to half its five-minute length.
Much more satisfying is the near-twelve-minute suite ‘Isfahan’ (an ancient Persian city), co-written by Chick Corea, who also plays piano on this all-acoustic piece, which has elements of classical and Middle Eastern music. Its dramatic opening has the voices of a boys’ choir soaked in reverberation – it’s like sitting in a vast cathedral. In the opening section, there’s a melancholy quality to the music, with the plangent sound of a string section accompanying Di Meola’s acoustic guitar - it’s like walking around the ruins of an abandoned and decaying ancient city, and imagining a time when the streets and markets were bustling with life. Half way through, the tempo picks up and the Middle Eastern influence is even more pronounced. There’s also an extended section featuring some excellent interplay between Corea and Di Meola. I enjoyed this piece a lot. The closing number ‘Bianca’s Midnight Lullaby’ is a two-minute number that has Di Meola gently strumming an acoustic guitar and mandocello.
Splendido Hotel was a mixed bag that received a mixed reception, with many fans expressing disappointment in the move away from Di Meola’s previous albums. However, one has to have some sympathy for any artist who wishes to expand his or her repertoire or explore new musical avenues. Like many double albums of the time, this record would have made a stronger single album, but there is enough good music on it to recommend it to anyone with a liking for jazz-fusion.
Electric Rendezvous, released in 1982, marked a return to Di Meola’s earlier works, with a streamlined band that included Steve Gadd, Anthony Jackson, Mingo Lewis and Jan Hammer (this was also his tour band). Jan Hammer, best known for his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Jeff Beck (he appears on two of Beck’s jazz-rock-fusion albums, Wired and There & Back) plays on almost every track. Guitarist Paco de Lucía guests on one tune - Di Meola, de Lucía and John McLaughlin toured and recorded several albums together.
‘God Bird Change,’ written by Mingo Lewis is a powerful, driving jazz—Latin-funk track with a heavy, percussive groove. Its sound is very much in the Santana style (a band Lewis had played with), with a percussive break, funky clavinet riff, soaring guitar lines, and Hammer plays a slick minimoog solo. It’s an excellent start to the album. The title track is a near eight-minute suite, beginning with Di Meola playing a slow, sweet melody on one guitar and a flurry of arpeggios on another. The track switches to a mid-tempo Latin-jazz groove and then becomes a jazz-rock number, with a driving guitar riff and Di Meola cranking up his guitar for some furious playing. Hammer plays a lively solo on minimoog, which reminds me of his playing on the track ‘Blue Wind’ (which he also composed), on Jeff Beck’s Wired album.
‘Passion, Grace & Fire’ (which would be used for the title of the 1983 album released by Di Meola, de Lucía and John McLaughlin) is a fiery acoustic guitar duet between Di Meola and de Lucía, whose playing is neatly encapsulated by the song’s title. I’d recommend listening to this track with headphones (Di Meola plays in the right channel, and de Lucía, the left) – it’s an aural treat.
Jan Hammer’s ‘Crusin’ is a jazz-rock tune that would fit well on a Jeff Beck fusion album. It’s dominated by Hammer’s organ and synthesiser, with Di Meola adding supporting guitar riffs and phrases. A mention here too, for the rock-solid rhythm section of Gadd and Jackson. ‘Black Cat Shuffle’ was composed by keyboardist Phillipe Saisse (it’s the only number he plays on) and it sounds like it says on the tin – a bluesy shuffle with a howling guitar solo from Di Meola.
‘Ritmo De La Noche’ (Rhythm of the Night) starts off as a sensuous, Flamenco-infused number with a slow cha-cha rhythm that gradually increases in tempo with a winding organ solo, heavy percussion and some furious guitar, before returning to the slow section for the coda. ‘Somalia’ is a short (1:40), moving piece, featuring an acoustic guitar/synthesiser duet and a pretty melody. It’s almost like a prelude to the closing number, ‘Jewel Inside A Dream,’ a dreamy ballad featuring acoustic guitar and a whistling synthesiser that has echoes of ELP’s 1972 hit ‘From The Beginning’ (I’m by no means the first person to make this observation). Whatever, it’s a lovely ending to the album. The two albums in this package may not be the strongest in Di Meola’s canon (his first three albums set the bar very high), but they are by no means the weakest, and both provide plenty of good listening to fans of this era of jazz-fusion.
Reviewed by George Cole
