Al Di Meola , born July 22, 1954 in Jersey City, New Jersey (USA)> is an American jazz fusion guitarist, known, among others, for his accomplished technique as well as for the discipline of his game
Di Meola was born in Jersey City. In 1971, he returned to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1974, he replaced Bill Connors in Chick Corea's group Return to Forever. He recorded with the group one of the jazz-rock nuggets of the 75's, the album Romantic Warrior and played with until a complete overhaul of the band in 1976>.
In 1978, he made some dates of concerts in Japan with Chick Corea, Tony Williams and Bunny Brunel. In 1980, he also toured with Carlos Santana. In 1983, he went on tour with Return to Forever, after the release of the album Touchstone by Chick Corea, in which, on the title Compadres, we could find the four friends of Return To Forever Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White.
Di Meola is quickly noticed by his technical mastery and his complex jazz-rock compositions. His first albums had a great influence on other jazz and rock guitarists. Di Meola also explores Latin music in the jazz fusion genre with albums such as Casino (1978) and Splendido Hotel (1980). It shows a more acoustic approach in the live album with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia, Friday Night in San Francisco.
