American Jazz Guitarist Al Di Meola To Perform In Bucharest On May 25

The concert in Bucharest is organized by Amphitrion company. Tickets will be available on www.myticket.ro as of Monday, March 15, at prices ranging from 80 lei (EUR1=RON4.0929) to RON250. Tickets will also go on sale in Diverta stores during the next week.

Having a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he continues to be one of the most influential guitarists in the jazz fusion category. Albums such as "Friday Night in San Francisco" have often been cited as some of the most influential live albums ever recorded. Numerous have earned their place as legendary recordings for the practicing guitarist.

Di Meola went on to explore a variety of styles, but is most noted for his Latin-influenced jazz fusion works. He is a four time winner as Best Jazz Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's Reader Poll.

In addition to a prolific solo career, he has engaged in successful collaborations with bassist Stanley Clarke, keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and guitarists John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía.

In the beginning of his career, as evidenced on his first solo album "Land of the Midnight Sun" (1976), Di Meola was noted for his technical mastery and extremely fast, complex guitar solos and compositions. But even on his early albums, he had begun to explore Mediterranean cultures and acoustic genres like flamenco. Good examples are "Mediterranean Sundance" and "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" from the "Elegant Gypsy" album (1977). His early albums were very influential among rock and jazz guitarists alike. Di Meola continued to explore Latin music within the jazz-fusion genre on albums like "Casino" and "Splendido Hotel." He exhibited a more subtle touch on acoustic numbers like "Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars" from the Casino album, and on the best-selling live album with McLaughlin and de Lucia, "Friday Night in San Francisco." In 1980, he also toured with fellow Latin rocker Carlos Santana.

With "Scenario," he explored the electronic side of jazz in a collaboration with Jan Hammer (of Miami Vice theme fame). Beginning with this change, he further expanded his horizons with the acoustic album "Cielo e Terra." He began to incorporate guitar/synthesizers on albums such as "Soaring Through a Dream." Beginning in the 1990s, Di Meola recorded albums closer to World music and modern Latin styles than jazz.

He has continued to tour, playing in smaller venues like The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, and House of Blues in Las Vegas, Nevada. Recent concerts have included a sampling of his newer material (an engaging mix of acoustic, "distorted acoustic music", and guitar/synthesizer with a looser format than the songs on the early solo albums) along with a selection of electric guitar numbers from the early albums.

Di Meola often closes out shows with an energetic rendition of one of his most challenging pieces, "Race with Devil on Spanish Highway," from the Elegant Gypsy album. Even in technical showcases like this, he combines blindingly fast scalar runs with subtle, dazzling rhythms, and melodic phrases. Because of his early recordings, Di Meola became arguably the most important pioneer of shred guitar, influencing guitarists such as Yngwie Malmsteen (with whom he appeared on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's solo album "Black Utopia" in 2003) Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi with his speed runs as a child and Dream Theater's John Petrucci.

However, in most cases after the early 1980s, Di Meola has largely distanced himself from this approach. In various interviews, Di Meola has stated that his reason for stepping away from the electric guitar is due to hearing damage (manifested as tinnitus) from years of playing at excessive volumes; the acoustic guitar does not aggravate his condition.

But in 2006 he rediscovered his love of the electric guitar, and the DVD of his concert at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival 2006 bears the subtitle "Return to Electric Guitar."

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