Al Di Meola - One of These Nights
Long regarded as one of the world's finest guitar players, jazz virtuoso Al Di Meola is now entering his 31st year as a recording artist and his new DVD, One of These Nights, is his first full-length concert DVD.

Recorded May 17, 2004 at Scala, in Ludwigsburg, Germany, the DVD features 11 tracks.

01 Innamorata (Al Di Meola) - "Flesh on Flesh", 2002
02 Misterio (Al Di Meola) - "The Grand Passion", 2000
03 Azzurra (Al Di Meola) - "The Infinite Desire", 1998
04 Orient Blue (Al Di Meola) - "World Sinfonia", 1993
05 Rhapsody of Fire (Al Di Meola) - "Tirami Su", 1987
06 This Way Before (Al Di Meola) - "Orange and Blue", 1994
07 One Night Last June (Al Di Meola) - "Kiss My Axe", 1991
08 Fugatta (Astor Piazzolla) - "Flesh on Flesh", 2002
09 Libertango (Astor Piazzolla) - "The Grande Passion", 2000
10 Beyond the Mirage (Al Di Meola) - "Guitar Trio, 1996
11 Egyptian Danza (Al Di Meola) "Casino", 1977

The performances all around sparkle and invigorate. Almost every track is cinematic in scope with delicate, quiet acoustic passages interwoven with dynamic, and rigorous workouts with the band, which features Mario Pamisano (acoustic piano and synths), Gumbi Ortiz (percussion), Ernie Adams (drums) and the Sturcz String Quartet - Andras Sturcz (cello), Guyla Benko (viola), Gabor Csonka (1st violin) and Victor Uhzik (2nd violin.)

The DVD is not slickly produced with an overindulgent number of camera angles. Rather, it's actually more intimate and immediate. Even the stage and light show are akin to what you might see at a small jazz festival, but in no way does it detract from what matters most - letting the music do the talking.

Fusion jazz can be very beautiful and very accessible to most casual music fans, since it can approximate the dramatic romance we often hear in film scores. Prettiness alone doesn't make for great jazz, though, and while the band is not designed to mostly improvise, they do cut loose here and there. There's some delightful improvisation between Di Meola and Gumbi Ortiz where they look at each other and dare the other to play along. You can tell how much fun they had. As the audience applauded, Ortiz looked over to Di Meola as if to say, come on, let's keep this going. And they did. It was a welcome change from the other, more structured material.

Check out to satisfying acknowledgments the musicians, particularly Mario Parmisano, give to one another and to the audience, at the end of some of the more rollicking tracks.

Di Meola is a fountain gushing forth music. Although he sits during the entire performance, watch as he pops his shoulders ever so gently as he concentrates on his dexterous playing. It's also interesting to hear how he can also make the acoustic guitar sound electric, with his assortment of pedals. Di Meola didn't speak very much, but this may have been due to the fact that he was playing to a German audience.

I had the pleasure of seeing Al Di Meola in concert in support of the tango-influenced "Heart of the Immigrants" recording with guitarist Chris Carrington and percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan. This DVD brought back some positive memories.

Al Di Meola still flies under the public's radar, but he deserves every accolade he gets. For jazz / fusion fans, see him live when you can, but in the meantime, get "One of These Nights." It's on sale February 15, 2005.