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Italian-American electric guitarist
Al DiMeola (1954),
who made his name in Chick Corea's Return To Forever (1974-76) when he was still a teenager, was emblematic of the mix of technical mastery and relaxing material (but devoid of innovation or challenge) that came to be expected from fusion guitarists.
His first album, Land of the Midnight Sun (july 1976), coined a delicate
blend of baroque fusion-jazz and melodic progressive-rock
in two nine-minute pieces,
Land of the Midnight Sun and the
three-movement suite Golden Dawn.
DiMeola's style rapidly converged towards a stereotyped kind of
Latin-tinged fusion via
Elegant Gypsy (january 1977), that included
an acoustic duet with fellow guitarist Paco de Lucia
(Mediterranean Sundance),
an electric-guitar tour de force (Race With Devil on Spanish Highway)
and another nine-minute suite (Elegant Gypsy),
Casino (september 1977), with another tour de force
(the multi-tracked Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars),
catchy numbers (Senor Mouse, Egyptian Danza)
and the customary nine-minute suite, Casino,
and the double-LP Splendido Hotel (1979), a sort of self-celebration in various configurations (Alien Chase On Arabian Desert, Dinner Music Of The Gods).
Tedious demonstrations of his skills, such as
Friday Night in San Francisco (december 1980), a live album with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia,
Electric Rendezvous (1981), the
electronic Scenario (1983)
and the bombastic Soaring Through a Dream (1985)
ended his fusion phase, that, under the bad influence of keyboardist Jan Hammer, had been turning more and more obnoxious.
DiMeola reemerged as an acoustic Pat Metheny-inspired guitarist of sentimental moods at the intersection of new-age and world-music.
The new classics were:
the eleven-minute Cielo E Terra on Cielo E Terra (1985),
Beijing Demons and Rhapsody of Fire on Tirami Su (april 1987),
Morocco and Phantom on Kiss My Axe (may 1991),
but nothing revolutionary.
The all-acoustic World Sinfonia (october 1990) and
Heart of the Immigrants (1993)
revealed a new (fashionable) passion:
Argentinian tango composer Astor Piazzolla.
Not exactly the most stunning of ideas.
Despite the injection of new technologies,
Orange and Blue (1994) and The Infinite Desire (april 1998)
were undistinguished collections of melodic ditties.
The enchanting melody of Grande Passion on
Grande Passion (april 2000)
and
Zona Desperata on Flesh on Flesh (april 2002)
marked an artistic rebirth of sorts.
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