Is Al Di Meola jazz?

[staunchally]

I've been lurking at this site for awhile and have enjoyed reading many of the posts. I was just thinking about this the other day and decided why not run it past the folks at jazzguitar.be?

I'm inclined to say "no". To my ears, he has a "rock", not a jazz feel and most importantly, seldom improvises. He also seldom, if ever, plays "outside" the scale or tonality. Those are just a few things off the top of my head.

Agree or disagree? Am I missing something? By the way, not a knock on Al's playing. I just don't hear jazz in it.

[docbop]

I'm not a diMeola fan. I would say he's a Fusion player, Fusion is a offshoot of Jazz. So technically Al's a Jazz player.

[paynow]

A great player but like Doc, not my cup of tea. Is it jazz? To some folks it probably is, since jazz can have so many broad definitions. To me, no, not in a traditional sense.

[mr. beaumont]

Seldom improvises? I dunno 'bout that.

[hot ford coupe]

I mostly stay away from a lot of the new fangled stuff. I assumed he was mostly a fusion player which a lot of folks classify as jazz. Then again, Kenny G is also classified in some places as jazz. I'm not a fan of either one.

[Extrapolation]

He improvises plenty, it's just that when he does it's usually the same fast scalar runs and little three note descending scalar triplets so it all kind of blends together.

I'm not a fan personally, well for the most part I suppose. I like some of the melodies that he has written on his early fusion albums like "Silent Story In Her Eyes", but his improvising is ****. Doesn't help that his ego is too big for this world either.

[Spirit59]

Al was brought into Return to Forever because of his rock edge and his familiarity with Latin music.

All fusion guitar players don't have the same tools in their bag: Say between Al Dimeola and Scott Henderson, which one do you reckon could blow through Stella and sound fresh on nearly every chorus?

I'll give ya a hint: It ain't Al.

Al does what he does, and does it very well.

[Billnc]

Originally Posted by Spirit59

Al does what he does, and does it very fast

Fixed it for you!

[Flyin' Brian]

Seems like jazz has no definition. It's in the ear of the beholder. I had somebody tell me the other day that Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass was jazz. I've also heard people say, including some members here that Metheny, Abercrombie, Frisell & Scofield aren't jazz players. So go figure. I'd rather subdivide music into "music that I like" and "music that I don't like" rather than pigeonholing anyone. And it's sure not worth arguing over.

[hot ford coupe]

Originally Posted by Flyin' Brian

Seems like jazz has no definition. It's in the ear of the beholder. I had somebody tell me the other day that Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass was jazz. I've also heard people say, including some members here that Metheny, Abercrombie, Frisell & Scofield aren't jazz players. So go figure. I'd rather subdivide music into "music that I like" and "music that I don't like" rather than pigeonholing anyone. And it's sure not worth arguing over.

I'll agree with that. Unfortunately, the borders of musical styles aren't as well defined as let's say state borders. There, either you're in Texas or Oklahoma. With Jazz, rock, smooth jazz, fusion or whatever you want to choose, there are very wide gray areas between styles and that's where guys like Dimeola fit. I can deal with the vague general guidelines, but to be any more precise than that, I can't do.

[Stackabones]

Like Louis said, "If you have to ask ..."

[nikosjazzlove]

Hi there! I am really new to this thing, especially not playing jazz, but I am fascinated by the different styles. I heard Al Di Meola in Athens a couple of years ago and also recently that he joined a Greek Solist, playing the bouzouki, exploring its adaptation to jazz in some way.

Well, my technical knowledge stops right about there, but I was in the concert, enjoyed both Al Di Meola and Michael Paouris that played there and once I read this post, it felt like I had to share this with you...

Nice to be here and I hope I can learn some things while reading this forum!

I was not sure which video to choose, so I am posting one of them and the rest you will find out on your own I guess!!!

Michael Paouris' Band "For Sephora" concert: Al Di Meola - Michael Paouris - YouTube

Best!

N

[Franklin52]

Does he use tritone substitutions/MM's, no?
Not jazz for me...

[jmstritt]

Originally Posted by Spirit59

All fusion guitar players don't have the same tools in their bag: Say between Al Dimeola and Scott Henderson, which one do you reckon could blow through Stella and sound fresh on nearly every chorus?

I'll give ya a hint: It ain't Al.

Comparing Al Dimeola to Scott Henderson isn't even fair! Scott Henderson on a completely different plane. Definitely a, "Great!"

[wolflen]

strange insights into opinions of dimeola's playing...does he play jazz is the question...lets see...some of the people he has played with..mclaughlin..corea..clark..hayden..to name several..

is the question..can he play 32 bar standards and solo over them...anyone want to bet the farm on that.. is it since he dosent play that style he cant play it..

[oldskoolchop]

Originally Posted by Flyin' Brian

Seems like jazz has no definition. It's in the ear of the beholder. I had somebody tell me the other day that Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass was jazz. I've also heard people say, including some members here that Metheny, Abercrombie, Frisell & Scofield aren't jazz players. So go figure. I'd rather subdivide music into "music that I like" and "music that I don't like" rather than pigeonholing anyone. And it's sure not worth arguing over.

\m/ yes often people ask me what style i like, or why this guy but not this guy, you got it Music i like, Music that i don't, and why argue, why try to take away someone else's enjoyment

[BlueMiles]

I don't know. I never followed him much, but I do love his tune "Beyond the Mirage" on one of the McLaughlin-DiMeola-DeLucia records.

[RCGuitarStudio]

Alot of hate for Al D here lol. His output is obviously not Jazz in the traditional sense... but I would disagree on the points of he rarely improvises or plays outside the scale. He has a large output of material that encompasses a lot of different music..

Check out his recent Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody!

[Larry Feldman]

I used to call his playing style Heavy Metal Flamenco. I saw him live once at the Roxy. Fell asleep after watching him pander to the crowd and do the same testosterone enhancing lick over and over. Can't believe you can fall asleep to a stack of Marshalls.

[brwnhornet59]

I have followed Al since the 70's, just like I followed John M and Pat.

Is Al a traditional Jazzer? No he is a mixture of Latin, World Beat and Fusion.

Can he improvise? Like few can.

Can he play standards? You betcha, the man is a monster. His ego, as with many greats, tend to get in his way though. The rivalry between Al and Frank are legendary.

Have you ever listened to his Classical etudes? I would say that Al can approach pretty much whatever he desires, in his own way.

If you look at all of the great Fusion artists that have evolved since Miles went electric, Al has played with most of them. Are they Jazz? You betcha. Fusion is just an offshoot, but Jazz none the less, IMHO. Some of the best have tried their hands at it.

I do not listen to Al as much as I did in the 70's and 80's but I have most of his solo work. I have become more retro and keep coming back to Cool School. But the guy is among the best in the world out there today in his genre, like him or not.

[Flat]

I'll call Al whatever he wants to be called: jazz, fusion, instrumental...

He's one of those few guys about whom I will say "he is an absolute monster, a fantastic player, awesome & amazing technique" -- but I just don't find myself listening to his music too much. Too many notes. Too much heat, not enough light. It's probably not fair to the guy, but that's the feeling I get. Call it my problem, not his. I certainly respect him as a player of the first order.

If we're going to call Frisell and Metheny "jazz" -- especially that wonderful "Americana" stuff my hero Frisell has been churning out in recent years -- then I guess it's fair to call Al "jazz." He's not thumping out standards on an L5 or playing rhythm changes or whatever. But it's not really "Americana" or "World" in the ways I usually think of those kinds of music.

I wonder what Al would say?

Americana? Latinalia? World? Jazz? Shutitnlisten? ;-)

[nycjazzman]

Originally Posted by staunchally

I've been lurking at this site for awhile and have enjoyed reading many of the posts. I was just thinking about this the other day and decided why not run it past the folks at jazzguitar.be?

I'm inclined to say "no". To my ears, he has a "rock", not a jazz feel and most importantly, seldom improvises. He also seldom, if ever, plays "outside" the scale or tonality. Those are just a few things off the top of my head.

Agree or disagree? Am I missing something? By the way, not a knock on Al's playing. I just don't hear jazz in it.

Good question. I love his music and I would say more Fusion and Spanish.

[AmundLauritzen]

He has one of the best picking techniques in the biz, especially when you consider his use of odd note groupings, and his ability to mix and match them at will.
From a musical perspective, I'm not really a fan of his playing. From interviews, he seems full of himself which is even more off putting to me.
His tone is not my cup of tea. Too pretty for me.

A lot of people like his playing though. You either like it or you don't.
In my opinion, Bireli makes better use of the technique. He plays interesting runs when playing fast, which is far more interesting to me than running some minor scale all day.

[robby27]

Originally Posted by brwnhornet59

I have followed Al since the 70's, just like I followed John M and Pat.

Is Al a traditional Jazzer? No he is a mixture of Latin, World Beat and Fusion.

Can he improvise? Like few can.

Can he play standards? You betcha, the man is a monster. His ego, as with many greats, tend to get in his way though. The rivalry between Al and Frank are legendary.

Have you ever listened to his Classical etudes? I would say that Al can approach pretty much whatever he desires, in his own way.

If you look at all of the great Fusion artists that have evolved since Miles went electric, Al has played with most of them. Are they Jazz? You betcha. Fusion is just an offshoot, but Jazz none the less, IMHO. Some of the best have tried their hands at it.

I do not listen to Al as much as I did in the 70's and 80's but I have most of his solo work. I have become more retro and keep coming back to Cool School. But the guy is among the best in the world out there today in his genre, like him or not.

I was thinking about this topic when I read the above, and you basically "took the words out of my mouth".
I've followed Al D for about the same period of time, all the way back to RTF. Dazzled by his technique when I was younger, liked the latin flavored solo stuff, ie. Elegant Gypsy, Splendido Hotel, etc. and the acoustic trio works since then. I have bought a few of his more recent albums and like them. I'd consider him a "jazz" player because I believe these days its a broadly defined way of describing music of a certain seriousness, complexity and creativity. The ego has always been kind of amusing to me (Italian macho stereotypes come to mind) but not at all offensive, actually kind of appropo. (For some reason Gino Vanelli comes to mind). I suspect Al, like most artists I know, would probably not agree with any "categorization" his body of work. Without much qualification, I think he's one of the greatest of our generation.
HOWEVER, like the poster above, I too have shifted my focus more on the old school stuff nowadays and I don't listen to him as much as I used to, but I never did listen to him as much as Metheny, Benson, Pass, Wes, and a few others. With Al I've never been able to take more than a periodic dose of him. For example, several months ago I bought and listened to Consequence of Chaos a couple of times, liked it, but then put it back on the shelf and haven't had the desire to listen to it since and that's the way its been for my 30 years of listening to Al D. In that same period, at least 3 out of 6 or recently 10 slots of my car stereo have always held a Pat Metheny or PMG CD.
To me, with Al D, once I've heard what's new and digested it, he just starts sounding like kind of a predictable, bloodless barrage of technical virtuosity.
Hopefully I haven't rambled on too long, but any thoughts along these lines from anyone?

[oldane]

Is fried liver slices food? Let's call the gastronomy police and get the answer.

Is Al de Meola jazz? Let's call the jazz police and get the answer.

Seriously, is it relevant? Duke Ellington deliberately stopped using the word "jazz" in the 1940s in favor of the word "music". Charlie Parker said "They say there's a boundary to music. But man, art has no boundaries".

Seems to me it would be more relevant to ask if one likes de Meolas music or not. I'm not cracy about it. For example, I don't like the fretboard speed contests he recorded with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia. But what do I know. I'm just an old fart who hasn't managed to make it past the players of the 1950s and 1960s. Many people like him - else his records and concert tickets wouldn't sell.

[Double 07]

The term "jazz fusion" encompasses a lot of sonic territory. It can be jazz/rock fusion (where I think Al would most likely be classified). Although he's kind of hard to pin down in that regard since he's obviously also influenced by a wide variety of "world music" latin, Afro-cuban, flamenco etc. Seems like all kinds of influences show up in his music. Id say he definitely fit's in as a jazz fusion artist.

By definition "jazz Fusion" means jazz being "fused" with other musical styles like, rock, R&B, Brazilian etc. It could be a lot of things even a little Country I suppose? Like Bella Fleck and the Flecktones.

Does Al D have a real classic jazz bebop style? Well I've never heard it in any of his playing. I'm really into the guys who can do the bebop thing on a high level because I know what it takes to really pull it off on that high level. I can also appreciate the strictly fusion players though. I appreciate good music in general.

[paynow]

Originally Posted by brwnhornet59

Can he play standards? You betcha, the man is a monster. His ego, as with many greats, tend to get in his way though. The rivalry between Al and Frank are legendary.

Brown,

Vignola? Zappa? Not sure who you mean. Happy New Year, BTW.

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by paynow

Brown,

Vignola? Zappa? Not sure who you mean. Happy New Year, BTW.

I'm thinking he's thinking of the Aussie guy who finally jettisoned the hairpiece (unlike Al) and went au natural at 350 bpm/economy picking/minimal # of attacks per string: Frank Gambale.

Frank replaced Al in the most recent RTF tour.

[brwnhornet59]

Originally Posted by paynow

Brown,

Vignola? Zappa? Not sure who you mean. Happy New Year, BTW.

Gambale!

Happy New Year to you and yours as well!

[paynow]

Originally Posted by brwnhornet59

Gambale!

Happy New Year to you and yours as well!

Hah! I didn't even consider Gambale but it makes sense. DiMeola is from Bergenfield, NJ, so had Sinatra been a guitar player I would have thought it was "Ol' Blue Eyes" since he's from Hoboken.