DVD Review: Al Di Meola – One of These Nights

[Audioholics]

<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avsoftware/dvd-video/AlDiMeolaDVDReview.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 71px; HEIGHT: 100px" alt=[AlDiMeolaOneTheseNightsDVD1] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/AlDiMeolaOneTheseNightsDVD1_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>Progressive jazz has a distinct and sometimes confusing sound.&nbsp; Usually, one of the band members will carry the beat and/or the melody while the others will solo on their own.&nbsp; What this amounts to is moments when it seems no one is playing the same song.&nbsp; They are all taking cues from each other and building on what the others are playing. To the uninitiated, it may sound a little disjointed.&nbsp; Adding the Latin rhythms adds yet <EM>another</EM> layer of complexity to the mix. Tom Andry reviewed a DVD from potentially one of the greatest guitar players of our time - Al Di Meola, known for infusing Latin rhythms into his Jazz performances.</FONT></P><P><FONT face=Arial size=2>[Read the Review]</FONT></P>

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

I'm amazed that no one has commented on this review yet. Al DiMeola is arguably one of the greatest jazz fushion guitarists of my generation. I've been listening to him since his days with Return to Forever with Chick Corea, Lenny White and Stanley Clarke.

That said, the only song I'm familiar with by name on this release is Egyptian Danza therefore I was a little disappointed that the person reviewing this DVD had almost no prior experience with DiMeola or even this genre with which to convey whether this collection compares favorably to his prior work.

 

[gene]

Shadow;

I am a fan as well and time permitting I will pop in my copy and do a little write up here about it. Both Al Dimeola and Pat Metheny are two of my favorite guitarists.

 

[Tom Andry]

Shadow,

the person reviewing this DVD had almost no prior experience with DiMeola or even this genre

Both parts of this statement are false. I had NO (not almost no) prior experience with DiMeola before this review but I have been a big fan of Stanley Clarke since I saw him live many, many moons ago. That does not mean that I am a huge fan of the genre, but I am familiar with it. I'm glad that Gene will be able to give you (and others) a comparison of this DVD to DiMeola’s previous work that I was unable to provide.

My goal with this (and all of my software reviews) is to judge each work on its own merits and not in comparison to any past offerings. I may reference past works with which I am familiar (as in my Porcupine Tree: Deadwing review), but I do not give a comparison between the two.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

I guess I misinterpreted this statement, "I’m a fan of all kinds of music, but the atonal and arhythmic nature of this album challenged my listening skills like never before." My apologies.

 

[gymphboi]

I tried to listen to some of Al's work on Amazon yesterday and see whether I would like any of it. I've heard a few pieces on XM and it seemed pleasant enough. I confused though by the reviewers use of the words atonal and arhythmic. Nothing I heard on XM or Amazon struck as sounding like that.

Is the DVD representative of his body of work?

I consider the following to be atonal or arhythmic: Painkiller, John Coltrane's Ascension, or Tim Berne.

Thoughts?

-Tony