Al Di Meola
From Jersey City
About
Also known as: A. Di Meola, Al Di Meola World Sinfonia, Al Dimeola, Al Laurence Di Meola, Di Meola, Al, Dimeola, Al
Few guitarists can claim they changed the face of jazz fusion before turning twenty, but Al Di Meola did exactly that when Chick Corea tapped him to join Return to Forever in 1974. Born in Jersey City and raised in Bergenfield, New Jersey, Di Meola had been obsessing over the guitar since childhood, first hooked by Elvis Presley and the Ventures, then completely redirected after his older sister brought home Meet the Beatles! on Christmas 1963. By his teens he was practicing ten to twelve hours a day, partly out of sheer love and partly out of fury after being cut from a local band. His solo career, launched in 1976, built on that technical foundation while pushing into Latin, flamenco and world music territory. Elegant Gypsy became a landmark record, and the live collaboration Friday Night in San Francisco with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía sold over two million copies. The World Sinfonia project extended his reach into global sounds even further. Along the way he worked alongside Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, Paul Simon, Steve Winwood, Steve Vai and a long list of others, making him one of the most well connected guitarists of his generation.
