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🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

Al Di Meola: From his heart attack to his mother’s Italian cooking and Astor Piazzolla’s letters

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Guitarist Al Di Meola will perform in Buenos Aires on Sept. 12 and 13 with an acoustic trio featuring Isaac Romagosa and Sergio Martínez.
  • The concerts will draw on music from several albums, including his latest release, Twentyfour, as well as original compositions and works linked to his career.
  • Di Meola said the three-part suite “Immensurable” was inspired by the 2020 Beirut port explosion.

At 19, Al Di Meola joined Return to Forever, one of jazz-rock’s leading bands, after guitarist Bill Connors left in 1974. Chick Corea invited the young musician, who went on to appear on the group’s major albums and concerts.

Di Meola has remained constantly active since then. His career includes celebrated encounters with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía, more than two dozen solo studio and live albums, and his latest release, Twentyfour.

We are going to play music from different albums, such as Infinite Desire, Consequence of Chaos, Opus and Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody.

· Al Di MeolaHe described the repertoire planned for his Buenos Aires concerts.

He returns to Buenos Aires for two performances at La Trastienda on Sept. 12 and 13. He will play in an acoustic trio with guitarist Isaac Romagosa and percussionist Sergio Martínez. The repertoire will include music from Infinite Desire, Consequence of Chaos, Opus and Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody, along with original pieces from his other albums and his newest work.

I have a great deal of music on albums that I have never played live. So we are going to perform many original pieces from all the albums, including the new one.

· Al Di MeolaThe guitarist explained why the concerts will draw broadly from his recorded work.

Twentyfour emerged partly from the pandemic, when musicians had to rethink their plans amid the restrictions on performances and the difficulties of creating and recording music. In 2023, after returning to a busy schedule of concerts, flights and hotels, Di Meola suffered a heart attack. The experience led him to look inward and put the finishing touches on the album.

That inward look also brought a return to his past. His current stage life brings together electric, acoustic and Spanish guitars, his own compositions, Beatles songs and works by Astor Piazzolla. Di Meola said the idea for “Immensurable” came after seeing the 2020 explosion at Beirut’s port, a catastrophic event that killed 218 people and injured more than 7,500. The three-part suite’s first movement became the centerpiece of the album.

It was a catastrophic event. The word stayed engraved in my mind: immeasurable.

· Al Di MeolaHe described the inspiration for the suite “Immensurable,” prompted by the Beirut port explosion.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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