All the tracks except Guardian Angel were recorded live at The Warfield Theatre on Decemin San Francisco. It was described by jazz author and critic Walter Kolosky as “a musical event that could be compared to the Benny Goodman Band’s performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938… may be considered the most influential of all live acoustic guitar albums. In 1981, in a world stuffed with electric guitars, this event had spectators popping off over acoustic guitar strumming, something that is more common today, largely thanks to this absolutely once-in-a-lifetime concert.~įriday Night In San Francisco is a 1981 live album by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia. Although a few critics thought it a bit busy and muscular, the audience was certainly enthralled, which was one the reasons they decided to wrap and sell it. Friday Night in San Francisco is perhaps one of the most influential live acoustic performances ever cut. The record comprises 3 duets and 2 trios, and presents each maestro in the peak of their outstanding careers.The final track Guardian Angel is a beautiful melody played by the trio, each soloing over the lush strumming of the other two heavenly. It simply explodes with De Lucia breathing fire on his opening riff that defies gravity, scary talent and technique here in just 3 seconds, the rest goes without saying (but we will) is pure magic a masterpiece of acoustic expression. The album’s real treat is when McLaughlin teams with De Lucia on a Egberto Gismonti opus Frevo Rasgado. McLaughlin has a Gibson J-200, which he describes as “Perhaps the greatest steel string guitar ever built: on condition you like that Gibson sound, Martin Guitar players will no doubt disagree with me…”
AL DI MEOLA MEDITERRANEAN SUNDANCE LESSON FULL
Full of fun and laughter, thumping the guitar body for static percussion points, and they actually quote the theme from the Pink Panther. Track 2, Short Tales of the Black Forest, is another duet with McLaughlin this time and Di Meola, and again, just inhuman technique, and is something like a heated conversation between the two that turns into a rock/bluesy back and forth. This first rousing track sets up the album perfectly, the audience is now completely spellbound.Īlthough this is considered a jazz album, there are flares of jazz-rock, fusion, flamenco, and post-bop.
De Lucia plays his legendary 1971 Flamenco Guitar by Sobrinos de Domingo Esteso, and Di Meola on a ‘48 Martin D-18, (or quite possibly a Sigma SDR-28MLE). The two complement one another on solos with driving rhythms and rapid-fire picking delights the crowd onto their feet. It is a vigorous 11 minutes of incredible chops and licks rarely ever seen in one setting. A summit of the 3 best acoustic guitarists in the world in a loose free-spirited setting wow the audience with 5 heavy numbers, starting with duet by De Lucia and DiMeola on Di Meola’s Mediterranean Sundance. The result was the monumental album Friday Night in San Francisco. Three virtuosos, ‘The Guitar Trio’ put on a show of dextrous plucking and picking with such energy and humour, the crowd was loving it, calling out and them responding, screaming and laughing. The performance one Friday night in December of 1981 at San Francisco’s Warwick Theatre by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia is considered to be the event that launched the acoustic guitar into the collective global conscience. The whole thing, not a small thing, is played with heart in hand.
In short, a live with magical atmospheres full of stairs at the limit of the human, sensational melodies and crazy phrasings that would make even the most famous pale (unfortunately?) G3 of Satriani,Go and nice company. Among the three guitarists stands out slightly the American, who will be a bit 'the star of the evening, in fact most of the songs will be part of his repertoire. At the end the trio joins for the two closing pieces "Fantasia Suite" and "Guardian Angel", literally spectacular. From tears the melodies performed by Mclaughlin and De Lucia in "Frevo Rasgado", one of the most complex pieces from a technical and executive point of view. "Short Tales Of The Black Forest" is the most jazzy piece and also the funniest: Di Meola and McLaughlin manage to insert in this song the motif of "Pink Panther" and a dragging blues. Di Meola and the Iberian open the dances with the medley "Mediterranean Sundance / Rio Ancho": it is the most Spanish song of the concert, with irresistible gypsy-Andalusian rhythms. A live by San Francisco, December 5, 1980, Warfield Theatre, and performed by the three of the greatest guitarists on the planet and in history: the American Al Di Meola and the English John McLaughlin, coming from jazz and fusion, and the Spanish flamenchist Paco De Lucia. (John McLaughlin) Indispensable record for any lover of guitar and good music.
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