riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (04/06/84)
[No offense intended, but I think I feel a mild flame coming on...]
Is there anybody other than me who finds Al DiMeola a tiresome bore?
Sure the guy can play scales real fast, but then so can any two-bit
synthesizer hooked up to a sequencer. As for musical expression,
DiMeola's repertoire is pretty well limited to one number: "Look, Ma,
when I get excited I play fast!"
Back when DiMeola first hit the scene, I was still listening to a lot
of fusion. I bought and enjoyed his first album, bought and was
somewhat bored by his second album, and boycotted his further albums
when I found they were just more of the same. The only enduring piece
of music I've ever heard him play was Chick Corea's short duet for
accoustic piano and guitar, "Tales from the Black Forest" (+/-).
Now, the other two members of the aforementioned trio, Paco de Lucia
and John McLaughlin, are a different story. They are both versatile,
innovative and expressive musicians when they want to be, and not just
contenders for the world land speed record on the guitar.
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddledonn@sdchema.UUCP (04/09/84)
Is there anybody other than me who finds Al DiMeola a tiresome
bore? ... Now, the other two members of the aforementioned
trio, Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin, are a different
story. They are both versatile, innovative and expressive
musicians when they want to be, and not just contenders for the
world land speed record on the guitar.
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
When I saw the trio in concert, they were ALL showing off. When they
were playing as fast as they could, I thought DiMeola sounded better --
perhaps because he can play so fast, he has a little extra time to
think through improvisations. Still I thought Steve Morse was better
than all three of them, in the concert environment; Morse at least
wasn't trying to prove anything. He just played good, solid, musical
guitar with a hint of blues. I think DiMeola's compositional skills
are improving, or at least I liked his last album much better than his
earlier ones. (Wasn't he a teenager when he originally joined Corea's
band?)
But no one has yet mentioned either of my candidates for best
guitarist...
My first choice would be Egberto Gismonti. Gismonti's piano skills
are almost as well developed as his guitar skills, so it is hard to
pigeonhole him as a mere guitar player. But even restricted to the
guitar he is unsurpassable for technique or composition in the current
crop of jazz guitarists. Pick up DANCA DAS CABECAS or SOLO or SANFONA
(all ECM albums) and see what I'm talking about.
I also prefer Ralph Towner to any of the guitarists mentioned so far by
others. Like Gismonti he is a multi-instrumentalist. His 12-string
work is just amazing. Try DIARY or SOLO CONCERTS or BLUE SUN for his
solo work, or SARGASSO SEA or FIVE YEARS LATER with John Abercrombie,
or any Oregon album.
Keep on pluckin',
Donn Seeley UCSD Chemistry Dept. ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdchema!donn