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Al Di Meola: World Sinfonia - The Grande Passion

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Al Di Meola
Title: World Sinfonia - The Grande Passion
Released: 2000
Label: Telarc Jazz
Time: 59:39
Producer(s): Al Di Meola
Appears with: Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty, Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin
Category: Jazz
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2000.11.03
Price in €: 14,99
Web address: www.aldimeola.com

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Misterio (Al Di Meola) - 7:53
[2] Double Concerto (Astor Piazzolla) - 5:55
[3] Prelude: Adagio For Theresa (Al Di Meola / Mario Parmisano) - 1:22
[4] The Grande Passion (Al Di Meola) - 9:04
[5] Asia De Cuba (Al Di Meola) - 8:57
[6] Soledad (Astor Piazzolla) - 7:37
[7] Opus In Green (Al Di Meola) - 10:18
[8] Libertango (Astor Piazzolla) - 5:06
[9] Azucar (Al Di Meola) - 3:12

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


World Sinfonia:
Al Di Meola - Acoustic Guitars, Acoustic Bass, Cymbals, Percussion, Acoustic Ovation (Roland G30), Orchestration Strings and Woodwinds, Arrangement
Mario Parmisano - Acoustic Piano, Associate Production
Herman Romero - Acoustic Guitar, Background Harmony Guitar, Charango, Vocals, Orchestration Strings and Woodwinds, Associate Production
Gilad - Percussion
Gumbi Ortiz - Congas, Percussion

Add. musicians:
John Patitucci - Acoustic Bass
Arto Tuncboyabian - Vocal, Percussion
Mike Mossman - Trumpet
Oscar Feldman - Tenor Sax

Toronto Symphonic Orchestra
Mark Skazinetsky - Concertmaster, Violin
Fabrizio Festa - Conductor, Orchestration Strings and Woodwinds
James Spragg - Orchestra Manager

David Baker - Recording Engineer
Katsu Naito - Recording Engineer, Mixing
Henry Nophsker - Recording Engineer, Assistant Mix Engineer
Ted Jensen - Mastering
Robert Woods - Executive Producer

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


On The Grande Passion, guitarist extraordinaire Al Di Meola explores melody and rhythmic diversity with the help of his acoustic group, World Sinfonia.


A legendary figure in jazz and progressive rock, Di Meola continues his tradition of mixing the sounds of world music together with his own contemporary vision. His latest edition of World Sinfonia spotlights a group of internationally renowned players, including pianist Mario Parmisano, bassist John Pattitucci, guitarist/vocalist Hernan Romero, and percussionists Arto Tuncboyacian, Gilad, and Gumbi Ortiz. The Grande Passion includes six Di Meola originals and three compositions by the late Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla ("Double Concerto," "Soledad," and "Libertango"). Di Meola’s friendship with Piazzolla before his death had a profound effect on the guitarist, deepening his ties to the music of South America. First tapped by Chick Corea in 1974 for Return to Forever, Al Di Meola’s fruitful career spans a range of styles, emotions, and instruments. From the velocity and heat of his solo efforts to his challenging work with the Guitar Trio and beyond, Di Meola has matured into a composer of deepening grace and lyricism who consistently breaks new ground. Di Meola’s critically acclaimed Winter Nights (CD-83458), with Peter Gabriel’s "Mercy Street" and Paul Simon’s "Scarborough Fair," was his first ever Christmas CD. His Telarc debut, The Infinite Desire (CD-83433), has sold more than 100,000 copies to date and spent over 3 months on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart. In Germany, The Infinite Desire spent over 20 weeks on the jazz chart, rising to #3. In Italy, it reached #1 and spent 8 weeks on the jazz chart.

www.telarc.com



Fusion firebrand Al Di Meola continues his passion of the 1990s, compositions written and inspired by Astor Piazzolla. What's remarkable is how strong Di Meola's own music sounds next to those of the late Brazilian tango avatar. "Misterio" opens the album and sets the tone with a lush, romantic setting for acoustic guitar interpolated with colorful accents of sitar and winds, triggered by Di Meola's MIDI-guitar. It's a dynamic piece that takes unusual twists, and it sits comfortably next to Piazzolla's "Double Concerto," which follows. Again, using his strangely uncredited MIDI-guitar, Di Meola emulates Piazzolla's inimitable bandoneon sound. The guitarist has assembled a phenomenal group, including bassist John Patitucci, percussionists Gumbi Ortiz and Arto Tuncboyacian, pianist Mario Parmisano, and second guitarist Hernan Romero. With the virtuosity of his playing, Di Meola is often overlooked as a composer, and The Grande Passion underscores what a fine composer he is. String arrangements color "Double Concerto," the title track, and several other pieces, but Di Meola hardly needs orchestral frills to legitimize his already epic compositions. The guitarist has slipped from critical prominence since the days of Return to Forever, Splendido Hotel and the guitar trio with John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia (try out Friday Night in San Francisco for a great trio outing), but Di Meola spent the 1990s doing some of his best work with his World Sinfonia group and The Grande Passion starts the new millennium in fine form.

John Diliberto, Amazon.com



The Grande Passion finds Di Meola returning to his World Sinfonia format, creating a between-the-cracks world music ambience laced with gypsy influences, laying aside the electric guitar in favor of the acoustic guitar, paying effusive tribute once again to the memory of Astor Piazzolla. This time, in several of the six DiMeola originals and three Piazzolla covers, Fabrizio Festa and members of the Toronto Symphony lay down some lushly carpeted backdrops, and Argentine pianist Mario Parmisano is virtually on equal footing with the soft-focused DiMeola up front. Other familiar DiMeola cohorts like guitarist Hernan Romero and percussionist Gumbi Ortiz turn up again, and bassist John Patitucci lends a hand. Yet the record resolutely refuses to catch fire; the tunes aren't that interesting, the grooves are fairly routine -- kicking in powerfully only for about 30 seconds in the middle of DiMeola's "Opus in Green" -- and the strings and winds are often glommed on in a generic manner. For all of the album's obvious beauty and expertly turned craft, it's hard to get involved with this music.

Richard Ginell, All-Music Guide



To begin let me just say that I'm not a big Di Meola fan, and that I don't give out my 5 star reviews lightly. However I do feel that his work with World Sinfonia is in general very good. This is the best of the 3 albums.  The main reason is that this album is far more consistent than the others. The reviewer hit the nail on the head when he pointed out Al's considerable compositional skills being showcased here. I do not feel this was the case on the other two albums. In fact on those albums it was always his covers of Piazzolla or another composer's piece that would stand out. "World Sinfonia" from 10 years ago was another excellent work altogether, however the standouts were Tango Suite (Piazzolla), No Mystery (Corea), and the classical piece La Cathedral (I forget the composer). In fact Di Meola himself did hardly anything in the way of composing on that record, which is probably why it was better than Heart of the Immigrants, in my opinion. The standouts on the 2nd World Sinfonia Album were once again the Piazzolla compositions (Nightclub 1960, Cafe 1930, Bordel 1900 years may be off Im doing this by memory). On this new album Al's own compositions fit very nicely next to Piazzolla's usual masterpieces. Misterio, The Grande Passion, Asia De Cuba, and Opus in Green all go through many twists and turns and all hold up very well. Also do not forget the considerable talents of the band here. The musicianship on this album is top notch. Al's playing here remains very recognizable, but is among his best acoustic guitar playing on record. The sidemen here, particularly Mario Parmisano with his unique style on piano, all contribute greatly to the success. John Patitucci, a well known bassist in the jazz field, even shows up on 2 tracks, making his presence particularly known on Asia de Cuba. The one thing this album is missing is Dino Saluzzi, or another quality bandoneon player. I'm sorry but the Roland GR-30 does little to capture the essence of the bandoneon here... while the actual sound of it matches that of the bandoneon, the playing (which for the most part seemed like it just doubled Al's guitar playing/improvising) is not at all realistic, particularly the fast runs. However the addition on the piano here does make this only a minor complaint, but I'm not sure that it was necessary to use this effect at all... All in all, an excellent album, certainly worth the buy and many listens.




AL DI MEOLA'S THE GRANDE PASSION EXPLORES MELODY AND RHYTHMIC DIVERSITY

On The Grande Passion, guitarist extraordinaire Al Di Meola explores melody and rhythmic diversity with the help of his acoustic group, World Sinfonia. A legendary figure in jazz and progressive rock, Di Meola continues his tradition of mixing the sounds of world music together with his own contemporary vision. His latest edition of World Sinfonia spotlights a group of internationally renowned players, including pianist Mario Parmisano, bassist John Pattitucci, guitarist/vocalist Hernan Romero, and percussionists Arto Tuncboyacian, Gilad, and Gumbi Ortiz. The Grande Passion includes six Di Meola originals and three compositions by the late Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla ("Double Concerto," "Soledad," and "Libertango"). Di Meola's friendship with Piazzolla before his death had a profound effect on the guitarist, deepening his ties to the music of South America. First tapped by Chick Corea in 1974 for Return to Forever, Al Di Meola's fruitful career spans a range of styles, emotions, and instruments. From the velocity and heat of his solo efforts to his challenging work with the Guitar Trio and beyond, Di Meola has matured into a composer of deepening grace and lyricism who consistently breaks new ground. Di Meola's critically acclaimed Winter Nights (CD-83458), with Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street" and Paul Simon's "Scarborough Fair," was his first ever Christmas CD. His Telarc debut, The Infinite Desire (CD-83433), has sold more than 100,000 copies to date and spent over 3 months on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart. In Germany, The Infinite Desire spent over 20 weeks on the jazz chart, rising to #3. In Italy, it reached #1 and spent 8 weeks on the jazz chart.

JazzOnline.com



A rich, moody tapestry with flashes of fire, this CD incorporates elements of jazz, fusion, classical, Latin, tango and Middle Eastern music. Sounding like the romantic soundtrack to an excellent foreign film, it's full of splendid moments, like the wash of colors on "Double Concierto," a sinuous composition by DiMeola's "musical father and friend" Astor Piazzolla, which begins simply with piano, guitar, and percussion and goes on to unexpected, wonderful places. Di Meola interprets two more beauties from the late Argentinian legend (the tender "Soledad" and the churning, incendiary "Libertango," where he uses MIDI technology to approximate the classic bandoleon sound) and offers six of his own. One of them ("The Grande Passion") gets my vote for the most gorgeous, soulful melody of the year, stated in ways alternately delicate and powerful. When it finally crescendos it's like the ocean lifting, with the sun sparkling on it. Flowing seamlessly into it is "Prelude: Adagio for Theresa," a minute-and-change of pure symphonic loveliness. There's also the vibrant "Asia de Cuba" with its whirling rhythms, guitar and horn trades, and John Patitucci supplying the heartbeat - somehow, it turns into a Caribbean breeze, then a flamenco club, then revs back up before ending as calmly as a sunset. Di Meola, who first gained wide attention when he joined Return to Forever in 1974 at the age of 20, has wonderful chops and a gift for unhackneyed composition; his famous blistering runs are here, but only when they further the music, not gratutiously added for their own sake. ("Opus in Green," written with the fine Argentinian pianist Mario Parmisano, is very RTF-like.) The arrangements by Di Meola and Parmisano make optimal use of the orchestra and soloists, creating an organically textured whole rather than the stringy soup that too often drowns such collections. The only piece that is less satisfying comes at the end: "Azucar" (sugar) is a short conversation between DiMeola and percussionist Arto Tuncboyacian that suddenly trails off into space. After all the previous Passion, it seems like an odd choice for a last track. But that's a minor quibble. This is gorgeous, exciting stuff.

Reviewed by Judith Schlesinger
 

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