Unlike the past couple featured guitar greats, Al Dimeola’s name is a little more well known amongst jazz guitar and jazz fusion enthusiasts. Long before I had even heard of (what have now become) some of my favorite guitar players, there was Al Dimeola. His savage Spanish shredding style is unmistakable and there is quite an obvious “gaucho” vibe that goes along with his performance. I always thought this made him unique in his own way and his technique really speaks for itself.

Al Dimeola’s story is absolutely fantastic from the get-go. While he was attending Berklee College of Music in the 70’s, he was hired on to Chick Corea’s band, Return to Forever. At the time, he was only nineteen! At many of the initial shows, he was reading Chick’s insane charts on stage, while performing them. He was a real young virtuoso who could play at speeds that were beyond many players, including that of Bill Conners, whom he replaced in Return to Forever. In my opinion, his style really cemented the sound of Return to Forever in the jazz fusion world and the Al Dimeola years are the best of that particular group.

When RTF disbanded in 1976, Al set off on his solo career, most notably releasing the first of many solo albums, Land of the Midnight Sun and Elegant Gypsy. A few years later he teamed up with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia for the live album, Saturday Night in San Francisco. This was quite the eye opener for a lot of people both in and outside of the jazz guitar world, not just for his performance partners, but for the fact that it showcased his acoustic playing, a really a big part of his overall style. This album became one of the most popular live albums for acoustic guitar in the world, selling over two million copies. Later on, Sr. Dimeola moved to more electronic jazz, collaborating with Jan Hammer, and then further into world and latin music in the 90’s. Some time into the new millennium, Al rediscovered his love the for the electric guitar and eventually rejoined Return to Forever for a reunion tour in 2008.

I saw this show at the Paramount Theater in Denver. I can easily say that it was one of the top 10 shows in my life. As much as it was a treat to see the entire Return to Forever lineup back together, as a guitar player I was really fired up to see Al Dimeola in the flesh, shredding it up with his old band. He left nothing behind. It was like the old days again with his trademark Les Paul humbucking sound and insanely fast runs all over the fretboard. He came complete with the sunglasses and partially (mostly?) unbuttoned shirt, in true Spanish virtuoso style. The only difference is that, while he still pulls out the Les Paul, he seems to gravitate more towards the Paul Reed Smiths in his older age.

The show featured quite a bit of Al Dimeola’s playing, as one would expect. However, he was also featured on acoustic guitar in the middle of the show, which really showcased some of the more subtle aspects and touch of his playing. Proudly, he shreds on both electric and acoustic guitars and his technique is just as apparent on acoustic as electric, perhaps with less volume. Overall, he was really into the show and that vibe came across nicely–in fact, it’s as if he didn’t want to leave at the end of the night!

Besides his obvious monstrous technical ability, what I tend to like about Dimeola’s playing is that it is a little more straight forward than a lot of other guys. Even though he is Berklee trained jazz guitarist, his approach reminds me of rock and metal. He tends to speed up the major scales and patterns more than delving into the heady blue-based chordal and melodic minor tones. I think this allows other players to understand what he is doing a little bit better. It’s not that he can’t play that other stuff, he just seems to bypass it in order to shred, which really accentuates the overall vibe of his playing, musical style and “gaucho-ness”. It gives Return to Forever a solid rock foundation that compliments Chick Corea’s mind bending jazz arrangements.

In my opinion, Al Dimeola is a guy who the majority of guitarists should have in their collection. I think he is a great segue from rock and/or metal into the world of jazz fusion and speed picking. He is also a real gateway to even faster, headier and jazzier guitarists. Make no mistake, his sound is a legitimate stamp on the world of jazz fusion guitar and I can only hope that he will again reunite with RTF for another tour!