Al Di Meola - Land of The Midnight Sun

The seventies and eighties both have on thing in common, in that they both will be remembered as decades where musical rivalry was at its highest. The eighties saw the metal explosion where each band was trying to play harder and faster than the next. So to the seventies experienced the explosion of the Jazz- Rock movement, pioneered by guitar heroes John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell, both in their respective manners.

One of the youngest and brightest stars to rise during this movement was guitarist Al Di Meola, who emerged as the guitar slinger for Chick Corea’s band Return To Forever in 1974. During his term with the band Al garnered a lot attention for his furious playing, which was a result of Al’s quest to reach the pinnacle of the world of guitarists. Two years later while still a young lad, Al launched his career as a bandleader with his 1976 album Land of The Midnight Sun.

Al’s staccato lines and the percussion section-comprising drummer Steve Gadd and percussionist Mingo Lewis mark out ‘Wizard’ the first track on the album. The track clearly brings out the importance of the percussion section, Mingo Lewis’s variations help replicate an African uproar while Steve Gadd uses the double bass to create simple, but effective beats.

On ‘Short Tales of The Black Forest’, Al teams up with his mentor Chick Corea, to play an acoustic duet, where the two masters play around with varying degrees of force to illuminate and dim the horizon in alternating intervals.

The title track, written by Al and dedicated to Chick Corea, is an extremely mature composition which is all the more a tremendous achievement considering Al’s tender age at the time. Al has shown a lot of restraints on the track, guiding it in the right channel instead of letting his egoism get the better of him.

Better known for his jazz playing, Al also included a short classical piece by J.S. Bach on the album, this coming from his classical learning under his teacher, which undoubtedly went a long way in shaping Al’s well-rounded technique and style.

Clearly the most versatile track on the album would be the three-part track ‘Suite Golden Dawn’. The song provides a wide array of musical possibilities all fused under one umbrella. The gushing out of Al’s notes of fury, the delicately framed combination of somber notes, the funky bass and rhythm lines found on the mid section and the call and response duels, all have been combined in an extremely tasteful manner.

Land of The Midnight Sun, is a work of art, by an artist well ahead of his time. An artist more than able to cover the blank canvas beautifully with his own choice of colours. A phenomenal start to an illustrious career.