American guitarist Al di Meola has more than one reason to frame his album Twentyfour with gratuitousness and a certain spirituality. Not only was the foundation of this double album founded during the corona period, but he also narrowly survived a heart attack in 2023. And then there is (in that light) his young family with daughter Ava, whom he addresses in Ava's Dance In The Moonlight. Di Meola
… was 19 when he found his place alongside pianist Chick Corea and bassist Stanley Clarke in the influential jazz-rock group Return To Forever. He then increasingly traded his electric guitar for a Spanish one and found inspiration in Mediterranean folk styles such as flamenco and Roma music. On the Spanish-recorded Twentyfour, too, he unleashes his virtuosity on this. Di Meola knows how to combine feeling and dexterous playing with a warm guitar sound in tunefully orchestrated pieces. At the same time, he remains an American and his compositions and solos lack the rawness of the original styles he embraces. Thus, his sweet melodies become increasingly lulling and uniform sounding. (MR)more
