Thread: Al Dimeola 2009
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Old 02-06-2009, 02:21 PM
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Al Dimeola 2009

So I went to see Al Dimeola Tuesday night (Feb 3) at this very cool venue in San Diego: http://www.anthologysd.com The sound and video system at this place is absolutely state of the art.

Last time I saw Al was quite a few years back and he had a typical electric quartet. For this tour, he is with his "World Sinfonia" band which consists of Al, 2 percussionists, bass, 2nd guitar, and accordion/vocalist. The occasional vocals are of the "mood" variety rather than singing explicit lyrics - not unlike what Pat Metheny often uses. The label "world" fits as there are members from Cuba, Italy, Hungary and the US.

Al has a likeable stage presence and subtle sense of humor. Setlist focused on more recent material including several new pieces as yet unrecorded. Al indicated a new album is in the works, but no release date is set. Sounds like a "when we get around to it" kind of deal.

Al's playing is what you'd expect - fiery lead runs tastefully done, the latin flair, and very crisp and precise. I enjoyed a number of pieces and passages that were more subdued, showing a nice range of playing styles.

I am not familiar enough with Al's more recent recordings to provide a setlist. I do recall one of the new tracks' title - "Siberiana", name coming from Siberia, during a tour of which the writing started. He said he finished the song in Miami, so I guess the "-ana" ending refers to Havana (as Miami is referred to Havana North by some).

Being sick with bronchitis and sinusitis caused me to have to leave early, but still a very enjoyable show.
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