Vinyl Vault—”Tirami Su”

By 1987, Al Di Meola had established himself as one of the hottest guitarists in jazz. So, with nothing else to prove in that department, Di Meola was free to concentrate on the more emotional and melodic aspects of his music.

On Tuesday, the Vinyl Vault, we’ll hear an example of that with the 1987 album by the Al Di Meola Project entitled “Tirami Su.”

The album contains plenty of fusion jazz but it’s toned down from some of Di Meola’s prior releases and this one is also sprinkled with a heavy dose of world music. Di Meola’s virtuosity is still on full display, but it’s more subtle and integrated into the music as a whole than some of his earlier work.

Besides Di Meola on guitar, the album features Anthony Jackson on electric bass, Harvie Swartz on acoustic bass, Mino Cinelu on percussion, Kei Akagi on keyboards, Tom Brechtlein on drums, and Jose Renato on occasional vocals. All of the compositions on the album are by Di Meola with the exception of Chick Corea’s “Song to the Pharoah Kings.”

Vinyl Vault is sponsored by Vinyl Me, Please

The album was released on the Manhattan Record label and is currently somewhat hard to find. But the Vinyl Vault has a copy and you can hear it this Tuesday, September 7 at 8:30 pm with host Geoff Anderson on KUVO JAZZ.

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