Mediterranean Sundance
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| "Mediterranean Sundance" | ||
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| Song by Al Di Meola | ||
| Released | 1977 | |
| Genre | Jazz Fusion | |
| Length | 5:14 | |
| Label | Columbia | |
"Mediterranean Sundance," by Al Di Meola, is the third track on Di Meola’s sophomore album Elegant Gypsy. It, along with “Lady Of Rome, Sister Of Brazil,” are the only two entirely acoustic songs in the album. However, unlike “Lady Of Rome, Sister Of Brazil” which is an acoustic solo by Di Meola, “Mediterranean Sundance” consists of an acoustic guitar duet with flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía. The song blends jazz and flamenco influences into a complex acoustic piece.
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[edit] Composition
Written in 4/4 time, the song begins with a duet between Di Meola and de Lucía and then progresses to feature each guitar player taking turns playing rhythm and soloing, and occasionally soloing together. The two chord progeressions of the song are: Em-D-C-B7, and Am-Bm7-(Bbm7)-Am7-B7.[1] Paco de Lucía uses Bbm7 to transition from Bm7 to Am7 during the song.
The song contains no lyrics, and instead relies upon a lyrical acoustic melody on top of the rhythm track. The song itself is extremely difficult to play due to the speed and percision of Di Meola and De Lucía's picking on their steel-stringed guitars as well as the exact matching of Di Meola and De Lucía's solo's which frequently consist of them both playing a rapid set of matching or cooresponding notes. Indeed, Jean-Charles Costa wrote in Rolling Stone magazine in a review of Elegant Gypsy in 1977, "Whether or not this obsessive zeal has produced great guitar music or aimless technical perfection has yet to be determined. Make no mistake, Elegant Gypsy has been generating healthy sales for a jazz-rock offering, but it's still a guitarists' album."[2] His tepid opinion of Elegant Gypsy raises only for Mediterranean Sundance, on which he comments: "Only on the flashy acoustic duet with flamenco whiz Paco de Lucia does his playing show any real melodic development."
[edit] Additional Releases
In the early 1980's, Di Meola replaced Larry Coryell in the acoustic guitar group, The Guitar Trio, which also consisted of De Lucía and guitarist John McLaughlin. The Guitar Trio recorded an extended combination "Mediterranean Sundance" and "Rio Ancho" in the album Friday Night in San Francisco.
[edit] Links
A live version of Mediterranean Sundance performed by Di Meola, De Lucía, and McLaughlin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZrB_FDw4c
[edit] References
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