Customer Reviews

Electric Rendezvous

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album has a great line-up of players, and an amazing acoustic piece. This may not be the best sounding Dimeola album (because of the early eightees mixes), but the guitar playing is probably the best he's ever recorded. This album cannot deserve less than four stars, especially if you're a guitar player.

This is a must for any Al DiMeola fan. Great early DiMeola. This purchase replaces an old worn album. I had been looking for a replacement for years.

I would be willing to bet that those who are quick to criticize Mr. DiMeola's work on this recording have not a modicum of his chops nor his musicianship. Therefore ... my advice is to button it up, suspend your disbelief and listen little bit closer. You may do so with the full confidence that Al DiMeola knows much more about music than you are EVER likely to know.
That being said, it is only fair to acknowledge that you obviously know more about music than most people since you possess a high enough hip-ness quotient to be listening to Al DiMeola in the first place.

Mark Edward Hendricks
Wilton Manors, FL
p.s. Whatever one thinks of this album, it definitely makes excellent 'road music' ;)

I had the tape & L.P. of this, & decided to get the CD... (Ahhhhh the money I have spent on replacing my music...)
The man knows his way around a guitar & melody. Admitidly I would not reccomend this to newbies right-off, he has several other's (i.e. "Elegant Gypsy", "Land of the Midnight Sun" & "Casino" in that order) they are a better intro to Al. But with that said this is a great L.P. full of his classic fusion style & great Musicians. I really love all his work to be sure in all it's variation (from album to album) of styles and moods he has gone through over the years. He has matured nicely as an artist/guitarist over the years. This item is earlier from 1982.

B.T.W. If you liked him them and (have several eariler LP's already) you owe it to yourself to check out some of his later work as well! I Esp. Like "Kiss my Axe" "Soaring through a dream" "Orange & Blue"
If you ever get a chance to see him in concert DO! I Last saw him in chicago House of Blues in 98' And he still played "Race with the Devil" and Nailed it good!

This album is a lot of fun, and is quite literally a fusion of jazz and rock. I remember when it came out one friend said that "It does what hard rock tries to do, but can't." Another friend said that the title cut "sounds like the sound track to a cheap European spy movie." (It does. I don't care). He nevertheless bought the album. One of the keyboardists is Jan Hammer who started making the sound track for Miami Vice a couple of years later. Interestingly, the title song electric rendezvous, an instrumental, is really quite suggestive, if not crude! That, frankly, is a sign of brilliance. Listen to it and see what you think it is narrating.

Al is one of if not the best fusion guitarist of our time. Anthony Jackson's bass playing smokes! You will not be disappointed.

Actually the early 80's seemed to be a continuation of a very successful creative,critically and commercially successful run for Al DiMeola. His first album of the decade Splendido Hotel showcased him veering into some slightly more rock/soul shadings in his music,including a vocal number. On this occasion he teams up with...well the same group he's had since his solo career began in the mid 70's. On this album however he collaborated with fusion keyboardist Jan Hammer. Hammer was a pioneer of a portable synthesizer probe that sounded even more like a rock guitar than even an ARP. He'd really helped bring the idea of the "keytar synthesizer hero",as it were into fusion and bought that sensibility to his own Jan Hammer Group as well as to the pioneering albums by Jeff Beck around this time as well as Journey/Santana guitar hero Neal Schon. It would be the collaborations between DiMeola and Hammer that would be big selling points here.

In the end this the Al DiMeola album that really looks to the rockier end of jazz/rock fusion. The music is full of hard rhythms and thudding instrumental parts. But it's not heavy metal or anything,despite the "electrified panther" on the cover. "God Bird Change","Crusin" and "Back Seat Shuffle" all make the most use of Hammer's presence here and he brings his own touches to these tunes where he and Al actually shine as very much equal partners. Sort of like a musical superhero duo of the fusion world. The title song,"Ritmo De La Noche" and "Jewel Inside My Dream" feature somewhat more of the nuanced compositional and instrumental grace of some of his earlier solo numbers. Though the edgier fire still makes itself present at times. One of the strongest numbers on that end actually winds up being the least typical of this album and that's the acoustic "Passion,Grace & Fire". It's another of Al's flamenco/gypsy inspired guitar solo pieces where he not only really gives his chops a workout but invents almost endless melodic variations. It's a very elastic song. The type you can do a lot with it,either live or in an interpretation.

By effectively blending his abilities as a melodic inventor and one of the most fluid and theatrical players around,bringing Jan Hammer along for the ride for this album was one of the best decisions Al DiMeola could've possibly made. As with the majority of his albums,this is rather short in length. But you won't come out feeling disappointed. As the 1980's went on Al's music would take the whole world fusion sound he'd been innovating since the beginning more into his orbit and put jazz/rock to rest somewhat. But for at least this point and a couple years after he wasn't quite ready to leave that behind. And he also had a few more ideas up his sleeve to boot in that area. But as for this it's eight spirited,energetic songs that are a must for fans of fusion,Al DiMeola or Jan Hammer.

I'd recommend Elegant Gypsy, Casino, or Splendido Hotel for vintage Al (from his early days at least).

Some of the stuff here is good, especially the aptly named Passion, Grace and Fire. Electric Rendezvous, Cruisin', Black Cat Shuffle, and Ritmo De La Noche are all fun jazz-rock songs, but none of them are particularly memorable.

I normally buy new CD's, as one can never be sure of the quality of a used CD, but this one arrived exactly as advertised. It was in near perfect condition. No Scratches - the audio on the CD was unblemished. The sound is fine.

I would buy from this seller again.