Customer Reviews

The Grande Passion

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The sound and musical direction of Al DiMeola has changed drastically over the last thirty (THIRTY!!) years. The fusion speed-demon that burst on the scene with Chick Corea has given way to the mature, passionate artist that has created this beautiful album. The music he has created with his World Sinfonia group has to be one of the best examples of how an artist can be positively influenced by being open to everything the world has to offer. In Mr. DiMeola's case, it seems that the music of Astor Piazzolla has been a major catalyst for the dark, mysterious, smoldering music of World Sinfonia. The combination of DiMeola's guitar, the beautiful piano of Mario Parmisano, and the sensuous orchestral arrangements make for a great sound-think of the Gipsy Kings with much more musicality.

I would suggest any of the World Sinfonia albums to those with "big ears" and a taste for the exotic and soulful-"The Grande Passion" is a wonderful place to start the journey.

As a long time DiMeola fan and as one who particularly likes his world music project World Sinfonia I have to say that the Grande Passion is a little bit of a letdown. Yes, I've read all the reviews and the praise for its consistent quality. The problem I find is that it is consistently soporific. A DiMeola album is hard to review, the music is so complex. Before reviewing this, I listened at least a dozen times in different situations and moods yet reached the same verdict each time. The music is enjoyable and technically nonpareil, but it lacks the passion promised in the title. Libertango is the only cut with any musical vigor. Soledad, one of my favorite Piazzolla compositions, does not come to life here. I'm not saying that this is a dud like Scenario and Kiss My Axe were, I'm saying that the music lacks soul. If you like Al DiMeola no matter what, you are bound to like this but if you were expecting some of the spirit and energy of the first World Sinfonia CD, you are bound to be disappointed. Even the vaunted presence of a few Piazzolla classics cannot boost this to a five star rating.

After dabbling in a lot of different musical styles in the last 15 years, some accused Al Di Meola of having lost his direction. However Al has really found his feet in the last couple of years by focusing his compositions upon his most central ability: to express himself on an acoustic guitar. As an acoustic guitarist, Al has always played with something like a flamenco or even classical guitarist's flair and one suspects that its his acoustic guitar music which will stand the test of time best. Since 1990 he has also focused upon tango guitar music and drawn a good deal of inspiration from Astor Piazzolla's music. Owing to the greater maturity of his compositions (and the sympathetic orchestral backing), this record captures Di Meola, the acoustic guitarist, at his best. The Grande Passion, featuring a small orchestra and contemporary jazz band, is important because (like what the album 'Secret Story' did for Pat Metheny) it seems to encapsulates the whole spirit of Al's musical career up to now into a symphonic whole. Though heavily produced, this album (unlike Metheny's) never sounds contrived. The music is indeed spirited and passionate and draws (genuinely) upon Latin musical styles, or more exactly Italian, Argentinian and even Cuban styles. The balance between electric and acoustic instruments (including the orchestra) on this record is perfect; a novel achievement. Although synthesisers are used, the total emphasis upon acoustic guitar, piano, percussion and orchestra on all the tracks means the music has an organic quality about it. In addition, the orchestra is not just there for 'dressing': all the instruments in and outside the orchestra play a role in the compositions. This makes the music very vital or 'natural' sounding. The emphasis in a lot of contemporary jazz and pop music is upon SOUNDS, producing records with a lot of samples or guest 'world-music' artists that play one or two notes; the overall effect being a fusion of sounds with no real artistic merit. This album is the opposite of that trend, and notwithstanding the heavy emphasis upon percussion, this album could impress a fan of classical orchestra music with its depths of expression. Di Meola's compositions do indeed stand up well beside the three Piazzolla compositions on this album; particularly the title track which reaches such heights of expression, I feel this track ought someday to become part of the classical guitarist's repetoire (already Manuel Barrueco has recorded it). Di Meola became well known for his loud electric guitar playing from 1975-83. Some would say he has changed a lot since then, but have a listen to some of his earliest acoustic tracks like 'Lady of Rome', 'Mediterranean Sundance', 'Fantasia Suite', 'Two to Tango' and 'Scenario' and you will see that though there was less harmony to the music back then, the spirit of his music has not really changed that much at all. As a fan of DiMeola, this album is important to me in that it has made me realise this. One last thing: The other two World Sinfonia records had a folk feel to them, often with two strumming guitars, accordion and nothing else, with Saluzzi on accordion taking a leading role in the music: this album is more of a Di Meola album (or a group album). For that reason, those Di Meola fans who didn't care for the other World Sinfonia albums should not allow themselves to be put off this one, which is far more characteristic of Al Di.

This album totally surprised me. I had really no idea what to expect. After picking up The Infinite Desire and falling in love with that, this album turns out to be similar in a few respects but ultimately a total new direction. The music is the ultimate maturing of Al Dimeola as a composer and arranger. Tracks are dreamy, artistic, and really relaxing. Several cuts, particularly Grand Passion would make good movie themes. MY favorite were Libertango, Mysterio, and The Grand Passion though they are not by any means the best ones. I loved it all!
I hope people will not expect Al to contiue fusion as it was before. His albums of the last 10 years show that an artist can not and will not simply repeat himself over and over. He has to find new directions and new ideas, or new ways to express himself. Simply put, next to Splendido Hotel and Elegent Gypsy, this may be his greatest album of the last 20 years.

Al Di Meola's first World Sinfonia remains one of the favorites in my entire collection of over 700 CDs, but The Grande Passion doesn't live up to its origins.

Where the original World Sinfonia featured expressive and energetic synergy among the musicians, The Grande Passion partially substitutes passionless synthesizers, which is especially ironic given the name of the album. I'm not opposed to synthesizers when they are not trying to sound like anything other than what they are (synthetic instruments), but I despise them when they are used as deficient imitations of real instruments. On The Grande Passion, Di Meola himself plays synthesized parts for bandoneon and panpipes among other instruments (using a Roland GR30 guitar synth), and spoils the effect of what would have otherwise been a steller outing.

The compositions on The Grande Passion are worthy of its title, but sadly, the execution isn't. Al, why oh why didn't you just hire musicians to play those parts on real instruments? Dino Saluzzi (who marvelously played bandoneon on the first World Sinfonia) is sorely missed on The Grande Passion.

di meola nos tiene acostumbrados no solo a su virtuosismo como interprete, ademas a su capacidad de conjugar ritmos, instrumentos y melodias muy diversas e interpretarlas de una manera peculiar y virtuosa. este cd deberia ser una culminacion de otros que recorrian el mismo camino... pero no llega. Prefiero el di meola de world music. solo para fans

Al has produced some of the finest music I have ever listened to, and with this latest offering from the World Sinfonia group, there is a maturity to the compositions which is mesmerizing. The players, all master musicians in their own right, including the amazing Hernan Romero and Mario Parmisano, add an almost 3-dimensional feel to the whole CD, and the orchestral arrangements, penned by Al & Mario have thrown a whole new light on things... Truly one of the most beautiful pieces of music you will ever hear..... I was lucky enough to see some of these songs performed in New York's Blue Note back in March this year...and the recording has captured the intimate feel of the live performance with grace and precision.....

To begin let me just say that I'm not a big Di Meola fan, and that I don't give out my 5 star reviews lightly. However I do feel that his work with World Sinfonia is in general very good. This is the best of the 3 albums.

The main reason is that this album is far more consistent than the others. The reviewer hit the nail on the head when he pointed out Al's considerable compositional skills being showcased here. I do not feel this was the case on the other two albums. In fact on those albums it was always his covers of Piazzolla or another composer's piece that would stand out. "World Sinfonia" from 10 years ago was another excellent work altogether, however the standouts were Tango Suite (Piazzolla), No Mystery (Corea), and the classical piece La Cathedral (I forget the composer). In fact Dimeola himself did hardly anything in the way of composing on that record, which is probably why it was better than Heart of the Immigrants, in my opinion. The standouts on the 2nd World Sinfonia Album were once again the Piazzolla compositions (Nightclub 1960, Cafe 1930, Bordel 1900 years may be off Im doing this by memory).

On this new album Al's own compositions fit very nicely next to Piazzolla's usual masterpieces. Misterio, The Grande Passion, Asia De Cuba, and Opus in Green all go through many twists and turns and all hold up very well.

Also do not forget the considerable talents of the band here. The musicianship on this album is top notch. Al's playing here remains very recognizable, but is among his best acoustic guitar playing on record. The sidemen here, particularly Mario Parmisano with his unique style on piano, all contribute greatly to the success. John Patitucci, a well known bassist in the jazz field, even shows up on 2 tracks, making his presence particularly known on Asia de Cuba.

The one thing this album is missing is Dino Saluzzi, or another quality bandoneon player. I'm sorry but the Roland GR-30 does little to capture the essence of the bandoneon here... while the actual sound of it matches that of the bandoneon, the playing (which for the most part seemed like it just doubled Al's guitar playing/improvising) is not at all realistic, particularly the fast runs. However the addition on the piano here does make this only a minor complaint, but I'm not sure that it was necessary to use this effect at all...

All in all, an excellent album, certainly worth the buy and many listens.

this album is a amazing... great passionate playing...

also

"Di Meola's own music sounds next to those of the late Brazilian tango avatar"

as said by the REVIEWER here, 1st of, there is no such thing as brazilian TANGO...

ASTOR is from argentina, not brazil... sad that the person who'd review a DIMEOLA record isnt aware of that///

This is the third part of Dimeola's World Sinfonia project consisting of an acoustic ensemble of different rhythms and styles played by a group of virtuosos. The album continues with the homage rendered to the modern tango composer and bandoneon master from Argentina, Astor Piazzola, which started in Dimeola's first World Sinfonia album. The project's repertoire in homage to Piazzola consists of "Libertango", "Soledad", and "Double Concerto". In addition, the project includes six new compositions from Dimeola's inspiration --sharing one with pianist Mario Parmissano. The CD opens with "Misterio", a pleasant melody with a rich music structure that further develops the new Diemola sound created in the album "The Infinite Desire". "Double Concerto", the first of Piazzola's music themes, offers a perfect balance between the guitar (Dimeola) and the piano (Parmissano). Furthermore, the tango mood and flavor is kind of subtle at the beginning but develops slowly as the theme progresses. Piazzola's deepness and feeling is present throughout this superb interpretation. Dimeola proves that he is one of the more versatile guitar players of our times as he can enter Eastern, modern tango, fusion, and jazz, creating the adequate ambience. The album continues with "Prelude: Adagio for Theresa", a major departure form anything Dimeola has done in the past. The composition has a classical structure and its played by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra -probably the beginning of a new phase- The short and beautiful melody merges into the album's title "The Grande Passion" where Dimeola's classical guitar begins a dialog with the piano and the multiple Roland GR30 effects. The composition's has a unique ambience because of the use of "congas" and the South American string instrument "charango". Then comes "Asia de Cuba", that starts with a rhythmical moving guitar piece played by Dimeola and followed by a Latin rhythm. The solos and rhythmical sections sound similar to what Dimeola has done in previous albums, but with a "Latino" rhythm instead of the typical "Spanish" ambience and that has always been present in Dimeola's traditional acoustic projects. "Soledad", begins with a typical Piazzola mystic absorbing you very slowly into his mood. The guitar notes sound deep and long and the tango atmosphere increases gradually. Again the tango flavor is subtle and the scales sound jazzy. "Libertango", a famous theme from Piazzola's new tango repertoire, allows the band to integrate in a unique moving theme. Dimeola's identity and influence is stronger than ever in his tribute to Piazzola. "Opus in Green", from Dimeola, will take you through different rhythms and a variety of styles and moods, summarizing what this project is all about. The CD closes with "Azucar", where the guitars of Dimeola and Romero are the principal movers of a theme with classic, and Spanish influences. The percussion adds a jazzy/Latino mood to the theme.

Dimeola has formed probably the best band he has ever played with Mario Parmisano a pianist from Argentina from the post-tango period who has previously played with Dimeola in albums such as "Orange and Green" and "Infinite Desire". Hernán Romero, a guitarist also from Argentina displays a variety of styles and influences and becomes a perfect partner for Dimeola. Romero has also been in the same Dimeola albums as Parmisano plus "White Nights" and "Heart of the Immigrants". Gumbi Ortiz a percussionist with roots from Cuba and Puerto Rico who has recorded and toured with Dimeola since 1990, and Gilad from Israel, the newest member of the band, responsible for providing different percussion effects with Eastern influences. In addition, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabrizio Festa adds a new element to the music concept of World Sinfonia 2000. All of the string and woodwinds were written and arranged by Dimeola and Parmisano. The "Grande Passion" is a music proposal that departs from all of the jazz, blues, rock and pop projects and albums that have been released. This CD is a great place to start if you have not heard the previous two "World Sinfonia" albums and if you have it will consolidate in one all of the group's music.