Customer Reviews

Vocal Rendezvous

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

 

 

I grant that VR is not typical ADM fare. Ego Works took Al's compositional motifs and massaged them into something that was (in his own words) "outside of anything I would have done on my own." The result is a unique crossover of "Al-Di meets the R&B -Pop vocal world concept."

Let's face it. Al's music targets a rather small niche market. He is a master guitar player and one of the world's greatest living composers, and he writes his music for elite guitarists who cannot get enough of Al's jazz-fusion style that is uniquely his own.

Vocal Rendezvous makes Al's brilliant playing accessible to the wider audience of those who like mainstream dance music. If you enjoy the tunes of Angie Stone, Macy Gray, Beverley Knight, and MC Solaar then you will flip over this music. As dance music, VR is the best there is. These songs will certainly climb the list on your top-40.

For this project Al is following the formula used in the recent chart topping successes of Carlos Santana. If you enjoyed Shaman, Supernatural and All That I Am, then you will certainly enjoy this album. VR deserves the same popular reception that Santana has enjoyed of late.

For those of you that are hard-core Al-Di fans, like myself, and generally HATE dance music, there are four instrumentals (yes, four - the album jacket is misleading by listing only three) that will be very much to your likening. And no true fan can sleep well at night knowing that four ADM compositions are missing from his/her collection.

Five stars for four instrumentals and for seeking to expand the minds of those stuck in the pallid world of dance-pop.

If you're a fan of Return to Forever or Al's work with De Lucia and McLaughlin, what first comes to your mind when you see "MC so-and-so" as a featured artist? Yeah, that's what I thought...

Al DiMeola's explorations were going from fusion to classic/Spanish guitar to smoother Latin-jazz to ... whatever over the years. I personally liked it all. Well, almost all. But when a musician his caliber hooks up with singers of somewhat similar caliber, i.e. Leonid Agutin (Russian pop superstar) and Macy Gray, just in a TOTALLY different genre, then... I'll just say I'm glad I heard this album in MP3 format and didn't pay a dime for it. The destination of those files is my Recycle Bin.

In other words, if you're looking for electric or acoustic jazz of any kind with showcase of skill, improvisation, and freedom, avoid this album like a plague. If you like Santana's "Shaman," enjoy Clapton's pop hits, or collect Stanley Clarke's R&B performances, this will be of interest for you. That's it. It's that simple.

It's hard to put a finger on the musical chaos that is Vocal Rendezvous. It is a bit schizophrenic in its identity. It's jazz; it's R&B; it's funk; it's pop. The songs are a mixture of hard and tender vocals and instrumentals. But as you listen, surely there can be no doubt that there is poetry in all this madness. Every song is a delightful treat within its own musical microcosm.

Unlike others who are familiar with his music, this is my first foray into the world of Al di Meola. Vocal Rendezvous has more than whetted my appetite for more. I can only hope his other albums are half as good as this one.

That is a ridiculous attempt of I don't know what, please Al stop there, OK?
Thanks God the next album is far better, please I own all from you, but this will never be in my collection, not even at 99 cetns...

Any artist whose career spans decades understands the need to evolve. Part of the joy of music is discovering new territories to explore. Having said this, and trying to be a PC as possible, I absolutely DESPISE hip-hop, rap, R&B and anything else that falls into the pop culture mentality of People Magazine's definition of what is trendy. Trendy is another world for banal. Even worse is when some otherwise intelligent person or group deliberately dumbs themselves down by promoting life styles that glamorize stupidity and self destructive behavior. OK, I guess you get the picture.

This CD is an acute embarrassment to the genius of di Meola and an outright pandering to the least common denominator in current mass culture. This is elevator, or dance, music for people who use 3 or 4 letter words. I was so shocked after several songs that I rushed to Amazon to see if I even had downloaded the right music and to check the reviews. Hey, mistakes happen, right? Unfortunately, I had the right music and it really did suck. I gave it a few more songs before I hit the delete button.

Man it would nice to see him do an album of jazz/rock covers. For some reason he must do originals. Even though he is a genius, we'd like to hear you interpret some classics.

You won't be disappinted if you are a Al Di Meola fan. At least, Some of the songs are instrmental. It is one of the great albums from Al Di Meola.

I loved this CD it was something new for Al Di Meola. My favorite song is (different pages) with xavier naidoo. There is also some nice tracks with Joe! and Angie Stone and Macy Gray. Overall a great sounding CD. I hope Al does another CD like this.

After complaining for years about people not appreciating good music, Al decides it's time to throw in the towel and go for the bucks like Santana did. Al, hang it up...you're a has been.
This rates zero stars.