My Favorite Albums: #85 Al di Meola/John McLaughlin/Paco de Lucía’s “Friday Night in San Francisco”
I have been really searching for a way to accurately review this album. Obviously an instrumental album is harder to really pick apart, especially one like this that has so much virtuosity. I made a good attempt during my review of “The Fountain” OST, but that required knowledge of the movie. Here I will have to go more with my intimacy with the music. I was introduced to album by a friend of mine who seems to like pure technical skill in his music and this album has plenty of that. I remember marveling at the sheer speed but it took me a while to really listen to it. To really get all the phrasing and interplay. Now it all seems so big. I love exposing people to this album, so they can see just how wide a range classical guitar can provide. My Dad even remarked upon hearing it the first time, “Wow. I didn’t think humans could play that fast”
“Mediterranean Sundance - Rio Ancho” is immediately noticeable to me by the way the guitars volumes are done. One distant, the other close. But they build quickly into their lines, showing why one was highlighted and one was not. One acts to invoke the imagery, while the other compliments it but also gives a backbeat, so that rhythm is not lost. At times the backbeat takes precedence, allowing the other guitar to change voicing or pace but till stay in the framework of the piece. And one of my favorite parts comes around the 4:30 marks, when the lower pitched backbeat takes the stage, crashing down and forcing the voicing into unison for just a brief moment, maybe a chord or two. At 7:00 you get another unison moment that generates such an interesting tone. The brief break and return at 8:10. The call and answer at 10 minutes. It’s hard to describe since this is such a bit song, but everything interplays well and yet remains light and listenable.
“Short Tales of the Black Forest” is an interesting opener, starting with what seems to be just fast runs up and down the strings with an occasional chord banged out. But the interesting play here comes in the dynamics of the two guitars interplaying. Different volumes and different speed play off each other to create a strong tapestry of sound. The music gets even more playful towards the end when an almost 12 bar blues starts and the audience start clapping along. Jut good fun. The end shows a marked drop in volume, but not speed, indicating the end of our journey, only to rise quickly to a vibrant conclusion. Our emergence from the piece complete.
“Frevo Rasgado” immediately comes in with a more flamenco feel to it, likely due to De Lucia’s influence. One guitar is kept lower, banging out heavy but fast chord that form the backbone of the song, while the other guitar acts as the dancer to the song, moving quickly over the music. Each change in the line is a break or whip from the dancer signaling the audience to draw attention in the detail. As the song progresses, the two parts draw together, becoming two dancers providing their own music. It finally cools down a bit towards the end but remains very sensual, refusing to just fade out.
“Fantasia Suite” starts with a run as well, of course at high speed. But it’s the light touch at the 50 second mark that is quite interesting. Not just raw speed, but ability to understand the way the tone is played to the audience. It relaxes and invites into the music. It builds into this weird echo effect at 3:20 which is quite interesting, seeming distant but working into the dynamic of the tones volume and tempo. Then at 3:40 it seems to change into a whole other song, with one part using slower chords, the other guitar bouncing off it but keeping the same tune. It becomes very… big sounding I suppose? The suite works well, but if I had to complain, I’d say there is a slight drop that makes the change of parts more noticeable. Still, it’s hard to beat the speed and voicing around minute 8.
“Guardian Angel” is the only one to feature all 3 players and also the only studio song. It starts picking lightly, careful to keep them from stepping on each other’s toes. But it picks up speed, only to be cut out to another part, almost seamlessly. Each part that comes to the forefront lowers the key a bit, letting it stand apart from the others. And the light ending is the perfect way to end the album. It is well arranged and never overwhelming. Simply well put together.
Now, I haven’t really seemed to add a whole lot of judgment and I have been much consternated on how to do this review. Can I really tell you why? No. Am I hearing things not in the music? Maybe. But I still think this is a great album with great guitarists.
Favorite Track: “Mediterranean Sundance - Rio Ancho”
“Mediterranean Sundance - Rio Ancho” is immediately noticeable to me by the way the guitars volumes are done. One distant, the other close. But they build quickly into their lines, showing why one was highlighted and one was not. One acts to invoke the imagery, while the other compliments it but also gives a backbeat, so that rhythm is not lost. At times the backbeat takes precedence, allowing the other guitar to change voicing or pace but till stay in the framework of the piece. And one of my favorite parts comes around the 4:30 marks, when the lower pitched backbeat takes the stage, crashing down and forcing the voicing into unison for just a brief moment, maybe a chord or two. At 7:00 you get another unison moment that generates such an interesting tone. The brief break and return at 8:10. The call and answer at 10 minutes. It’s hard to describe since this is such a bit song, but everything interplays well and yet remains light and listenable.
“Short Tales of the Black Forest” is an interesting opener, starting with what seems to be just fast runs up and down the strings with an occasional chord banged out. But the interesting play here comes in the dynamics of the two guitars interplaying. Different volumes and different speed play off each other to create a strong tapestry of sound. The music gets even more playful towards the end when an almost 12 bar blues starts and the audience start clapping along. Jut good fun. The end shows a marked drop in volume, but not speed, indicating the end of our journey, only to rise quickly to a vibrant conclusion. Our emergence from the piece complete.
“Frevo Rasgado” immediately comes in with a more flamenco feel to it, likely due to De Lucia’s influence. One guitar is kept lower, banging out heavy but fast chord that form the backbone of the song, while the other guitar acts as the dancer to the song, moving quickly over the music. Each change in the line is a break or whip from the dancer signaling the audience to draw attention in the detail. As the song progresses, the two parts draw together, becoming two dancers providing their own music. It finally cools down a bit towards the end but remains very sensual, refusing to just fade out.
“Fantasia Suite” starts with a run as well, of course at high speed. But it’s the light touch at the 50 second mark that is quite interesting. Not just raw speed, but ability to understand the way the tone is played to the audience. It relaxes and invites into the music. It builds into this weird echo effect at 3:20 which is quite interesting, seeming distant but working into the dynamic of the tones volume and tempo. Then at 3:40 it seems to change into a whole other song, with one part using slower chords, the other guitar bouncing off it but keeping the same tune. It becomes very… big sounding I suppose? The suite works well, but if I had to complain, I’d say there is a slight drop that makes the change of parts more noticeable. Still, it’s hard to beat the speed and voicing around minute 8.
“Guardian Angel” is the only one to feature all 3 players and also the only studio song. It starts picking lightly, careful to keep them from stepping on each other’s toes. But it picks up speed, only to be cut out to another part, almost seamlessly. Each part that comes to the forefront lowers the key a bit, letting it stand apart from the others. And the light ending is the perfect way to end the album. It is well arranged and never overwhelming. Simply well put together.
Now, I haven’t really seemed to add a whole lot of judgment and I have been much consternated on how to do this review. Can I really tell you why? No. Am I hearing things not in the music? Maybe. But I still think this is a great album with great guitarists.
Favorite Track: “Mediterranean Sundance - Rio Ancho”