Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola, a bonafide living Guitar Legend inducted into the Gallery of Greats is among the top guitarists of our time. Al is the recipient of the most prestigious guitar awards ever given, a total of 12 awards from Guitar Player Magazine polls and as a result, was inducted into their Gallery of Greats.

Not only a guitar hero, but a prolific composer, he has amassed over 30 albums as a leader while collaborating on a dozen or so others with the likes of the fusion supergroup Return to Forever (with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White), the celebrated acoustic Guitar Trio featuring fellow virtuosos John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia, and the Rite of Strings trio with bassist Clarke and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. And while his dazzling technique on both acoustic and electric guitars has afforded him regal status among the hordes of fretboard fanatics who regularly flock to his concerts, the depth of Di Meola’s writing along with the soulfulness and the inherent lyricism of his guitaristic expression have won him legions of fans worldwide beyond the guitar aficionado set.

A pioneer of blending world music and jazz, going back to early Latin-tinged fusion outings like 1976’s Land of the Midnight Sun, 1977’s Elegant Gypsy, and 1978’s Casino, the guitar great continues to explore the rich influence of flamenco, tango, Middle Eastern, Brazilian, and African music with his World Sinfonia, an ambitious pan-global group that he formed in 1991.