As Return to Forever was disbanding around 1976, Di Meola began recording solo albums on which he demonstrated a mastery of jazz fusion, flamenco, and Mediterranean music.[8] His album Elegant Gypsy (1977) received a gold certification. In 1980, he recorded the acoustic live album, Friday Night in San Francisco, with Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin.[2]
In the beginning of his career, as evidenced on his first solo album Land of the Midnight Sun (1976, on which Jaco Pastorius and the ex-members of RTF collaborated), Di Meola was noted for his technical mastery and extremely fast, complex guitar solos and compositions. But even on his early albums, he had begun to explore Mediterranean cultures and acoustic genres like flamenco. Notable examples are "Mediterranean Sundance" and "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" from the Elegant Gypsy album (1977).
His early albums were influential among rock and jazz guitarists. Di Meola continued to explore Latin music within jazz fusion on Casino and Splendido Hotel. He exhibited a more subtle touch on acoustic numbers "Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars" from the Casino album and on the best-selling live album with McLaughlin and de Lucia, Friday Night in San Francisco. The latter album became one of the most popular live albums for acoustic guitar, selling more than two million copies worldwide.[9]
Di Meola at Leverkusener Jazztage (Forum/Leverkusen/Germany) on November 7, 2016
In the mid-1980s, Di Meola began to incorporate the Synclavier guitar synthesizer into his compositions. Except for the occasional electric guitar foray on albums such as 1991's Kiss My Axe, he spent most of the next two decades exploring both acoustic and world music. He rediscovered his love of the electric guitar in 2006,[10] and the DVD of his concert at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival 2006 is subtitled Return to Electric Guitar.[11] In 2018, Di Meola was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from his alma mater, Berklee College of Music.[12]
In July 2016, Al Di Meola married Stephanie Kreis[1] after meeting after a 2013 concert of his in Budapest.[13]
Al has two daughters from a previous relationship; Oriana[14] and Valentina.[15] He also has a daughter with Stephanie, named Ava.[16] Additionally he is a first-time grandfather with his grandson named Orion[17][18] from daughter Valentina.
In September 2023 while performing on stage in Bucharest, Romania Di Meola suffered a heart attack. He was admitted to a local hospital where he was treated for ST elevation myocardial infarction.[19] He took some time off from performances, but began performing again in January 2024.[20]
^Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians, jazz.com, backed up by the Internet Archive as of January 26, 2009; accessed September 11, 2017. "Di Meola was born to an Italian family with roots in jazz fusion on July 22nd, 1954 in Jersey City, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan. He grew up in Bergenfield, New Jersey, located in Bergen County.... When Di Meola completed his studies at Bergenfield High School, he enrolled in classes at the Berklee College of Music in Boston."
^Al Di Meola profile, Concord(entertainment company); accessed September 11, 2017. "Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on July 22, 1954, Al Di Meola grew up with the music of The Ventures, The Beatles and Elvis Presley. ... 'In the '60s, if you didn't play like Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page, you weren't accepted,' he recalls of his high school years in Bergenfield, New Jersey."
