Elegant Gypsy - Al Di Meola (1977)

Ideated from: a mystery playlist I found that I have no memory of making but has some cool stuff on it

Di Meola was just finishing his run in Chick Corea’s (O_o) fusion band Return To Forever at the time he was making this record, and it features some of the same personnel alongside a number of other fusion big-names. This is not really the best example of 70s jazz fusion, but it is some pretty great rapid-fire jazz guitar with some global influences.

For an artist still in the first half of his twenties when this was recorded, there’s an awful lot of creativity and vision here.

Tracks I Liked

Mediterranean Sundance - Brilliant guitar work, duetting with flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia

Race With Devil On Spanish Highway - a bit of a hard rock vibe, but with a lot of latin and jazz flavor