This is an Audiophile Must-Have! A Fantastic Meeting of 3 Extraordinary Guitarists is one of the Most Influential of ALL Live Acoustic Guitar Albums!
Mastered by Bernie Grundman from the Original Analog Master Tapes & Pressed at RTI! Numbered Deluxe Laminated Gatefold Jackets!
Friday Night In San Francisco is a 1981 live album by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia. It was described by jazz author and critic Walter Kolosky as "a musical event that could be compared to the Benny Goodman Band's performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938...[it] may be considered the most influential of all live acoustic guitar albums." All the tracks except Guardian Angel were recorded live at The Warfield Theatre on December 5, 1980 in San Francisco.
This debut recording on Columbia Records became a landmark recording that surpassed the two million mark in sales. The three virtuosos in the Trio toured together from 1980 through 1983.
Ah the Mediterranean... Filled with fine foods, wines, beautiful people, and the inspirational style of music that descended upon the able fingers of these guitar giants. This is by far one of the hottest guitar albums ever to bless sweet vinyl. Al Dimeola, John McLaughlin, & Paco Delucia play classical guitars (the kind with the nylon strings) in a flamenco / jazz style that will blow your socks off!
Recorded live in concert in San Francisco this album has spectacular sonics and musicianship to boot!
"Recorded in December of 1980 at San FranciscoÂ’s Warfield Theater, these three mega guitarists convened to create one of historyÂ’s most memorable acoustic-guitar records. Five of the seven tracks are duos, and the final two feature the trio. Bernie Grundman, the original mastering engineer, returns for remastering duties on this sweet ORG pressing. All the compression in my 1A original is swept away; spreading the music over two discs yields myriad benefits. If there was ever an acoustic disc that encourages you to crank the volume, this is it. When the applause swells up at the end of songs, itÂ’s easy to close your eyes and be transported to that magical winter evening. Every nuance gets captured; every toe tap, every whack of the guitar body comes alive, and if your system is up to snuff, these guys sound as if they are right in the room. You can almost hear the guitar strings picking up weight as they become coated with sweat as the performance progresses. The most exciting aspect of this recording, now restored to full brilliance? A toss-up between the rapid attack of the playersÂ’ blazing speed and the low-level detail in the quietest passages." - TONEAudio, No. 46, May 2012
Paco de Lucia was a Spanish flamenco guitarist, composer and producer. A leading proponent of the New Flamenco style, he helped legitimize flamenco among the establishment in Spain, and was one of the first flamenco guitarists to have successfully crossed over into other genres of music such as classical and jazz. De Lucia was noted for his fast and fluent fingerstyle runs. His collaborations with guitarists John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola saw him gain wider popularity outside his native Spain.
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist, composer, and record producer. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date. Albums such as Friday Night In San Francisco have earned him both artistic and commercial success with a solid fan base throughout the world. A prolific composer and prodigious six-string talent, Di Meola has amassed over 20 albums as a leader while collaborating on a dozen or so others.
John McLaughlin is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer. His music includes many genres of jazz and rock, which he coupled with an interest in Indian classical music to become one of the pioneering figures in fusion. In 2010, guitarist Jeff Beck called him "the best guitarist alive." In 2003, McLaughlin was ranked 49th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." After contributing to several key British groups of the early sixties and making his first solo record, he moved to the US where he played with Tony Williams' group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his landmark electric-jazz fusion albums: In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, A Tribute To Jack Johnson and On The Corner.
"Loose and spontaneous, this (mainly) live album is a meeting of three of the greatest guitarists in the world for an acoustic summit the likes of which the guitar-playing community rarely sees. Broken up into three duo and two trio performances, Friday Night in San Francisco catches all three players at the peaks of their quite formidable powers." - www.allmusic.com
"Friday Night in San Francisco may be considered the most influential of all live acoustic guitar albums... the recording certainly captures the excitement of the event itself. In a world of electric guitars, it was quite unusual to hear a crowd go absolutely ballistic over acoustic strumming. It is not so unusual today, and this record is one major reason for that." - allaboutjazz.com
"I was there and can testify that it was the most exciting guitar concert I have ever heard. It was an unusual setup, with just three acoustic guitarists and nothing else. This far predated the MTV “Unplugged” series, and the audience obviously went wild during all the selections... the concert is absolutely jaw-dropping. The non-stop friendly guitar dueling starts with the very first track and only lets up briefly for breathing space during some of the other tracks. All three guitarists throw off machine-gun fast runs up and down the strings that have the audience going crazy at times... It was certainly a very great night and is beautifully preserved on these recordings." - John Sunier, www.audaud.com, 5 Stars!!!
"...[T]hree mega guitarists convened to create one of historyÂ’s most memorable acousticguitar records... Bernie Grundman, the original mastering engineer, returns for remastering duties on this sweet ORG pressing... Every nuance gets captured; every toe tap, every whack of the guitar body comes alive, and if your system is up to snuff, these guys sound as if they are right in the room... The most exciting aspect of this recording, now restored to full brilliance? A toss-up between the rapid attack of the playersÂ’ blazing speed and the lowlevel detail in the quietest passages." - Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine, No. 52, January 2013
"Wildly popular in its day and a favorite audiophile demo disc... [T]he liner notes identify each player as being placed at left, right, or center channel... ORG's Bernie Grundman mastered 45rpm edition on 180-gram vinyl crackles with life and energy. The hall acoustic is wide and deep, notably apparent when the enthused audience shouts and claps its appreciation, and the trio's nylon-stringed instruments are vivid and sharply focused, with a notably realistic dynamic range - from quietly picked arpeggios to lightning-strike string snaps - and halos of reverberant air surrounding them. Grundman's mastering brings out new levels of detail, presence, transient speed, and texture, adding even more thrills to the musical interplay and artistry of this extraordinary trio." - Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, September 2013, Music 4/5, Sonics 4/5
Features:
• Numbered Deluxe Laminated Double Gatefold Jackets
• Audiophile 180g, 45rpm Vinyl
• Double LP
• Pressed at RTI
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman from the Original Analog Master Tapes!
Musicians:
Al Di Meola, guitar
John McLaughlin, guitar
Paco de LucÃa, guitar
Selections:
LP1 - Side A:
1. Mediterranean Sundance/Rio Ancho
Composers: Al Di Meola and Paco DeLucia
Performed by: Paco DeLucia (Left Channel) and Al Di Meola (Right Channel)
LP1 - Side B:
1. Short Tales of the Black Forest
Composer: Chick Corea
Performed by John McLaughlin (Left Channel) and Al Di Meola (Right Channel)
LP2 - Side C:
1. Frevo Rasgado
Composer: Egberto Gismonti
Performed by John McLaughlin (Left Channel) and Paco DeLucia (Right Channel)
LP2 - Side D:
1. Fantasia Suite
Composer: Al Di Meola
Performed by Paco DeLucia (Left Channel), John McLaughlin (Middle Channel), and Al Di Meola (Right Channel)
2. Guardian Angel
Composer: John McLaughlin
Performed by Paco DeLucia (Left Channel), John McLaughlin (Middle Channel), and Al Di Meola (Right Channel)
