Search - Al Di Meola :: Vocal Rendezvous

Something for everyone

refmininwi | Gresham, WI | 09/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I grant that VR is not typical ADM fare. Ego Works took Al's compositional motifs and massaged them into something that was (in his own words) "outside of anything I would have done on my own." The result is a unique crossover of "Al-Di meets the R&B -Pop vocal world concept."



Let's face it. Al's music targets a rather small niche market. He is a master guitar player and one of the world's greatest living composers, and he writes his music for elite guitarists who cannot get enough of Al's jazz-fusion style that is uniquely his own.



Vocal Rendezvous makes Al's brilliant playing accessible to the wider audience of those who like mainstream dance music. If you enjoy the tunes of Angie Stone, Macy Gray, Beverley Knight, and MC Solaar then you will flip over this music. As dance music, VR is the best there is. These songs will certainly climb the list on your top-40.



For this project Al is following the formula used in the recent chart topping successes of Carlos Santana. If you enjoyed Shaman, Supernatural and All That I Am, then you will certainly enjoy this album. VR deserves the same popular reception that Santana has enjoyed of late.



For those of you that are hard-core Al-Di fans, like myself, and generally HATE dance music, there are four instrumentals (yes, four - the album jacket is misleading by listing only three) that will be very much to your likening. And no true fan can sleep well at night knowing that four ADM compositions are missing from his/her collection.



Five stars for four instrumentals and for seeking to expand the minds of those stuck in the pallid world of dance-pop."

Oh no...

Stas Lopushansky | 07/20/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"If you're a fan of Return to Forever or Al's work with De Lucia and McLaughlin, what first comes to your mind when you see "MC so-and-so" as a featured artist? Yeah, that's what I thought...



Al DiMeola's explorations were going from fusion to classic/Spanish guitar to smoother Latin-jazz to ... whatever over the years. I personally liked it all. Well, almost all. But when a musician his caliber hooks up with singers of somewhat similar caliber, i.e. Leonid Agutin (Russian pop superstar) and Macy Gray, just in a TOTALLY different genre, then... I'll just say I'm glad I heard this album in MP3 format and didn't pay a dime for it. The destination of those files is my Recycle Bin.



In other words, if you're looking for electric or acoustic jazz of any kind with showcase of skill, improvisation, and freedom, avoid this album like a plague. If you like Santana's "Shaman," enjoy Clapton's pop hits, or collect Stanley Clarke's R&B performances, this will be of interest for you. That's it. It's that simple."

Music doesn't have to make sense to be good

Niki M. | Alexandria, VA | 08/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to put a finger on the musical chaos that is Vocal Rendezvous. It is a bit schizophrenic in its identity. It's jazz; it's R&B; it's funk; it's pop. The songs are a mixture of hard and tender vocals and instrumentals. But as you listen, surely there can be no doubt that there is poetry in all this madness. Every song is a delightful treat within its own musical microcosm.



Unlike others who are familiar with his music, this is my first foray into the world of Al di Meola. Vocal Rendezvous has more than whetted my appetite for more. I can only hope his other albums are half as good as this one.



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