ELECTRIC RENDEZVOUS

Al Di's music started losing my interest with this album. (Still, I went to see he and Jan Hammer in concert on this tour--my first concert in the presence of the magical majesty of drummer Steve Gadd.)

1. "God-Bird-Change" (3:51) a weird conglomeration of sounds and styles that is saved mostly by its funk: clavinet, bass, keys; not the drums or guitar. Mingo Lewis' percussion play is noteworthy as are several of Jan Hammer's synth solos. (8.75/10)

2. "Electric Rendezvous" (7:47) sounds like Jean-Luc Ponty's violin in the mix. Is that Al's guitar or Jan's keyboard? At 1:15 there is a break at which time the band restarts with an entirely different motif--followed by another with a different meter only 30 seconds later. These two motifs are used alternately until a brief Anthony Jackson bass line at 2:15 signals yet another shift, this time into a rock-guitar chord progression over which Al's electric sears its way through out brains. But this is only brief (as are, apparently, all things in this unusual song) as Al backs down to let Jan solo on several keyboards while he eventually returns in a lead but supportive way. Jan's signature MiniMoog sound pops up at 4:15 whereupon he and Al begin trading lightning strike solos for a bit, but then yet another full shift leads to some soloing from Anthony Jackson's chunky bass, Jan's harpsichord, and Mingo Lewis' percussion within a rather weird "My Sharona"-like rhythm track. The eighth minute then feels like a full stop/corrective "make up" motif to send the listener off with a favorable impression (if possible). Just a bit too much for me. (13.25/15)

3. "Passion, Grace And Fire" (5:34) the famous acoustic guitar duet with Paco De Lucia. The real highlight of the album. I rate this one highly more for its impressive virtuosity, down for its lack of engaging melodies. (9/10)

4. "Cruisin'" (4:16) a song that seems to want to update an old melody and style from the surfin' 60s--at least, that's the way it starts. Then it goes full 70s rock with Al and Jan trading back and forth variations on the single riff that they're using to make up the main melody. The highlight for me is Jan's Hammond organ solo, otherwise you could throw this away. (8.75/10)

5. "Black Cat Shuffle" (3:00) bluesy but at least it's not trying to blend multiple styles: it's more straightforward and one-dimensional. (8.75/10)

6. "Ritmo De La Noche" (4:17) the seductive Latin rhythm track and smooth-jazzy guitar melodies make this song one of the more accessible and enjoyable on the album (though its foundation has a very "Black Magic Woman" feel and sound to it). (8.875/10)

7. "Somalia" (1:40) nice little guitar weave sans rhythmatists, just Al on a few guitars. (4.75/5)

8. "Jewel Inside A Dream" (4:02) a nice, gentle, melodic duet between Al and Jan with Jan being given the predominance of solo time as Al's acoustic guitar gently strums in un-flashy support while his surprisingly subdued electric guitar only occasionally tries squeezing in a flourish or two. Nice. Sounds a little GENESIS/ANTHONY PHILLIPS or TONY BANKSian--even Greg Lake-like. (8.875/10)

Total Time: 34:27

Though I continued to purchase Al's albums through 1983's Scenario (because of the presence of Tony Levin, Bill Bruford, and Phil Collins) and have continued to make random samplings over the years, I've always liked his work with Return To Forever and Jean-Luc Ponty best. Here on Electric Rendezvous Al continues to display his mastery of both the acoustic (steel and nylon stringed variants) and electric guitar while adding more autonomy through computer and synthesizer technologies (thanks, no doubt, to partner in crime Jan Hammer). He's good--he's done well to master these layering technologies and even tried to tone down his speed and flash a bit (a common listener complaint was the proverbial "too many notes!") but there has always been this kind of "soul-less" quality to Al's music despite his compositional growth and experimentation (a feeling I also extend to Jan Hammer). The lesson here (à la Allan Holdsworth) is that prodigious skill and capacious brain do not always make for great art. Though I respect all of the musicians contributing to this album tremendously, I do not think that any of them have here achieved career highs--either with performance or compositional assistance. It's hard to rate anything by this hard-working virtuoso at less than four stars but if you're going to do it to one, this might be the one.

B/four stars; an excellent example of 80s-based jazz-rock fusion.