The Guitar Trio - Friday Night in San Francisco Review
May 27th, 2007
I don’t tend to purchase CDs that I haven’t already listened to. I don’t like the risk involved. I have been burned once or twice buying an album that I know had a song I liked just to find out the rest of the album is crap. In this case, I took the risk. I bought Friday Night in San Francisco having only heard a few songs here and there from Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia individually. I couldn’t have named a tune of their’s and I had never heard them all together, but for some reason that day I was feeling frisky. I bought the live album without ever hearing a shred of it.
I was initially quite amazed. I listened to it in the car a bit, I ripped it at work and listened to it on my quiet night shifts. Overall I was pretty happy with my purchase. Then, I don’t really know why, but I stopped listening to it for six months or so. A week or so ago I was browsing my CD collection for something to listen to on my daily work commute and I grabbed it almost instantly. For some reason this time around I am so much more impressed with the music. It has hit me on another level all together.
Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia form a group known as The Guitar Trio. They have released two studio albums, one in 1982 and one in 1996 and then two corresponding live albums. Friday Night in San Francisco was released in 1980. The album is all acoustic guitar. There are no accompanying instruments, no vocals, and the only percussion is made by the guitarists slapping their guitars.
The first track, Mediterranean Sundance/Rio Ancho performed by Di Meola and McLaughlin de Lucia is by far my favorite. It is very jazzy and and classical inspired. The two guitarists play in perfect harmony and timing. As with the rest of the album the track is greatly improvised while keeping a very tight sound. The two players trade off on lead and rhythm. Each lead is just as great as the last as these two players display their inhuman chops.
The rest of the album is just as impressive. On the second track, Short Tales of the Black Forest, there is a little bit of sound play between Di Meola and McLaughlin. The two improvise licks and play off each others rhythm. The song then progresses into a loose playful cover of the pink panther and then further moves into a blues jam. This is another amazing track.
I know some people have stressed to me their dislike for the lack of other instruments to accompany The Guitar Trio, but I would recommend this album to guitar enthusiasts in a heartbeat. The album sounds great as some quiet background music while you are doing some housework, or cranked in your car to get the live experience. Although the album only has 5 tracks it runs longer than some albums with 13, so don’t let that sway you. Also, if you liked this album I would recommend the other Guitar Trio albums as well.
Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia – Friday Night in San Francisco
1980 – Columbia – runtime: 40:43
Track listing:
- Mediterranean Sundance/Rio Ancho
- Short Tales of the Black Forest
- Frevo Rasgado
- Fantasia Suite
- Guardian Angel
Other Guitar Trio Albums:
- 1982 – Passion, Grace, & Fire (Studio)
- 1996 – The Guitar Trio (Studio)
- 1996 – Sunday Night in Boston (Live)
tagged al di meola, album review, john mclaughlin, paco de lucia and the guitar trio
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June 27th, 2007 11:44
Great review. Only one thing to point out, the first song Mediterranean Sundance/Rio Ancho is played by Al DiMeola and Paco de Lucía (as you can see in the Wikipedia entry of the album)
June 27th, 2007 19:23
Hey thanks. I fixed that slip in the original post.