Diaa Bekheet | Washington, DC – American guitar wizard Al Di Meola is currently touring Europe for concerts and performances as part of a whirlwind European tour. Last June, Di Meola traveled from Europe to the Middle East to perform at the Beirut Music and Arts Festival.
A prolific composer with more than 20 recordings under his belt, Di Meola is known to many jazz fans in the Middle East as a man with artistic excellence for finely mixing American jazz and Arabian music, as in Egyptian Danza. One of the many reasons he is much favored by Middle Eastern fans is his “ability to bring different culture closer with his music.”
The blazing jazz fusion guitarist performed in Egypt with Cairo’s top jazz pianist and Grammy winner Fathy Salama. “Music has no compass. It has no borders,” Salama said on Egyptian television while explaining Di Meola’s music approach and style.
http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/62338799
Given his skillful and dazzling technique, Di Meola has performed with many music stars, including Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Frank Zappa, Paul Simon, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Page, Tony Williams, Jaco Pastorius, Luciano Pavarotti and many more. His epic album ‘World Sinfonia‘ He sold millions of records worldwide since the 1970s.
For more on jazz music, listen to VOA’s Jazz America