Guitar player Al Di Meola has become famous during several days. Although he has played the guitar since his childhood he confesses that he became well-known when he moved to New York. At the age of 19 he received a phone call from the “king of jazz” Chick Corea and offered to work with him. Chick Corea and New York have changed his life drastically. And it’s been thirty years since handsome and elegant Di Meola is considered one of the three best guitar players of the world.
Not only is he a virtuoso player but also a wonderful composer. His compositions include gypsy tunes, tango, bossanova and jazz elements… Not only his numerous records but also concerts, awards and prizes prove him to be one of the best guitar players of the world. Al Di Meola holds the most prestigious guitar awards (of any guitarist in the world) from the highest rated guitar poll in the world, Guitar Player Magazine, Grammy, Record World Magazine. He’s been considered best guitar play of the world 14 times in a row, has sold millions of records and astonished the world with his flawless performance technique.
During his stay in Armenia Al Di Meola, who was invited by ArmGazProm, traveled a lot. He’s been to Khor Virap, Garni, Geghard, etc. “I wish to better understand the fatherland of my Armenian friends,” he says. Di Meola has rehearsed a lot before his two concerts in Yerevan. During the rehearsals one understands that despite the swift performance he also makes a lot of efforts. He doesn’t support the repetition of improvisations and thinks that the melodies should prevail. He wants to have ideal acoustic in the Opera Building of Yerevan during his concert. “The sound must penetrate into the audience,” he told the sound operator during the rehearsal. During the intervals he would sit behind the stage curtain dusty benches and play the guitar. Then he would smile with Hollywood smile and say, “The sound of the guitar must be perfect otherwise no sense to play.” Percussionist of Di Meola’s band, Cuban descent Gumbi Santos was running from one side to another adjusting microphones. Then he would take a breath and say, “Armenia is a bridge.” He meant a bridge between Christianity and Islam. “Your country is considered like that in the world. Same cannot be said about Israel, which is a Christian country like you and surrounded by Islamic states. I am proud to be here.” After thinking a second he gave an Armenian answer, “Armenia is my brother’s fatherland. Arto Tunchboyachian is my brother. He is an Armenian but was raised in Turkey. I am a Cuban raised in the US. My dad used to say. Don’t you ever think that if you live in a forest you are a tree. All the people are the same, especially musicians.”
Before the interview Di Meola wanted the reporter to listen to his music. We didn’t mind but we would hardly be able to go to the concert because the tickets were too expensive for Armenia. During the interview Di Meola was trying to send text messages via his cell phone by trying to check the time of the rehearsal and departure. “What can I do? This is business and I have become a businessman because I have to arrange many things connected with the tour schedule of my band.” To the question whether music is business or not he said, “everything is business nowadays.”
Interview with Al Di Meola
– The key elements of your music are ethnical ones. Why are they attractive to you?
– I like to mix the elements of the new world with the old one. I want to include elements of traditions in my music by making it more unique. Ethnic music is the basic element of the world music and my goal is to refresh the ethnic music and make them livelier for the contemporary age. I want to create a new international environment. There are many such elements – pop, ethnic, jazz… Those may contradict each other form time to time but they all have the same fatherland.
– In Armenia people are very careful to mixtures.
– That is wonderful. Later me or musicians like me may come and connect the music by making it international. I am quite familiar with the Armenian music first of all due to Arto Tunchboyachian, who has been in my band for four years and we made numerous records. I have also heard a lot about Armenia from my first guitar teacher, Bobby Aslanyan, who was a very famous teacher in America.
– Armenia is a very small country and is in blockade at present. Do the closed borders affect only the economy or the culture development as well?
– Small countries always have problems. I think a lot depends on the economic development of a country. People must have enough money to be free to travel worldwide and see new things. Now I am trying to very carefully formulate what I am trying to say but I am sure that when the level of the economy of the country develops people will be freer to travel. In that case the size of the country wouldn’t matter that much.
– Do you consider USA the most developed country in the world?
– America is a free country and Americans are displaying this freedom and liberty on the door lock of their country. We have established a very unique field of combination of different nationality communities to affect each other. New York, for example, is the combination of all the ethnic groups of the world. They call themselves “new yorkers”. Due to that numerous cultures are mixed in each other. Of course, I don’t see the same thing in Armenia. Neither do I see it in Japan and many other countries. In New York I can listen to all kinds of music – Armenian, Japanese, etc; can watch all kinds of various nationality shows. By seeing and watching this variety I also become various. As an individual I was born and raised in New York. Perhaps I wouldn’t be what I am in some other city.
– Thus immigration supports the culture development.
– Of course, immigrants are bringing variety with themselves to the country they move and the variety is especially important for music development. I am sure if I lived in Cincinnati city of Ohio I wouldn’t know that much about varieties of music and the music, which I play, would be “poorer”. The musician always needs to look for new things. Very often we come to such countries as Armenia – Greece, Turkey in order to seek the new elements and see the new things. Countries like yours create great opportunities for musicians like me. It’s a great honor for me to be in your country and perform. I have a chance to be in the fatherland of my Armenian friends. Besides being introduced to the Armenian music I have also learned a lot about Armenian history. I have been to the Genocide Museum and I think my knowledge of Armenia has slightly increased.
– You have great reputation in the world; however you are less popular than Britney Spears, for example. Is that normal?
– It’s an unhealthy phenomenon. Britney Spears doesn’t have reputation. She’s just popular. Newspapers and magazines make her popular and it’s done not because of her music but bad behavior. Also, she doesn’t have a talent to sing. Much of her singing comes from auxiliary elements, such as background dancers, singers and stylists. The journalists are more interested in the “behavior” of the singers rather than their singing talent. In fact the popularity of the artist rarely depends on their capabilities. It more depends on the approach of journalists. I am happy because people appreciate my music and respect me not because of my popularity or journalists but my capabilities. I will never change my respect to popularity.
– Your pieces are considered classical. Why is that?
– In the structure of the compositions one can be classical and innovative. Yes my compositions are classical because I have picked a classical model for them. I use the modern musical instruments but apply the classical rules of the orchestras. I think that I should not abuse my improvisation too much. The audience may like improvisation but prefers to listen to melody. I base on melody.
– You have Italian nationality. Do you consider yourself more Italian or American?
– Of course Italian. I like everything Italian. Very often when I am angry I swear in Italian.
– In Spain people say when the man touches the guitar it should cry. Is that so?
– First of all human voice is able to cry, then the guitar maybe. Guitar is the second on the list of criers. But the guitar is able to do lot besides crying, such as encouraging, create melody, and play glissando. The guitar creates sounds… Human body gives shape to this sound. The person creates music with his/her own hands. The sound of the guitar is not like piano sound or drums, trumpets, etc. It is more visible.
– Why?
– Because wind instruments are played by blowing and the sound is created far from the person. The sound of the guitar is created inside the person, comes from the soul of the man. The sound of the guitar is an “inside” sound, which comes from inside the person not outside. Do I explain this in a right way?
– Very much like that. How many guitars do you have?
– Haven’t counted. I have many.
– More than a thousand?
– The number of guitar is approximately the same as the number of my girlfriends.
– More than a thousand?
– Yes. Do you know that I have decided to marry an Armenian girl? I fell in love with the most beautiful girl of Armenia, Lusine Tovmasyan. I want to offer her to marry me. And for the pest epilog I’d say that there should be passion in everything.