Essential: a masterpiece of fusion music
The day I heard these three musicians, I was literally "combed back." Well, is that this concert became part of the essential in guitar history (long before fashion "unplugged").
Friday Night in San Francisco is a 1981 live album by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía. It was described by jazz author and critic Walter Kolosky as "a musical event that could be compared to the Benny Goodman Band's performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938 … it may be considered the most influential of all live acoustic guitar albums".
All the tracks except "Guardian Angel" were recorded live at The Warfield Theatre on 5 December 1980, in San Francisco; "Guardian Angel" was recorded at Minot Sound, in White Plains, New York.
Loose and spontaneous, this (mainly) live album is a meeting of three of the greatest guitarists in the world for an acoustic summit the likes of which the guitar-playing community rarely sees. Broken up into three duo and two trio performances, Friday Night in San Francisco catches all three players at the peaks of their quite formidable powers.
The beloved, historic & previously unreleased recording by the famous Guitar Trio: Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco De Lucia – ‘Saturday Night in San Francisco’ will be released on July 1st, 2022.
The beloved, historic & previously unreleased recording by the famous Guitar Trio: Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco De Lucia – ‘Saturday Night in San Francisco’ will be released on July 1st, 2022.