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Paco is - together with Pancho - the Spanish nickname for Francisco, as in Pancho Villa, the legendary Mexican revolutionary.

The nickname has its origins in Saint Francis of Assisi, who was the father of the Franciscan order. His name was written by the order as Pater Comunitatis (Father of the community); "Paco" is obtained by taking the first syllable of each word.^{[citation needed]}

People with the nickname Paco[link]

• Paco, Spanish footballer
• Paco Ahlgren, American novelist
• Paco Arespacochaga, Filipino drummer
• Paco Bandeira, Portuguese singer
• Paco Cabanes Pastor, Valencian pilota player
• Paco Calderón, Mexican political cartoonist
• Paco de Lucía, Spanish Flamenco guitarist and composer
• Paco Decina, Italian choreographer
• Paco Gento, Spanish footballer
• Paco Godia, Spanish racing driver
• Paco González, Spanish sport journalist
• Paco Herrera, Spanish footballer
• Paco Ibáñez, Spanish singer
• Paco Jamandreu, Argentine fashion designer and actor
• Paco Lala's, Mexican TV host
• Paco León, Spanish actor
• Paco Moncayo, mayor of Quito, Ecuador
• Paco Peña, Spanish Flamenco guitarist
• Paco Rabanne, haute couture designer
• Paco Stanley, Mexican television entertainer and politician
• Paco Ignacio Taibo I, Spanish/Mexican writer and journalist
• Paco Ignacio Taibo II, Spanish/Mexican writer, academic, and politician
• Paco Rap Artist, white rapper in Tennessee

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Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Background information
Birth name	Al Laurence Dimeola
Born	(1954-07-22) July 22, 1954 (age 57) Jersey City, New Jersey United States
Genres	Jazz fusion, Latin jazz, world fusion
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, drums, cello, vocals, percussion
Years active	1974–present
Labels	Columbia, Telarc, TomatoMilestone, Di Meola/Inakustik, Valiana Records
Associated acts	Return to Forever
Website	www.AlDiMeola.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul PRS McCarty PRS Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola (born Al Laurence Dimeola, July 22, 1954, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date. Albums such as Friday Night in San Francisco have earned him both artistic and commercial success ^[1] with a solid fan base throughout the world.^[2]

Di Meola grew up in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and attended Bergenfield High School.^[3] He is now a resident of Bergen County, New Jersey.^[4]

Career[link]

In 1971, he enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1974 he joined Chick Corea's band, Return to Forever, and played with the band until a major lineup shift in 1976.

Di Meola went on to explore a variety of styles, but is most noted for his Latin-influenced jazz fusion works. He is a four-time winner as Best Jazz Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's Reader Poll.

Guitar historian Robert Lynch states: "In the history of the electric guitar, no one figure has done more to advance the instrument in a purely technical manner than Mr. Di Meola. His total command of the various styles and scales is simply mind-boggling. I feel privileged to have been able to study his work all these years."^[5]

Di Meola with Return to Forever, 1974

In addition to a prolific solo career, he has engaged in successful collaborations with bassist Stanley Clarke, keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and guitarists John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía. He also guested on "Allergies" from Paul Simon's Hearts and Bones'" album (1983).

In the beginning of his career, as evidenced on his first solo album Land of the Midnight Sun (1976), Di Meola was noted for his technical mastery and extremely fast, complex guitar solos and compositions. But even on his early albums, he had begun to explore Mediterranean cultures and acoustic genres like flamenco. Good examples are "Mediterranean Sundance" and "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" from the Elegant Gypsy album (1977). His early albums were very influential among rock and jazz guitarists alike. Di Meola continued to explore Latin music within the jazz fusion genre on albums like Casino and Splendido Hotel. He exhibited a more subtle touch on acoustic numbers like "Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars" from the Casino album, and on the best-selling live album with McLaughlin and de Lucia, Friday Night in San Francisco. The latter album became one of the most popular live albums for acoustic guitar ever recorded and was sold more than two million times worldwide.^[6] In 1980, he also toured with fellow Latin rocker Carlos Santana.

With Scenario, he explored the electronic side of jazz in a collaboration with Jan Hammer (later of Miami Vice theme fame). Beginning with this change, he further expanded his horizons with the acoustic album Cielo e Terra. He began to incorporate guitars and synthesizers on albums such as Soaring Through a Dream. By the 1990s, Di Meola recorded albums closer to World music and modern Latin styles than jazz.

John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, and Paco de Lucía

He has continued to tour, playing in smaller venues like The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, and House of Blues in Las Vegas, Nevada. Recent concerts have included a sampling of his newer material (an engaging mix of acoustic, "distorted acoustic music", and guitar/synthesizer with a looser format than the songs on the early solo albums) along with a selection of electric guitar numbers from the early albums. Di Meola often closes out shows with an energetic rendition of one of his most challenging pieces, "Race with Devil on Spanish Highway", from the Elegant Gypsy album. Even in technical showcases like this, he combines blindingly fast scalar runs with subtle, dazzling rhythms, and melodic phrases. Because of his early recordings, Di Meola became arguably the most important pioneer of shred guitar,^{[citation needed]} influencing guitarists such as Yngwie Malmsteen (with whom he appeared on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's solo album Black Utopia in 2003), Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi with his speed runs as a child and Dream Theater's John Petrucci.^[7] However, in most cases after the early 1980s, Di Meola has largely distanced himself from this approach. In various interviews, Di Meola has stated that his reason for stepping away from the electric guitar is due to hearing damage (manifested as tinnitus) from years of playing at excessive volumes;^[8] the acoustic guitar does not aggravate his condition.

But in 2006 he rediscovered his love of the electric guitar,^[9] and the DVD of his concert at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival 2006 bears the subtitle Return to Electric Guitar.^[10]

Discography[link]

Solo works[link]

• Land of the Midnight Sun (1976)
• Elegant Gypsy (1977)
• Casino (1978)
• Splendido Hotel (1980)
• Electric Rendezvous (1982)
• Scenario (1983)
• Cielo e Terra (1985)
• Soaring Through a Dream (1985)
• Tirami Su (1987)
• Kiss My Axe (1991)
• World Sinfonia (1991)
• Heart Of The Immigrants (1993)
• Orange and Blue (1994)
• Di Meola Plays Piazzolla (1996)
• The Infinite Desire (1998)
• Christmas: Winter Nights (1999)
• World Sinfonía III - The Grande Passion (2000)
• Flesh on Flesh (2002)
• Al Di Meola Revisited (2003)
• Vocal Rendezvous (2006)
• Consequence of Chaos (2006)
• Diabolic Inventions And Seduction For Solo Guitar (2007)
• Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody (March 2011) ^[6]

Collaborations[link]

• Venusian Summer (1975) Lenny White, Al Di Meola, Larry Coryell
• Go (1976) with Go Stomu Yamash'ta, Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola
• Go Live From Paris (1976) with Go Stomu Yamash'ta, Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola
• Go Too (1977) with Go
• Friday Night in San Francisco (1980) with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía
• Tour De Force – Live (1982) with Jan Hammer, Anthony Jackson, and Steve Gadd
• Passion, Grace and Fire (1983) with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía
• Latin (1987) with George Dalaras
• Super Guitar Trio And Friends (1990) with Larry Coryell and Biréli Lagrène
• Rite Of Strings (1995) with Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty
• Dance of Fire (1995) - Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
• The Guitar Trio (1996) with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía
• Winter Nights (1999) - Roman Hrynkiv
• Inspiration - Colors & Reflections (2000) Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
• Nylon & Steel (2001) Manuel Barrueco
• The Running Roads (2001) with George Dalaras
• Black Utopia (2003) with Derek Sherinian
• Cosmopolitan Life (2005) with Leonid Agutin
• Midsummer Night In Sardinia (2005) with Andrea Parodi
• Mária (Égi szerelem) (2007) with Miklos Malek and Eszter Horgas
• The NYC Session: Beautiful Love (2007) with Eddie Gomez, Billy Drummond and Yutaka Kobayashi
• Ő és Carmen (He and Carmen) (2008) with Eszter Horgas

As Producer

• Magic Touch (1985) Stanley Jordan

Return to Forever albums featuring Al Di Meola[link]

• Where Have I Known You Before (1974, Polydor)
• No Mystery (1975, Polydor)
• Romantic Warrior (1976, Columbia)
• Returns (2009, Eagle (Fontana))

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Al Di Meola

• Al Di Meola Official Web Site