LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN

Land Of The Midnight Sun is Al Di Meola's first solo album and here he introduces the style and formula he would go on to perfect on his next couple of albums Elegant Gypsy and Casino. While Land Of The Midnight Sun is not as good as these two later albums, it is still a worthy entry in this great trilogy of albums.

This album was released the same year as Return To Forever's excellent Romantic Warrior album, and while taking some of the elements from that band with him when he left, Di Meola's solo albums are also quite different - a bit less jazzy and much more Latino influenced. On this album he also ventures into Classical territory with Sarabande from Violin Sonata in B Minor, but not yet into the Flamenco flavoured pieces that would feature on subsequent albums. Another difference between this debut and the later two albums is that we find a short vocal passage on this album while Elegant Gypsy and Casino both are strictly instrumental.

The best composition on this album is Short Tales Of Black Forrest written by Return To Forever's Chick Correa. The interplay between the acoustic guitar and the piano is excellent here!

A recommend album, but make sure you get Elegant Gypsy and Casino first.