American jazz guitarist with Italian roots Al Di Meola suffered a heart attack during a Wednesday concert in Bucharest, Romania and ended up in the hospital. The 69-year-old Grammy winner is currently in a stable condition, doctors confirmed to the AP agency. “He will make a full recovery. Today he is a million times better than yesterday,” his wife Stephanie announced on social media on Friday.
The wife is now flying to Bucharest to see the musician. In the message, she thanked the doctors and the fans for their concern. “He’ll be fine, he’ll come back and keep playing.” added in tears.
According to the AP agency, during the concert with the trio, which began at nine in the evening, the artist at one point grabbed his heart, stopped playing and limped off the stage with difficulty. His teammates stayed and continued for a few more minutes before ending the show early. The next day, the guitarist canceled all more than 20 concerts planned until the end of the year.
A multiple winner of the Guitar Player magazine poll in the category for the best jazz guitarist, whose music combines Mediterranean and Latin American influences with rock names, he is one of the most awarded living players of his instrument. He started alongside pianist Chick Corea in the band Return to Forever, with whom he recorded three albums. He also performed with Czech keyboardist Jan Hammer.
In 1976, he started a solo career with the album Land of the Midnight Sun. He had a major hit a year later Mediterranean Sundance on the album Elegant Gypsy. To date, he has sold over six million records worldwide, for example with guitarists John McLaughlin and Pac de Lucía in 1981 they recorded one of the best-selling live albums of all time Friday Night in San Francisco.
“He was able to break out of the jazz shell and his music appeals to a wide range of listeners. It is virtuosic, complicated, readable and emotional at the same time,” Aktuálně.cz wrote about the musician, who is also one of the pioneers of combining jazz with world music, including, for example, tango.
Al Di Meola repeatedly gave concerts in the Czech Republic, for example in 2015 he brought the Beatles & More concert program to Pilsen, the core of which was a new arrangement of Beatles songs. He last performed two years later in Prague’s Hybernia. Three years ago, he was to perform with an accordionist, pianist and drummer at the Karlín Forum at the invitation of the Prague Spring festival. However, the concert was postponed and ultimately canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Video: Al Di Meola plays with Jan Hammer
A 1982 New York recording features Al Di Meola and Jan Hammer playing Advantage. | Video: Aviator Management
