Elegant Gypsy is the second album by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. It was released in 1977 by Columbia Records.
| Elegant Gypsy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 1977 | |||
| Recorded | December 1976–January 1977 | |||
| Genre | Jazz rock | |||
| Length | 37:00 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Al Di Meola | |||
| Al Di Meola chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide |  [2] |
Background
editElegant Gypsy was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, Land of the Midnight Sun. The distinctive music on the album is a speedy fusion of jazz and rock, with lightning-fast guitar riffs intermixed with lyrical acoustical passages. The songs include explorations of Latin music themes, including acoustic genres like flamenco.[3]
The inspiration behind one of di Meola's signature songs, “Race with Devil on Spanish Highway”, came from The Kinks’ garage rock classic "You Really Got Me". It the first song he attempted to play on the guitar, when he was between eight and nine years old.[4]
Elegant Gypsy won an annual award for Best Guitar Album in Guitar Player.
Janice Dickinson is the model on the album cover.
Track listing
editAll songs by Al Di Meola unless otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Flight Over Rio" | Mingo Lewis | 7:16 |
| 2. | "Midnight Tango" | 7:28 | |
| 3. | "Mediterranean Sundance" | 5:14 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Race with Devil on Spanish Highway" | 6:18 |
| 5. | "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" | 1:46 |
| 6. | "Elegant Gypsy Suite" | 9:16 |
Personnel
edit- Al Di Meola – guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion
- Paco de Lucía – guitar
- Jan Hammer – keyboards
- Barry Miles – keyboards
- Anthony Jackson – bass guitar
- Steve Gadd – drums
- Lenny White – drums
- Mingo Lewis – congas, synthesizers, organ, percussion
Chart performance
edit| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Billboard 200 | 58[5] |
| 1977 | Billboard Top Jazz Albums | 5[5] |
References
edit- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. US: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 61. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Review in Ultimate-guitar.com
- ^ Bosso, Joe (31 July 2020). "Al Di Meola: How I Wrote "Race with Devil on Spanish Highway"". Guitar World. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Elegant Gypsy - Al di Meola | Awards | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
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