Casino

Artist: Al Di Meola
Label: Sony
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 074644748222
EAN: 0074644748222
ASIN: B0000027LF

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| Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion

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Tracks:

Egyptian Danza
Chasin' The Voodoo
Dark Eye Tango
Senor Mouse
Fantasia Suite For Two Guitars: A. Viva La Danzarina/B. Guitars Of The Exotic Isle/C. Rhapsody Italia/D. Bravoto Fantasia
Casino

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Elegant Gypsy
Land of the Midnight Sun
Splendido Hotel
Electric Rendezvous
Tour de Force: Live

Customer Reviews:

Virtuoso performance by a jazz/fusion master.......2003-12-31

Al's credentials as a master guitarist are unassailable. While this may not be his best work overall, the uninitiated can count on dazzling speed combined with crystalline clarity. If you've never heard Al's work, the closest comparison might be Carlos Santana's jazz albums, without the pop/rock influence. The production is extremely clean and polished, and the arrangements are very tight, so jazz enthusiasts who like their music warm and loose and mellow may be disappointed here. That said, no serious aficionado of jazz fusion guitar will want to miss this recording.

The opening one-two punch of "Egyptian Danza" and "Chasin' the Voodoo" is probably a mistake. Not that these are bad songs, but they're just too similar - both feature fast-paced, relentlessly hard-driving rhythm tracks that back Al's most frenetic melody lines. Actually, these two pieces are my personal favorites, but on first listening they sounded too much alike, always a danger for instrumentalists. Next us is "Dark Eye Tango" which has a welcome slow groove that has Al's guitar singing a melody rather than screaming it, but a few minutes in the pace picks up and we're tearing along again. So while these really are three terrific tracks, they do leave the impression that Al's just a one-trick pony.

Having shot his wad so early on, the rest of this recording is a bit of a letdown. Al covers Chick Corea's "Senor Mouse" again, and the closer, "Casino" is eminently forgettable, but he redeems himself with the acoustic showcase "Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars". While maintaining the blazing energy levels of "Danza" and "Voodoo" in an acoustic format, this song suite shows Al's command of a breadth of styles that is not hinted at on the rest of this disk.

It would have been smart to re-arrange the playing order of the tracks on this CD, and a good slow number (which I'm not normally a big fan of) would have been a welcome addition here. But the playing is superb, and there's plenty of punch in at least four of the six compositions presented. Jazz/fusion guitarists and percussionists will find this one particularly appealing.

Took ages, but I finally got into it.......2002-08-04

I bought Dimeola's Elegant Gypsy album and got it into relatively quickly despite its technicality. With Casino it was much more difficult. I listened to it many, many times and I was convinced that it was a bad album. Then one day I played it again and I finally figured out what the hell he was doing! I guess that I was just in the right frame of mind at the time. The thing is, there was nothing at all wrong with Dimeola as a musician, composer or anything else. I think that the problem was with me. His music got so complex and fasat at times that I just couldn't get it. Even when I did get some parts, it would be followed by a complex segment and I would lose my concentration and it would go right over my head. Maybe its best for some fans not to play Dimeola for long periods of time at a time because it can be too much to take in sometimes.

For the record, I'm not someone unused to complex music. My favourite bands include Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull and so on, so something like Casino should be right up my street. As it turned out, it was and I am glad for it.

As for the tracks themselves, the best were Egyptian Danza (this was the easiest to get into), Fantasia Suite For Two Guitars(the second and third movement are especially excellent) and the title track.

I still don't really like Chasin' The Voodoo, Dark Eye Tango, Senor Mouse much, but maybe with a few more listens?

Re-Review.......2002-02-16

I listened some more to this CD, gave it a year to sink in, and found that it is more enjoyable after repeated listenings. I really like the tune "Dark Eyed Tango", especially when the percussion starts getting funky and does that bouncing effect in the speakers, and Al blazes through it with gracefulness, it's just very cool. "Chasin the Voodoo" and "Fantasia Suite" are still my favorites, but I found that this is better music than I had thought it to be at the time I wrote my last review for it. Very good music, there's a reason why it sold so well. I think that this CD would be a good starting point for rock guitar fans to start out into jazz, the latin beats and the solos and drumming are very accessible to people who are familiar with Santana and other groups from the 70's. Thank you.

Not a Winner............2001-03-08

I've looked at these other reviews, and i'm just wondering, "How can you guys think this is so good?" First of all, it was his biggest attempt to go commercial: that's right, Al Di Meola. And it sold like crazy too, I think it went gold at least, which is great for a jazz record. I just don't really care for it as a whole. I really tried to, though, let me say this much. However, the music is not up to the quality found on, well basically every other one of the albums, except maybe "Scenario". So much filler here.....background music, you can read a book while listening to music like "Senor Mouse" and "Casino"....at least I could. The stand-out tracks are "Chasin' the Voodoo" (so similar to a Miles Davis title!!) and "Fantasia Suite". Actually, those two are killer! The playing is only part of how great it is: there's not really any shortage of guitar playing here, it just sounds so slick and polished to me. I'm not speaking for Al, but I bet if you got it out of him, he'd admit that this is not a good album as a whole. Good thing he stopped going commercial too...his album "Kiss my Axe" is a middle-finger to smooth jazz radio!! Go and buy any other Al album....."Splendido Hotel" is so much better than "Casino".

Guitar God.......2000-10-05

Al D is awesome. I was introduced to this album when I was getting my music (percussion) degree in the early 80's. The first time I heard it, I was in awe at Al's speed, melodic interpretation, use of modes and abnormal scalar patterns, and his use of staccato. If you don't understand music theory, you might not fully appreciate his genius, but you'll be dazzled and enthralled by his talent and the quality of this music.

Casino and Elegant Gypsy Suite are his two best albums. I bet I've listened to Casino at least 10,000 times. I know every single note played by every instrument, of every song. I'll never get tired of listening to it.

Steve Gadd, being one of of the greatest drummers ever, compliments Al wonderfully on this album.

I'd love to see today's "guitarists" even try to touch some of the rips Al pulls off. That would be hilarious. No one will ever be this great again. If you appreciate good guitar music, you've got to have this CD.

Al D and Bach, the two greatest musical geniuses in history.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

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