CONSEQUENCES OF CHAOS
BY ADAM PERLMUTTER
Al Di Meola was only 19 when jazz piano/key- board legend Chick Corea poached him from
the Berklee College of Music and gave him the free
rein to unleash his blindingly fast electric lines—
lines that helped define the sound of 1970s fusion.
By the end of that decade, the New Jersey native
had also successfully established himself as a solo
artist with the 1976 debut of Land of the Midnight
Sun, which was followed by Elegant Gypsy the next
year. On these and other albums, Di Meola and
his ubiquitous Les Pauls forged a bold electric style
that was equal parts rock and Latin.
But while Di Meola was a terrifyingly dexterous electric guitarist, he was also a remarkable
