Cosmopolitan Live

Before I bought the CD, I was curious enough to buy this and I tell you what, I got more than I bargained for. What a beautiful recording really!! Is a must if you are an open minded musician and understand Al Di Meolas Career. This dvd and cd is the meeting of 2 minds: East meets West. Here is a documentary of the 2 year making of this brilliant recording that took place in Russia and here in Miami at Criteria Recording Studios. Is too bad this didn't take off in the USA, but I believe in Europe, this mustve sold like pancakes. This also includes the 3 videos from this cd and some Montreaux performances. I hope this is not the first and last collaboration as this cd is very very addicting. So whether you have the cd you must own this or viceversa. Thanks Al and Leonid for such a Brilliant Recording!! RATING 10 RAY GAYO 007

Leonid Agutin and Al Di Meola join to produce music that defies categorization. But why do we have a need to categorize it anyway? Many years ago a friend introduced me to Al Dimeola's music. I played Casino almost constantly and gradually accumulated most of his albums. There is something that I learned from following Al's career. He's always changing, always growing. Unfortunately the yardstick that is often used to measure musical success doesn't take into account that an artist changes and does not always remain static and easily classified. Such is the case with Al Di Meola. He's explored a wide range of musical genre, and produced a body of work that is quite challenging even to a sophisticated listener. And so we come to this collaboration with Leonid Agutin. I had no preconceived notions about this music and resisted the temptation to expect it to be the "electric Al" or the "acoustic Al". Instead I just put the DVD into the player and took it as it came. What I got was a combination of what I already know about Di Meola's music, and everything I didn't know about Leonid Agutun (which is quite a bit). The combination succeeds for me under these terms. If I had sat down in a different mood, and had expected to get something familiar, I would have been disappointed. Instead, this broke new ground for me. This is world music, make no mistake about it. The rhythms are at once Cuban, Brazilian, American Jazz, Rock, Pop, hints of Russian, classical, and maybe even some Cumbia and Salza. In one of the interview pieces Al says "this is Lennie's album", and throughout more or less takes a complementary role to Lennie's lead. In one scene where the ensemble is practicing before Montreaux, Al does behave like a leader when he coaches the percussion, rhythym and bass sections to coax out of them the more complex backdrop we are accustomed to hearing behind the stacato of his guitar. He goes on to explain how he sought to get them to reach beyond their usual routine and in doing so enrich his own performance, in the same way that Steve Gadd and some of his usual crew do. The DVD switches from interviews with both artists and others, music videos, live performances, and documentary footage about the tour that supported this work. Most of the film footage is well done though some of the live stuff sounds great but is a bit contrasty and over-exposed. But all-in-all, this is a satisfying DVD if you have grown as Di Meola has grown, have kept up with his changes, and can find something in the world music scene. If you are expecting 'electric Al', you need to join the present or be disappointed. Artists like Al Dimeola and Leonid Aguta have a lot more to say and a great deal of sophistication in the way they say it.

まずは基本情報から。このDVDはドイツ製のPal-DVDなので日本の普通のDVDプレーヤーで再生できません。テレビで見るためにはDVDマルチ・プレーヤーか必要です。今は安いマルチ・プレーヤーもあるので、これを機に購入してもよいでしょうが、その価値があるかどうか。 アル・ディ・メオラとレオニード・アグーチンの「コスモポリタン・ライフ」のライヴ映像盤という触れ込みだが、インタヴュー、ビデオ・クリップ、モントルー・ジャズ・フェスティヴァルのライヴと雑多な素材が収録されている。日本人向けの商品ではないので、インタヴューに日本語字幕はない。英語が苦手な人には向かないかも。モントルー・ジャズ・フェスティヴァルのライヴ映像は画質が悪く、いまどきブートレグでもこれほど画質の悪いDVDは稀だろう。本当にモントルー・ジャズ・フェスティヴァルが許可したのだろうか。とはいえ音はそれほど悪くないので、目を閉じて演奏に集中すれば、アル・ディ・メオラの超絶技巧を堪能できる。いっそ音だけのCDを作ってもらった方がありがたい。「コスモポリタン・ライフ」のビデオ・クリップも面白い。パーカッションが打ち鳴らされ、女性ダンサーが身体を揺らす、暑苦しく、汗ばむような空間をアル・ディ・メオラの熱気の束のようなギターが貫通する。近年はアコースティック・ギターやギター・シンセサイザーを弾くことが多く、ディ・メオラのギターはかつての熱を失ったように見えるが、ここでは70年代の熱を取り戻したかのようだ。たまにはこういうのもいいよね。 見どころは少なくないが、Cosmopolitan Lifeのファンで、すでにDVDマルチ・プレーヤーを持っている人にしか勧められない。★二つ。

残念でした 内容に がつかりです！今までのが アル様の 最高の ものばかり 見ているので、こんかいのは 残念ながらです！