O.C. JAZZ REVIEW : Al DiMeola Is Home on Wide Range

Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, some musicians harbor dual identities, playing reserved acoustic sets one day and shrieking electric gigs the next. Since breaking into view back in the 1970s with Chick Corea’s fusion project, Return To Forever, guitarist Al DiMeola has been known to exhibit both personalities.

This duality is reflected in his current releases: the tango-flavored “World Sinfonia” from an acoustic group (seen at the Coach House last October), and the “Kiss My Axe” recording (dedicated, DiMeola announced from the stage at the Coach House on Saturday night, to “all those Yuppie radio stations out there”) from the plugged-in Al DiMeola Project.

But DiMeola blurred the electric-acoustic distinction Saturday in a long set pulled almost entirely from the “Axe” recording. While other musicians, such as DiMeola’s old boss Corea--who dubs his two ensembles “Elektric” and “Akoustic”--keep these dual natures distinct from one another, the guitarist and his quintet of backup musicians proved that both coexist in the same world.

Backed by two keyboards, bass, drums and percussion, DiMeola, wielding his solid-body electric guitar, opened with the in-your-face title tune from the “Axe” album, running through the kind of fleet phrases built of clipped notes that won him a reputation among fellow guitarists as one of the instrument’s speediest practitioners. The tune then backed off from its heated beginnings through a series of rhythmic and chordal changes before building again to a sizzling climax.

From there, the guitarist switched to a hollow-bodied electric instrument and a more natural sound for “Purple Orchids,” a tune whose Latin-flavored theme alternated with a strong, double-time backbeat before swinging into a reggae-influenced riff.

The layering of synthesizer tones provided by keyboardists Rachel Z and Barry Miles coupled with a variety of percussive colors from Gumbi Ortiz (who plays with the Sinfonia as well) and drummer Richie Morales brought depth to the piece, while the constant series of modulations generated contrast.

Bassist Tony Scherr moved from electric to upright bass for DiMeola’s moody “Morocco,” a series of shifting landscapes that the guitarist, this time on amplified acoustic guitar, decorated with long, accelerating lines that, regardless of speed, still held melodic content. Morales turned to his brushes to add a sweeping backdrop to Miles’ piping synthesizer tones before the tune expanded into a vigorous statement capped with DiMeola’s two-fisted chords.

Most of the other tunes, with the exception of the quiet, childlike ballad “Oriana,” followed the same general pattern of shifting tempos and dynamics, never dwelling too long in one place or falling into endless riffing. The same kind of interest that DiMeola brings to his compositions also applies to his playing, with an ever-changing array of ideas and melodic variations.

Most of his improvisations were short and to the point. Just as you expected him to let fly with an extended statement, rhythmic or harmonic changes in the music would cut him short, and as the evening wore on, one couldn’t help but hope for some kind of extended riff that would let the guitarist really soar.

That moment came during the encore, when DiMeola steamed through what is probably his best known exercise, “Race With the Devil.” His blistering theme statement and improvisation brought a host of air-guitar players in the crowd to their feet to mimic his licks, and garnered a wild ovation that continued through much of the number. Even then, DiMeola contrasted the fiery passages with less hectic dance figures that brought balance to the piece. Even at his hottest, the guitarist showed his cool.