It was a night all about second chances for Al DiMeola. Closing in on 50 years in the music business and a recent health scare had Al in a reflective mood this past Saturday night in Hudson Falls NY. The packed venue listened intently as Al spoke of his heart attack last fall, and how that inspired him to bring his 70’s classics back out again. That inspiration also carried over into his writing, as he has a double CD set for a July release

DiMeola was joined by keyboardist Phillip Saice on keyboards, Gumbi Ortiz on percussion, Luis Alicea on drums and Elias Tona on bass. The band was cooking, smiling and interacting with each other, and the crowd loved every minute. The band played two sets with a short intermission in between. DiMeola classics such as; “Elegant Gypsy Suite�, “Casino�, and “Dark Eye Tango�. One of the big thrills was seeing Al return to his black Les Paul which he played for the entire show. After the break, Al did a short acoustic set and the band rejoined him to finish out the night. He played the RTF classic “Beyond The Seventh Galaxy� and in between many of the songs he spoke with the audience. We hear a great story about how he got the Chick Corea gig, and that his first performance with the band was at Carnegie Hall. There was no encore, but the night ended with a fiery version of “Race With The Devil on Spanish Highway�.

It was inspiring to hear Al talk about how fortunate he is, and he genuinely seemed thrilled to be playing these great songs once again. Don’t miss the opportunity to see this legend perform, it was an amazing show.