Music: Friday Night in San Francisco
Three greats, trying to out-do each other, left us with some great recordings. I just wish that HD video existed in 1980...
There are some events in life that are just so seminal, so defining, that you will remember to your last days them in exquisite detail.
In this case, a high school friend, Ken Rice, pulled out an LP and placed it on his turntable and dropped the needle.
The album was “Friday Night in San Francisco”, a recording of a performance by three titans, Paco DeLucia, Al DiMeola, and John McLaughlin, playing in the Flamenco style. Recorded at The Warfield in 1980, it was a special evening. Prior to this day I knew absolutely nada about Flamenco, Spanish guitar, and any of these blokes.
That changed forever on that night. I went on to collect almost all of the Al DiMeola recordings, as well as a smattering of flamenco music.
The recording sounds like it was a small and intimate venue, just three men letting it all hang out.
Below is a video from this performance, Mediterranean Sundance, about 11 minutes of killer jams:
Since the sound quality of the video is not awesome, here is a recording from the album I heard that fateful evening.
I was giving a lecture in Budapest and heard about these 3 playing their “Friday Night in San Francisco” at an outdoor arena. We got there too late but were told there would be, due to popular demand, a second show. We lucked out and got 3rd row center seats and the rest was pure musical bliss. That was around 25 years ago.
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I had the same experience hearing a cut on a local public radio station in rural Iowa. I had to order the album as record stores in rural Iowa only carried country and rock music. I even shelled out for the half-speed master. Still play it today, with all the audiophile precautions.