L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 6 A l Di Meola grew up hearing the name of an Italian village: Cerreto Sannita, in Benevento province. And it continues to resonate in him like a guitar on reverb. A few days ago, I met the jazz fusion and world music guitar master at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Milano, where he had a wonderful show with two other virtuosos, Sardinian guitarist Peo Alfonsi and accordion player Fausto Beccalossi. It was a concert that expertly spanned through a range of emotions and energy levels. It shouldn't come as a sur- prise at all — Al Di Meola holds the record for most guitar awards given to any guitarist in history. Born in Jersey City in 1954, he grew up in an Italian household. "I was always proud to have Italian blood in me. The Italians were always the cool people," he says. "My dad was not well versed in languages. He didn't know how to communicate my cultural identity. He had 13 brothers and sisters, a big Italian family. He worked with his hands, a builder. I miss him every day." Al's grandfather came from Cerreto Sannita, a town known for its time-honored tradition of Baroque-style porcelain. Posi- tioned on a hill in the high valley of Titerno on the slopes of the Matese Mountains, the town was rebuilt in record time after a dev- astating earthquake leveled it in 1688.  "Last summer I visited Cerre- to for the first time," says Di Meola. "After our San Carlo Opera House performance in Napoli, my wife organized a trip to my grandfather's village. We met a lot of relatives — it seemed half the little village were Di Meolas. I was overcome with emotion. Mayor Giovanni Parente, all the town council, people and relatives greeted us as if a long lost relative finally came home, some kind of hero's welcome much to my shocking surprise! Very memorable and touching!" On last June 5, the great gui- tarist and his wife Stephanie became honorary citizens of Cerreto. "We got citizenship, now we need an Italian pass- port," he says with a smile. "They took me to my grandfa- ther's house. They knew exactly where it was. They showed us the church he went to and we have pictures of the door he left behind as he headed for a new life in the United States," he says with great emotion. "I heard the stories of Cerreto all my life from my dad," he says. Hearing those stories, Al was inspired to write a new com- position called "Cerreto Sannita" that will be on his upcoming album "Opus," set for release early next year. Al played the piece in Milano, a festive com- position of heartfelt gratitude. But Di Meola never met his grandfather. "He died right before I was born, and my grandmother too." "My nonno left Italy in the early 1900s. He arrived at Ellis Island at the mouth of the Hud- son River between New York and New Jersey. He didn't travel further," he recalls. "He settled in nearby Bayonne, New Jersey. Italian immigrants were so poor those times. They had to strug- gle to get ahead. There was a class war, so Italians very much wanted to become American- ized. They didn't keep their names. My father's name Carlo became Charles. They empha- sized the need to learn English instead of Italian. Today is dif- ferent: if you come from Italy you want your children to speak Italian," he says. "But in fact, now we see that Italian-Ameri- cans contributed so much to the growth of America in each field." Di Meola's mother also came from the Campania region. "I forget the name of the small vil- MARIELLA RADAELLI Virtuoso guitarist and composer Al Di Meola: Italian roots reverberate lage. It is near Napoli, something with a P," he says. "My mother was born in Italy and raised by relatives until the age of 13, when she left for the States. She lost her mother when she was very little. My mum had no pic- ture of her mother." The Italian-American guitar virtuoso said that the Di Meolas in Cerreto Sannita were famous during his great-grandfather's time as fireworks manufacturers. "My great-grandfather owned the largest manufacturing plant for fireworks in the south of Italy. But one day his factory blew up. He was put in a big barrel of oil to recover, but he couldn't make it.  He died from the blast injuries." Al's new CD "Opus" contains many in-depth compositions inspired by his current state of mind. "I am happy now while my normal state of mind was to be miserable and depressed," he says. "I have a new family. My wife is here with me and we have a beautiful baby girl named Ava. We have love in our life that is the master key opening the gates of happiness," he says. "My wife is also part of the team. She has a lot of creative ideas. We are planning to do a collection of lul- labies from around the world in combination with a book that collects the story behind each one." "Ava's Dream Sequence Lul- laby,", a composition dedicated to his baby girl, will be the standout piece on the new record of world's lullabies, unique and universal at the same time.  Al Di Meola's heritage is all Italian: his father's family comes from Cerreto Sannita NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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