Elegant Gypsy is the second album by American jazz fusion

Jazz fusion

Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...

 guitarist Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...

, released in 1977. It was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, Land of the Midnight Sun

Land of the Midnight Sun (album)

Land of the Midnight Sun is the first album by Al Di Meola, released in 1976. The complex pieces show Di Meola's range even at this early stage.-Track listing:#"The Wizard" – 6:46#"Land of the Midnight Sun"...

. The distinctive music in the album is a speedy fusion of jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, with lightning-fast guitar riffs intermixed with lyrical acoustical passages. The songs include explorations of Latin music themes, including acoustic genres like flamenco. Elegant Gypsy won an annual award for Best Guitar Album in Guitar Player Magazine

Guitar Player

Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...

.

Track listing

All songs by Al Di Meola unless otherwise noted.

1. "Flight Over Rio" (Mingo Lewis)
2. "Midnight Tango"
3. "Mediterranean Sundance
   Mediterranean Sundance
   "Mediterranean Sundance" is the third track on Elegant Gypsy , the second album by Al Di Meola who composed all of its songs. This piece and "Lady Of Rome, Sister Of Brazil", are the only two entirely acoustic tracks on the album...
   
   "
4. "Race With Devil on Spanish Highway"
5. "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil"
6. "Elegant Gypsy Suite"

Personnel

• Al Di Meola
  Al Di Meola
  Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
  
  : Electric guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Piano, Percussion.
• Paco de Lucía
  Paco de Lucía
  Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
  
  : Acoustic Guitar (track 3).
• Anthony Jackson: Bass guitar.
• Jan Hammer
  Jan Hammer
  Jan Hammer is a composer, pianist and keyboardist. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the popular 1980s...
  
  : Keyboards, synthesizer (tracks 1, 6).
• Mingo Lewis: Percussion, Keyboards, Synthesizer.
• Barry Miles (musician)
  Barry Miles (musician)
  Barry Miles is an American pianist, drummer, composer, producer, arranger and author.Miles was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey....
  
  : Piano, keyboards (tracks 2, 4).
• Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...
  
  : Drums (tracks 1, 6).
• Lenny White
  Lenny White
  Leonard White III, better known as Lenny White is an American jazz fusion drummer, who is best known for playing in Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:...
  
  : Drums (tracks 2, 4).