
The Barns at Wolf Trap will welcome a pair of virtuosic jazz performers, the dubt of a world-class bassoonist, and a Hawaiian music troupe this spring.
Al Di Meola
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Wednesday, April 3 at 8 pm
Thursday, April 4 at 8 pm
$40
Al Di Meola
Guitar legend Al Di Meola performs a worldly, eclectic blend of rock, flamenco, Middle Eastern, Brazilian, and African music with jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba at The Barns at Wolf Trap. Over the course of his career, the New Jersey native has sold over six million records and released 21 solo albums. He has collaborated with acclaimed musicians such as John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia from Super Guitar Trio and Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty from Rite of Strings. Di Meola made it big in 1974 as a member of the jazz fusion band Return to Forever, contributing to the group's three-time GRAMMY-winning success for the albums Where Have I Known You Before (1974), No Mystery (1975), and Romantic Warrior (1976). He now alternates between performing solo and at the helm of acoustic ensemble World Sinfonia. Di Meola's most recent project with World Sinfonia was the 2011 release of Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody.
Video: Al Di Meola - Race with Devil on Spanish Highway
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Cuban jazz pianist and composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba brings his Afro-Cuban influence and Old Havana sound to The Barns at Wolf Trap for the first time. Rubalcaba's industrious career has landed him 15 GRAMMY nominations and two GRAMMY Awards for his albums Nocturne (2001) and Land of the Sun (2004), both co-produced with bassist Charlie Haden. He is also the recipient of three Latin GRAMMY Awards for Solo (2006), Trio (2002), and Supernova (2002). In 2008, Rubalcaba was awarded the Vanguard Award by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. His most recent album, XXI Century (2012), demonstrates Rubalcaba's versatile style as he reinterprets original jazz arrangements, improvising post-bop and Cuban elements. Outside of Rubalcaba's own recreations, the record features collaborations with bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Marcus Gilmore, along with other notable musicians.