Three legendary guitar players convened to create one of the best acoustic guitar performances ever recorded. Bernie Grundman who originally mastered this masterpiece goes back to the Original Master Tapes for the full 45rpm audiophile treatment on this Original Recordings Group reissue. Pressed at RTI on 180g vinyl and spread over two LP's this never sounded better and will put you right there in the audience!

Featured in Vinyl Gourmet Audiophile TOP 100

• Numbered Limited Edition
• Only 5000 Units Available Worldwide
• Deluxe Laminated Gatefold Cover
• Double LP Audiophile Vinyl 180gr 45rpm
• Pressed at RTI in the USA
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman
• Cut from the Original Analog Master Tapes

Described by jazz author and critic Walter Kolosky as "a musical event that could be compared to the Benny Goodman Band's performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938...it may be considered the most influential of all live acoustic guitar albums." All the tracks except Guardian Angel were recorded live at The Warfield Theatre on December 5, 1980 in San Francisco. This debut recording on Columbia Records became a landmark recording that surpassed the two million mark in sales. The three virtuosos in the Trio toured together from 1980 through 1983.

Ah the Mediterranean... Filled with fine foods, wines, beautiful people, and the inspirational style of music that descended upon the able fingers of these guitar giants. This is by far one of the hottest guitar albums ever to bless sweet vinyl. Al Dimeola, John McLaughlin, & Paco Delucia play classical guitars (the kind with the nylon strings) in a flamenco / jazz style that will blow your socks off! Recorded live in concert in San Francisco this album has spectacular sonics and musicianship to boot!

Paco de Lucia was a Spanish flamenco guitarist, composer and producer. A leading proponent of the New Flamenco style, he helped legitimize flamenco among the establishment in Spain, and was one of the first flamenco guitarists to have successfully crossed over into other genres of music such as classical and jazz. De Lucia was noted for his fast and fluent fingerstyle runs. His collaborations with guitarists John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola saw him gain wider popularity outside his native Spain.

Al Di Meola is an acclaimed jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist, composer, and record producer. 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. Albums such as Friday Night In San Francisco have earned him both artistic and commercial success with a solid fan base throughout the world. A prolific composer and prodigious six-string talent, Di Meola has amassed over 20 albums as a leader while collaborating on a dozen or so others.

John McLaughlin is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer. His music includes many genres of jazz and rock, which he coupled with an interest in Indian classical music to become one of the pioneering figures in fusion. In 2010, guitarist Jeff Beck called him "the best guitarist alive." In 2003, McLaughlin was ranked 49th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." After contributing to several key British groups of the early sixties and making his first solo record, he moved to the US where he played with Tony Williams' group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his landmark electric-jazz fusion albums: In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, A Tribute To Jack Johnson and On The Corner.

"Friday Night in San Francisco may be considered the most influential of all live acoustic guitar albums... the recording certainly captures the excitement of the event itself. In a world of electric guitars, it was quite unusual to hear a crowd go absolutely ballistic over acoustic strumming. It is not so unusual today, and this record is one major reason for that." - All About Jazz

"Wildly popular in its day and a favorite audiophile demo disc... The liner notes identify each player as being placed at left, right, or center channel... ORG's Bernie Grundman mastered 45rpm edition on 180-gram vinyl explodes with life and energy. The hall acoustic is wide and deep, notably apparent when the enthused audience shouts and claps its appreciation, and the trio's nylon-stringed instruments are vivid and sharply focused, with a notably realistic dynamic range - from quietly picked arpeggios to lightning-strike string snaps - and halos of reverberant air surrounding them. Grundman's mastering brings out new levels of detail, presence, transient speed, and texture, adding even more thrills to the musical interplay and artistry of this extraordinary trio." - Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound

Track Listing:

1. Mediterranean Sundance/Rio Ancho
2. Short Tales of the Black Forest
3. Frevo Rasgado
4. Fantasia Suite
5. Guardian Angel

"10 out of 10 stars for Music! 10 out of 10 stars for Sound!"

Click here to read the review from the Vinyl Gourmet Blog

Click here to listen to samples on AllMusic.com ♫