Al Di Meola on November 5th at the Jazz Fest in Sarajevo

Al Di Meola, a brilliant virtuoso, guitar legend and by general consensus one of the greatest guitar heroes of the last few decades, will perform at the 19th Jazz Fest Sarajevo 2015, reports the Patria news agency.

In a rich career spanning four decades, Di Meola left a significant mark on the scene from the very beginning. At just 19 years old, Chick Corea invited him to join his ensemble Return to Forever, with which he won a Grammy Award for Best Group Performance as early as 1975. He performs and collaborates with some of the greatest artists of his time, explores different styles, and building a unique style becomes recognizable in the field of so-called jazz rock fusion.

His discography consists of dozens of albums. The solo album Elegant Gypsy, the second album Di Meola released in his career, back in 1977, has cult status and is considered one of the most influential albums ever. As a member of the legendary trio with Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin, he recorded one of the most important guitar live albums, sold in multi-million copies.

At the Sarajevo concert, Di Meola will perform on November 5th at the Bosnian Cultural Center in a trio with Italian guitarist Peo Alfonsi and Hungarian drummer and percussionist Peter Kaszas. Together, in an acoustic variant, they will present the repertoire of Di Meola's current album Elysium, as well as compositions from previous albums.

The complete program of the 19th Jazz Fest will be announced next week. So far, it has been announced that the festival will open on November 3rd with the trio of pianist Tigran Hamasyan, on November 7th vocalist and another Grammy Award winner Kurt Elling will perform, while the ensemble of Sarajevo artist Vlado Džihan – Edgar Tones & The Su’sis with Big Band, on November 8th, will close this year's Sarajevo jazz week. So-called early bird tickets will go on sale soon.