Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia – Saturday Night In San Francisco (LP, Impex)

There is probably no one who is passionate about guitar music who does not know the legendary and many times re-released album “Friday Night in San Francisco”. Three guitar virtuosos play live and with stunning acoustic qualities. What hardly anyone knows: the following Saturday there were two more concerts with the same cast, which were also recorded, but at which an almost completely different set was played. In 1980, a master was created from the two concerts with countless cuts, which was never published. It was Al Di Meola’s management who later recalled that the band still existed. But after initial research, disappointment spread. The master had not been stored well and was actually unusable. But Abey Fonn, the US producer for Impex Records, wasn’t discouraged. What was heard on the tapes was just too good, despite all the obstacles. One thing was immediately clear: “Saturday night” was even better than the legendary Friday. Instead of using the poorly stored master, Fonn used the analog 16-track recordings of the actual concerts for the release. These weren’t in great condition either, but could be cleaned up at Skywalker Sound in Marine County, California. Then the task was to create a mix from the two concerts. Katsu Naito & Roy Hendrickson were hired for this. The former had already edited “Friday Night in San Francisco” and knew exactly what he had been looking for more than 40 years ago. Artistically, the assessment of Al di Meola was decisive. The perfectionist just doesn’t like mistakes, while John McLaughlin sees them more as part of the live atmosphere.