Al Marconi - Monument (1999)

Al Marconi had his first encounter with the guitar at the tender age of 13. It was his father's old Hofner electric guitar. For Al it was love at first touch and after a childhood of feasting on his fathers Shadows records Al knew exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life!

The path Al took began with prog and heavy rock and later thrash metal before eventually discovering the charms of classical music...in particular the lute suites of J S Bach where a love affair with the nylon strung guitar was born. This heralded a complete change of musical direction and for the next few years Al was to study his chosen instrument under his own esteem and with no formal musical education or tuition he was soon able to get the mastery of some of the more technically demanding exercises within the popular classical repertoire.

However it wasn't long before Al found himself becoming jaded and frustrated with the methodical and somewhat mechanical nature of much of the standard classical repertoire that restricted him from displaying the more passionate and fiery side of his musical temperament. Then one evening Al shared the stage with a guitar duo who were performing, among other things, some cover versions of the Gipsy Kings. From the instant he heard the rumba flamenco style Al was hooked. He immediately realised that this style would be the perfect vehicle for him to explore the more aggressive and dynamic side of his own playing. In the years that followed Al set about writing and recording his own original music in the rumba flamenco style which on his 1997 debut album ‘Equilibrium’ he fused with a more traditional classical approach that, at the time, he was still reluctant to let go of.

Following the relative success of ‘Equilibrium’ Al made the decision to concentrate on developing his creative and compositional skills recording only works of his own originality. The results of which were ‘Monument’ in 1999, ‘Esperanto’ in 2001, ‘Terra Nova’ in 2007, ‘Insomnia’ in 2011 and 'Alchemy' in 2015.

Over the years the development of modern technology and innovative software has allowed Al to explore new sounds and textures and to bring a more colourful and exotic sound palette into the equation resulting in a more world fusion influenced orientation.

Al has gone on to become one of the most highly acclaimed and internationally respected guitarists in the genre and enjoys a tremendous global following. He ranks among the UK’s top selling independent instrumental guitarists selling his recordings all over the world and he has performed from his home territory in the South West of England to as far a field as Peru and Mexico.