Matteo Mancuso, the young Sicilian guitar virtuoso who’s been traversing music genres while expanding his fan base (not least with established global names), has a new album coming out via Music Theories Recordings on 24th April titled Route 96.
2023’s debut album, The Journey, caught the attention of Al Di Meola, Tosin Abasi, Dweezil Zappa and Steve Vai among others. Now the latter guests on Route 96, and it was he who recommended the album be recorded at a 96kHz audio sample rate. Those numbers also tally with Mancuso’s own birth date, and that’s how the album’s title came about.
Other guests include Valeriy Stepanov and gypsy jazz icon Antoine Boyer, who can be seen below here at RAMzine on the official video for ‘Isla Feliz’ with Mancuso.
Talking about the track, Mancuso said: “This is the first official video from my upcoming album Route 96. ‘Isla Feliz’ is the first tune I wrote for the new record. I wanted to write something Latin-influenced using classical guitar, but I ended up using distortion as well. I had the privilege to collaborate with one of the most talented and brilliant players we have in our galaxy, Mr. Antoine Boyer!
“We really had a great time together, and his contribution to the piece completely changed the tune in a wonderful way! Thank you so much, Antoine, for your amazing work! Thank you as always to my groove overlords Gianluca Pellerito and Riccardo Oliva.
“As you can see in the official video, we had the opportunity to shoot at this beautiful location, Real Teatro Santa Cecilia in Palermo. A huge thank you to Fondazione Orchestra Jazz Siciliana, Presidente Ignazio Garsia, Direttore artistico Luca Luzzu, Real Teatro Santa Cecilia and Direttore Fabio Lannino. Thank you also to my fellow video makers Filippo Silvestris and Pierluigi Ferrandini.”
Accolades for Mancuso’s debut The Journey included such descriptions as “the young guitarist redefining virtuosity.” Three years later, and now 29, fitting in the recording of his sophomore album wasn’t easy.
“I had to squeeze it all into 2025,” he explained. “Everything you hear on the album was recorded last year. It was so much faster, and I think it was for the best, because the album came out more homogeneous and uniform. Every tune is different, of course, but there are also some sonic qualities that are very similar.”
Mancuso also noted how this ended up working well for his immediate future plans. “This album has come at the right time. I want to have a busy 2026 in terms of tours, but I don’t want to perform the songs from the debut album. I wanted something newer and fresher. These ideas are more original and melodically stronger. There are more explorations, harmonically speaking. I think it shows who I am musically a lot better.”
Route 96‘s concepts are said to be more orchestrated and developed, yet not lacking in creativity. Recorded at Fico D’India Studios in Casteldaccia, Italy, it was produced by Matteo along with his father Vincenzo Mancuso and features Riccardo Oliva on bass and Gianluca Pellerito on drums, alongside its various guests.
Tracks on Route 96 are: ‘Solar Wind’ featuring Steve Vai, ‘Fire And Harmony’, ‘Isla Feliz’ featuring Antoine Boyer, ‘L.A. Blues One’, ‘The Great Wall’, ‘Warm Sunset’, ‘Black Centurion’, ‘In The Morning Light’, and as bonus track ‘The Chicken’ featuring Valeriy Stepanov.
“I think I know myself better musically thanks to this album,” the guitarist commented. “I did go through a process of eliminating things, and through that I realised more about the things I liked best about the music I compose and hear. The first album was made when I was studying a lot of things. Now I study less but listen more to just the music that attracts me. Route 96 is a more honest-sounding record, I would say.”
MATTEO MANCUSO UK LIVE DATES
13 May – Glasgow – Oran Mor
14 May – London – Islington Assembly Hall
