Matteo Mancuso is a virtuoso guitar man from Palermo who’s been making a name in the music business, certainly since the release of his 2023 album The Journey, with his fluid style of playing and his ability to create sounds with six strings. He’s a multi-faceted guitarist, acoustic or electric, with a style which encompasses jazz fusion, classical and rock, and his talent for one so young, he’s only 29, has put him up there with the big boys. Al Di Meola states his improvisational ability is light years ahead, how the hell did he get to be so good so young? And Joe Bonamassa says I’ve never seen anything like it. He’s the most versatile I’ve ever seen.
On this new album, Mancuso’s joined by some stellar names who’re firm believers in his talent. Opening track ‘Solar Wind‘ sees him joined by Grammy award winner Steve Vai, described by many as the guitar virtuoso’s virtuoso, and while it’s a proven fact the best musicians conjoining don’t necessarily produce the best music, these two guitarists gel and complement each other’s styles, with the result being a fast paced piece with touches of jazz and hard rock and a lot of very stylish playing.
His playing is infused with jazzy overtones, as on tracks like ‘In The Morning Light‘, ‘Warm Sunset‘ and ‘The Great Wall‘, and even where, on the latter two tracks, he engages in some almost insanely fast runs, he actually plays the notes rather than shreds them. He’s also an amazingly good acoustic guitar player, as he demonstrates on ‘Isla Feliz‘ and ‘Fire & Harmony‘. His playing is fast and, though I’ve heard few acoustic guitarists who can play as fast as this, what he plays is a masterclass in technique.
But he’s not all about jazz. On ‘L.A. Blues One‘ and the classic rock sounding ‘Black Centurion‘, he shows, if required, he can guitar shred with the best of them, as both are riff based and sound like rock songs in need of lyrics, which certainly couldn’t be said of other tracks. The album closes with a bonus track, ‘The Chicken‘, featuring Valeriy Stepanov, whose keyboards help turn this song into something the Mahavishnu Orchestra might have done circa Birds Of Fire. On this track Riccardo Oliva and Gianluca Pellerito, bass and drums, get their turn to shine, and it’s a big shout out to both men for being able to lay down a rhythm section capable of keeping up with Mancuso’s guitar.
What Matteo Mancuso does, and how he does it, isn’t for everyone, and it’s easy to see why some regard his playing as sterile, but for anyone who appreciates top class guitar playing in the vein of Steve Vai, Route 96 is worth checking out.
