Young guitar prodigy Matteo Mancsuo, who has fans in many guitar greats including Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa, and Dweezil Zappa, has released a brand new song in honor of Paul Gilbert.
The aptly named Paul Position is the first solo release from the Sicilian guitarist since his critically acclaimed debut album, The Journey.
A tribute to Paul Gilbert’s tasteful shredding style, Gilbert's spirit oozes through the song's licks, but there are plenty of Mancuso's own peer-dazzling tricks on display.
He says he penned the song “some days after receiving this wonderful baritone guitar from Bacci.”
Bacci Guitars is based in Tuscany, Italy. The firm's luthier, Bruno Bacci, has previously built guitars for Mark Lettieri and Cory Wong.
Rightfully, Mancuso's made the most of the low end it provides with a Tosin Abasi-inspired chugging section that he executes with a bass-esque right-hand walking technique.
That section prefaces a razor-sharp blues-fusion solo where Mancuso leans further into Gilbert’s influence.
“I was inspired by one of my favorite players, Mr. Paul Gilbert,” Mancuso said, adding, “You may recognize some of his signature licks in the solo section.”
The guitarist silkily blends fusion, rock, flamenco, classical, and blues styles under his fingers – with his finger-picking approach heavily influenced by Jeff Beck, Lenny Breau, and Phil deGruy.
Mancuso first came to fame on YouTube and, since releasing The Journey, his stock has continued to rise.
Steve Vai said “the evolution of the guitar is firmly secure” in his hands. Al Di Meola said he is “light-years ahead” of his peers, while Joe Bonamassa reflected that he had “not seen anyone reinvent like this since Stanley Jordan.”
He has since graced the covers of Guitar Techniques and Total Guitar magazines, with the former hailing him as “the hottest guitarist on the planet.”
It's not the first time Mancuso has paid tribute to one of his guitar heroes with an original composition. Speaking to Guitar Player late last year, he revealed that his song, Blues For John, is a tribute to John McLaughlin.
“John McLaughlin is a perfect example of mixing technique with beautiful compositions,” he believes. “It is one of my favorite tunes on the album, because the solo section tells through guitar my story to the blues, starting from the bebop clean stuff of Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery, and George Benson, then moving into the more blues-rock players like Joe Bonamassa and Eric Johnson, with distortion tone.”
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