By Paul Acquaro

Oh, acoustic guitar duo, how my heart beats for thee! DeSalvo and Minasi are a great pair on Soldano Dieci Anni, both performing on either unamplified archtop guitar or acoustic (classical and steel string) guitar. They split the responsibilities, supporting each other, and creating space for stretching out, sometimes freely, and other times within well-defined chord structures.

Starting with the ‘Bee and the Fly’, a free and playful number that never loses steam, the pair moves from jabs of chords, to frenetic runs, to lush arpeggios, all without losing a beat – or rather it would be more appropriate to say – never losing the pulse. The tight number ‘Angela’ is a lovely mid-tempo ballad, buoyant and easy-breathing, with crisp solos from both (the vocals caught by the ambient recording are a tiny bit distracting, but also endearing).

Even at their most out, you can trust in the capable hands of DeSalvo and Minasi to deliver a captivating performance.