Matteo Mancuso: the new song is a tribute to Paul Gilbert

The young guitar prodigy Matthew Mancuso (from Palermo, born in 1996), who boasts fans among the guitar greats such as Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa and Dweezil Zappa, has released a new song in honor of Paul Gilbert (founding guitarist of Mr. Big).

The track, aptly titled “Paul Position,” is the Sicilian guitarist’s first solo release since his acclaimed debut album “The Journey” published in July 2023.

Matteo says he wrote the song “a few days after receiving a wonderful baritone guitar from Bacci.” Bacci Guitars is based in Tuscany and Bruno Bacci, the luthier and owner, has already built guitars for Mark Lettieri (Member of Snarky Puppy and five-time Grammy winner) and Cory Wong.

The song features a blues-fusion solo marked by the influence that Paul Gilbert has on the young Sicilian guitarist, by his own admission.

“I was inspired by one of my favorite musicians, Paul Gilbert,” Mancuso said, adding, “You may recognize some of his signature pieces in the solo section.”

The guitarist mixes fusion, rock, flamenco, classical and blues, with a finger-picking approach strongly influenced by Jeff Beck, Lenny Breau and Phil deGruy.

Mancuso made himself known on YouTube and, after an intense live activity (also international), he released “The Journey”, his debut album with which he reached the general public and earned him further compliments from many other guitarists.

Among his long-time fans are Steve Vaiwho said of him “the evolution of the guitar is firmly in his hands”, To Di Meola (“he is light years ahead of his colleagues”) and Joe Bonamassa who praised him by saying that “I haven’t heard anyone reinvent himself like this since Stanley Jordan.”

Since then, he has graced the covers of Guitar Techniques and Total Guitar magazines, the former even calling him “the sexiest guitarist on the planet.”

This is not the first time that Mancuso has paid homage to one of his guitar heroes with an original composition. Speaking with Guitar Player Late last year, he revealed that his song, “Blues For John,” from his debut album, is a tribute to John McLaughlin.

“John McLaughlin is a perfect example of how to mix technique and beautiful compositions,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite tracks on the album, because the solo section tells my story of the blues through the guitar, starting from the clean bebop of Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery and George Benson, and then moving on to the more blues-rock players like Joe Bonamassa and Eric Johnson, with distortion tones.”