Matteo Mancuso

Matteo Mancuso, a guitarist born in Palermo, Sicily, channels an array of influences through his instrument while centering his work in jazz and rock. He launched his professional career at twelve, then enrolled five years afterward at the Palermo Conservatory of Music, where he completed a jazz guitar degree. Mancuso performs on a Yamaha Revstar RS720B electric model and forgoes a plectrum, instead striking the strings with his index finger and plucking them with his middle finger in the manner of classical technique.

He contributed to Virgil Donati’s 2019 release Ruination. Two years later the guitarist assembled a trio featuring bassist Stefano India and drummer Giuseppe Bruno; to announce the group he posted their reading of Jaco Pastorius’ “Havona” on YouTube, where the performance earned widespread international notice for its “killer lineup” and has accumulated nearly one million views.

In 2022 Al Di Meola asked Mancuso to share the stage at the Eddie Lang Jazz Festival in Monteroduni, Italy; the pair delivered acoustic versions of Chick Corea’s “Spain” and Di Meola’s “Elegant Gypsy.” Di Meola subsequently described him as “An absolute talent; his improvisational ability is light years ahead.” Steve Vai labeled Mancuso “the evolution of the guitar,” while Tosin Abasi and Joe Bonamassa each hailed him as the future of technically advanced guitar playing, with Bonamassa adding that he had not encountered such a reinvention of the instrument since Stanley Jordan emerged decades earlier.

Later the same year Mancuso and keyboardist Luca Zabbini of Barock appeared with the historic Italian prog-rock ensemble Premiata Forneria Marconi at Estival in Lugano, delivering a set that brought the house down; the concert was documented on the May 2023 album The Event (Live in Lugano Estival Jazz). That July Mascot Group issued his debut studio album The Journey, which spotlighted the trio alongside invited guests. Mancuso’s father Vincenzo co-wrote two pieces with his son and joined him on acoustic guitar for those tracks. The nine-song collection, captured across four years, draws from several idioms comfortably placed beneath the electric-jazz banner. Mancuso has stated that he identifies neither as a shredder nor strictly as a jazz musician, preferring instead to remain open-minded in his approach. The album received unanimous praise across the United States, Europe, and Japan, and Mancuso earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album as well as Guitar World’s Best New Guitarist award.