Alessio Menconi and Nigel Price Capture Intimate Guitar Dialogue on New Duo Album

Italian jazz guitarist Alessio Menconi joins forces with acclaimed UK guitarist Nigel Price for Duo, a new collaborative album arriving June 12, 2026 via Nervy Nigel Records.

Recorded during a brief pause in the pair’s 2025 touring schedule, the album documents an instinctive meeting between two highly expressive players whose shared language is rooted in melody, swing, and deep jazz tradition. Originally intended as an entirely acoustic session, the direction shifted the moment the musicians entered London’s Masterlink Studios and discovered two vintage 1963 Fender Bassman amplifiers waiting in the control room. The decision to plug in immediately reshaped the atmosphere of the recording, giving the album a warm, resonant electric tone while preserving the intimacy of a conversational duo setting.

The collection blends standards, original compositions, and tributes to jazz guitar icons including Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery, and Emily Remler. Across the record, Menconi and Price move fluidly between lyrical balladry and energetic interplay, balancing technical sophistication with spontaneity and emotional warmth.

Studio performances are complemented by two live recordings captured at the legendary The Bull's Head in Barnes, London. According to Price, additional live material was intended for the release, though an unintentional failure to hit record during the first set meant some performances disappeared forever into “the ether”—a fitting reminder of jazz’s ephemeral nature and the unrepeatable magic of live improvisation.

Tracks such as “She’s Leaving Home,” “Turn Out The Stars,” “Darn That Dream,” and “In A Sentimental Mood” showcase the pair’s ability to reinterpret familiar material with elegance and restraint, while originals including “Look To The Sky” and “Sweet Georgie Fame” reveal the duo’s shared affection for groove, melody, and nuanced harmonic storytelling.

Known for his prolific recording output and relentless touring schedule, Nigel Price has long been regarded as one of the UK jazz scene’s most consistent and dynamic guitarists. Menconi, meanwhile, brings decades of international experience and fluid virtuosity shaped by both straight-ahead jazz and contemporary European influences. Together, they create a recording defined less by showmanship than by attentive listening, trust, and the subtle intensity of two musicians fully engaged in dialogue.

Duo arrives as a richly textured and deeply personal guitar record—one that captures not only technical mastery, but the fleeting chemistry that makes improvised music so enduring.