Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing an amazing guitar duo for the first time…  Andreas Kapsalis and Goran Ivanovic hail from Chicago, and they describe themselves thusly :

“A guitar duo that not only celebrate the tradition of guitar performance of the old and the current rapport, but also as composers they are a part of a movement in the states whose aim is to build the new repertoire for the next generation of guitar players.”

The only thing that I knew about the duo going into the show was that Ivanovic leads the Balkan jazz-fusion group Eastern Blok, and that I could expect “Lotsa notes”.  No doubt, there were many, many notes!  Both players have chops to spare, and their compositions are full of dazzling physicality…  Kapsalis attacked the steel-string, often ripping into complex tapping patterns or playing the guitar body percussively.  Ivanovic’s nylon string playing was only slightly more traditional, very melodic, and extremely fast when it needed to be.  Both men are virtuosos in every sense, but I felt that the musical ideas, though complex, were very strong.  This was far from being flashy for the sake of flash, and I was able to get a couple videos toward the end of their set.  Check them out below!

You can catch Kapsalis and Ivanovic on tour right now, or pick up their eponymous debut album.

Visit the Andreas Kapsalis & Goran Ivanovic Guitar Duo website
Check them out on Myspace