Matteo Mancuso’s Trio Hits Hard on Solar Wind with Steve Vai as Riccardo Oliva Leads the Low End

Matteo Mancuso just dropped the official video for “Solar Wind,” the opener from his upcoming album Route 96, and yeah, it rips.  Steve Vai shows up with a featured solo that feels right at home in Mancuso’s world, but let’s talk about what’s happening underneath.  Riccardo Oliva is playing one of the new Ibanez 6 string basses here, and he puts the whole range to work. Tight with Gianluca Pellerito, super locked, no wasted motion. It is one of those performances where the bass is doing a ton of heavy lifting without calling attention to itself.

The low end stays clean even when things get busy, and those upper register touches sneak in just enough to track the harmony without stepping on the guitars.

This one gets wild and you should check it out.