Julien & John: Street Life review - both easy to listen to and satisfyingly complex

Guitarists tend to like one another’s company, a curious penchant not often shared by other instrumentalists, and the guitar duo has a long and noble history in jazz.

The back and forth of chords and melody, the seamless transitions from one solo to the next, the contrasting styles of two different guitarists – it all makes for a sound that is both easy to listen to and satisfyingly complex.

Dublin guitar duo Julien Colarossi and John Keogh met in Newpark Music Centre and began working up a duo repertoire to play in restaurants for money.

However, this jaunty set of contemporary standards – from the Crusaders’ title track to favourites by everybody from Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan to Coldplay and Keane – is worth putting down the knife and fork and really listening to.

[ julienandjohn.com ]