Italian jazz guitarist Antonio Forcione once more brings his quartet to the Fringe, but this year with a slight change in line-up. He still has Jenny Adejayan from England on cello and Adriano Adewale from Brazil on percussion, with the addition of Nathan Thompson on double bass who was a guest musician at last year's Fringe show.
Forcione plays a different set from last year, with numbers from several of his albums. Whilst all are impressive to hear, he is at his most entertaining when he is playing off the audience or the other musicians, or when he is showing off his unusual techniques for getting an amazing range of sounds out of an acoustic guitar, all done with a great deal of humour, and perhaps a little showing off. He duets on a lovely ballad with Adejayan in which he plays mostly by hitting rather than plucking the strings, followed by a more competitive duet - perhaps even a duel - with Adewale that ends with them hitting one another's instruments.
The other musicians are all excellent as ever. Adewale's range of 'instruments' is still growing; this time he even rips newspaper in front of a microphone during one number. There is effective but subtle lighting throughout the show, and the sound is very good apart from a lack of clarity at the lower end when they are all playing together, but no doubt this will be sorted out during the run.
Forcione produces some very good music recordings, but he is very much a live performer and has a great rapport with an audience and with the other musicians on stage. His show is always a must for music fans at the Fringe, and this year is no exception.