Odd how so many guitarists like playing together. Call it a mixture of bravado, ego, or an obsessive competitive streak, but in the best cases there’s a joint desire to reach a higher level of artistry. Four hands are not necessarily better than two, but that’s definitely the case here. Indeed it’s hard to imagine a more satisfying guitar duo. There are three good reasons why the Colonel (Emmanuel) and the Guv’nor (Taylor) make ideal partners: deep mutual respect, phenomenal skill – not many players for instance can voice ‘My Secret Love’ almost wholly in harmonics – and distinctive originality. Their finger style approaches are so different that it is easy to tell them apart.

Taylor is the jazzer, the merchant of deft chord-work and single-string lines that fizz through the changes with delicate fluency. Emmanuel is the Aussie acoustic-box virtuoso who straddles a wider world of folk, pop and world music, an all-rounder looking for the open-string power chords that make the whole instrument ring. Together they find common ground with high-class standards and originals that reach beyond jazz to a wider world of good music. Both swing everything from Irving Berlin to Don McLean with a vitality and confidence that made every track sound like a first-take. And to judge from their frequent grunts of encouragement and appreciation, they were having as much fun in the studio as you will have around the hi-fi.