Two guitars in motion: “Mediterranean Sundance / Rio Ancho” at ROYCO

A duet inside a trio album

Friday Night in San Francisco is remembered as a trio album, but its opening track belongs to Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucía alone. The album rotates through three duos before the full trio appears later. Heard on its own terms, “Mediterranean Sundance / Rio Ancho” is one long exchange between two players.¹

Each half of the title brings one guitarist’s material into the encounter. Listen for continuity across the join rather than waiting for a hard border: the musical interest lies in how pulse, line and accent pass between two players without losing momentum.

The performance was recorded at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco on 5 December 1980. This session used Impex’s 2017 IMP6029 edition, a numbered, all-analog 33⅓-rpm pressing mastered by Bernie Grundman and Bob Donnelly from the original analog tapes.²

From disc player to Stradivari

At ROYCO, a McIntosh MCD12000 SACD/CD player fed a C12000 preamplifier and MC3500 MK II monoblock tube power amplifiers. The loudspeakers were Sonus faber Stradivari G2 floorstanders, with AudioQuest cabling.

McIntosh gives both the MCD12000 and the two-chassis C12000 separate tube and solid-state analogue stages. The MC3500 Mk II monoblocks use the company’s Unity Coupled output transformer and are rated at 350 watts into 2, 4 or 8 ohms.³⁴⁵

Recorded from the listening position

HFI recorded the session at ROYCO in Seoul on 4 November 2025 with DPA-4011 microphones and a Zoom F8n Pro, using Vertere microphone cables. The production format was 192 kHz/32-bit float, with Sennheiser HD820 headphones used during the recording workflow.

HFI positioned the matched microphone pair precisely for the sweet-spot sound, using a laser distance meter to set their distance from the loudspeakers. The camera shows the system; the microphones preserve its meeting with the room.

Follow a two-person conversation

Start with the hand-offs. Follow how rapid pick attacks move from one player to the other, then listen past each initial transient to the quieter body resonances and decays. When both parts become busy, stay with the shared pulse rather than only the louder guitar.

On another pass, choose one line and keep it in view as the other player changes role around it. The invitation is simple: follow the give-and-take and enjoy the way two distinct musical languages find common time.