Martin Kolbe and Ralf Illenberger were considered the dream couple of the German acoustic guitar scene in the 70s and 80s. The label "Best German Guitar Duo" was slapped on them in their first year of collaboration and stuck with them until the duo's demise in 1987 – even though they always rejected this label. "Superlatives like 'the best,' 'the fastest,' or 'the strongest' can perhaps be used in sports. They have no place in art," they said in an interview.

Nevertheless, they can't deny that their music was unique and remains so to this day; neither before nor after them has there been a comparable sound or a similar approach to the concept of a "guitar duo." When two guitarists play together, they usually play solo/accompanist, often alternating roles. And—don't ask why this is the case with this instrument in particular—it often comes down to a competitive "faster, higher, further" approach, with one trying to outdo the other. Not so with Kolbe and Illenberger. "Our goal was always to create the most orchestral sound possible with two guitars. Who played what was rather secondary."

In the studio, they layered numerous guitar tracks and made full use of everything that studio technology of the time had to offer. Whether it was running individual melodic lines through the rotating speakers of a Leslie cabinet, recording some tracks at half or double speed, or using reversed sounds – the two approached their work with an unmistakable joy of playing and experimenting, but they never used the individual effects for their own sake. Instead, they always employed them in a way that served the arrangement and composition. And they remained remarkably stylistically and tastefully consistent. Speaking of style: How should this music be described? What genre does it belong to? "This question has been with us from the very beginning, and we never knew the answer. It's neither jazz nor folk, neither rock nor classical, although it contains elements of all of them. At some point, we simply said: It's just music."

The duo's critically acclaimed recordings were long out of print, despite a loyal fan base to this day. All the more reason to celebrate the release of "Essentials," a double CD compiled by the musicians themselves, following a few rather lackluster compilations. They carefully selected and remastered the tracks. While the album doesn't represent the duo's entire discography, it features the recordings they consider their most important. "The selection wasn't easy," they explain, "because we still stand behind every note we released back then, and each of our compositions holds a very special meaning for us. Fortunately, we didn't have to leave much out, as the extended playing time of two CDs allows us to document almost all of our collaborative studio work." The essentials, as the title suggests—and even a little more: The bonus track "Mittags im Hotel" (Midday at the Hotel) is a previously unreleased recording from the sessions for their second album, "Colouring the Leaves."

Detailed information at: www.kolbe-illenberger.com