Ryan Francesconi and Mirabai Peart @ Takk, Manchester, 19 May

Joanna Newsom fans will already know Ryan Francesconi – he's splashed all over the credits of her epic triple album Have One on Me, as arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, tambura, mandolin, kaval... the list is endless. Tonight, however, the polymath appears in his modest guitarist guise, with violinist Mirabai Peart, to promote their collaborative album Road to Palios, inspired by their recent trip around Lesbos.

There are 15 people in the audience, but as someone turns to me and asks, “Weren’t you at his gig in the Castle?”, it becomes clear that these are 15 dedicated people who keep coming back. Francesconi is humbly satisfied with his small crowd, filling the room with warm-hearted self-confidence. He plays songs from across his extensive back catalogue, with his previously exclusively guitar-oriented tracks – such as opener Parallel Flights – re-arranged to accommodate Peart.

The set veers from tranquil to intense, punctuated by Peart's searing fiddle crescendos, which shift into the speedy Pontic and on to the entrancing epic centrepiece Road to Palios. Like the folk raconteurs of old, Francesconi intersperses songs with benign and fondly recalled stories of his travels – his yarn about jamming with Greek street musicians introduces a blistering new song played on the tambura. The soft, familial snugness of Takk is the perfect setting for his tales, and for Francesconi and Peart, who are partners both musical and romantic. Their stage presence is one of calm intimacy radiating to members of the audience – who’ll be coming back. [James Hampson]