JAZZ GUITAR LIFE - Interview with Ryan Thorell of Thorell Guitars

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Frank Vignola Trio: Montreal International Jazz Festival – 2009 – Jazz Guitar Life Gig Review

Lyle Robinson | Aug 03, 2010

 

         Frank Vignola Trio

Frank Vignola Trio Show Review: Montreal International Jazz Festival – 2009

In my thirty plus years as a Guitarist, I have seen more than my share of great shows and even greater Guitar players. However, seeing the Frank Vignola Trio live has got to be one of the best shows I have ever seen. It had all the elements of a top notch performance, featuring great playing, tight arrangements, a charismatic and captivating rapport with the audience, and some old fashioned kibitzing that had the packed Place Des Arts venue both in stitches and in awe of the talented Trio.

The Trio, consisting of Frank Vignola on Guitar, Vinnie Raniolo on Rhythm Guitar (with the occasional solo), and Gary Mazzaroppi on Upright Bass took us back to an era that sadly, has been revisited by only a few of today’s top talent. It was an age that not only featured great music alongside some serious musicianship, but also, an age that took into account the value of high quality entertainment, engaging the audience musically, emotionally and physically. In this regard, the Frank Vignola Trio succeeded in spades.

Stylistically, Frank and the boys borrow from the zenith of Jazz, playing tunes by the likes of Django Reinhardt, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Eddie Lang, and Gershwin, alongside a few of the real “old school” cats like Georges Bizet, Bach, Mozart and Rimsky Korsakov. As weird as this may look on paper, believe me, the Frank Vignola Trio pulled it off in a varied set of tunes that featured the talents of each player to the max, much to the delight of the audience.

Front and center was Vignola’s envious command of the fret-board. His rhythmic intensity and improvisational skills alone could have stolen the show as he played rapid fire lines, swift octaves and engaging chord solos against Vinnie’s four to the bar rhythm and Gary’s vigorous walking bass. But what made this Trio experience magical on all levels was the lively interaction between Frank, Vinnie and Gary as they assisted each other in giving 110 percent to the music and audience. In fact, from the first chord of “Stardust” to the last notes of “…a little Bach, a little Mozart”, it was apparent that the audience was just as important to the overall experience as the groups’ performance.

A hilarious example of this was when an audience member attempted to take a picture during the Trio’s second tune of the evening, “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You”. In mid song Frank stops the tune and shouts over to Gary: “Gary, we have a picture!” At which point the members do a group pose for a few seconds with big smiles on their faces. The audience roared with laughter, pictures were taken and then the guys went back to playing the tune without skipping a beat.

Another fun example was during Gary’s Bass solo on “How High The Moon”. He comes to a pause in his solo after a couple of chorus’s and it sounds like he’s finished. The audience begins to applaud and Gary yells “Not now. I’ll tell you when!” He returns to his solo for another chorus or two and then stops, looks at the audience with a smirk on his face, “Now!” The audience explodes into laughter and applause as the Trio brings the song to a close.

But the funniest moment, at least for me, was towards the end of the show when Frank asks the audience if they have any requests for a Gershwin tune. A bunch of titles are yelled out by the audience. Frank chooses three titles, turns to Vinnie and Gary and asks which one they would choose. Vinnie chooses “Embraceable You”, Gary chooses “Rhapsody In Blue” while Frank chooses “I Got Rhythm”. Then when you think they have settled on a tune, each of them begins to play their chosen tunes at the same time. Another roar of explosive laughter and applause erupts from the audience before Frank, a big grin on his face, waves his hand for the band to stop. The Trio then gets into “Embraceable You” followed by a rousing “I Got Rhythm”, with some nice solo exchanges from Frank and Vinnie trading fours.

Frank Vignola Trio

The above image was taken during a Workshop the afternoon of the show

Now I don’t want to give the impression that the show was all fluff or light entertainment. Sure there were some fun moments but Frank and the guys were all business musically. Frank and Vinnie are serious Guitar players who combine all their influences into an extremely riveting display of virtuosic ability, while Gary’s playing and melodic sense brings to mind Bass giants like Ray Brown and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Case in point was their interpretation of Rimsky Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” which was absolutely stunning. Frank’s facility on that tune was exceptional as he laid down fast, complex and articulate melodic lines followed by a funky blues section that got kicked into overdrive as the Trio tackled “Flight of The Bumble Bee” in an impressive presentation of skill with all three playing the tricky melody in unison. Needless to say, this brought the house down with loud applause amidst raucous whooping and hollering, most likely from the Guitarists in the room…:)

The diverse set also featured exciting interpretations of Bizet’s Carmen, a beautiful version of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly”, the up-tempo “Tico Tico”, where Vinne got to stretch out a bit solo-wise, and a couple of other tunes that I did not immediately recognize (the Bach, Mozart stuff). There was also a nice medley of tunes featuring “Nuages”, “How High The Moon” and the Django Reinhardt composition “Tears”, paying tribute to Django, who would have been 100 years old next year, and to Les Pal who is now 94 years old and still playing every week*. Frank and the Trio really brought these tunes to life and they sounded as fresh as the day they were written. A great tribute to a great era.

One other element of the Frank Vignola Trio needs to be mentioned before I wrap this up, and that is the all important overall sound of the group. It’s obvious that Frank Vignola loves the acoustic quality that has shaped the majority of the sound of his earliest influences, and he reproduces that sound very effectively. For the most part, the sound comes from Frank’s dynamic digits and encyclopedic knowledge of the period. But there’s also the fastidious choice of Guitars that cater to a certain tonal quality. Both Frank and Vinnie play Guitars built by Luthier Ryan Thorell who knows how to create and build instruments that stay true to Frank’s musical identity and purpose. Here’s what Ryan has to say:

” I had been a fan of Frank Vignola for a long time when I got the opportunity to design a guitar for him. The FV model, played by both Frank and Vinny Raniolo is a pretty unique voice in the world of Archtop Guitar. This guitar is fully acoustic, yet tonally balanced and braced to be quite feedback resistant. In fact, Frank and Vinny usually play through a mic, as a main source of signal, and then color the tone slightly with their amps. Typically, this would be a recipe for feedback but, considering the wide range of venues, they have had no problems. Lindy Fralin once told me that he considered acoustic qualities in a guitar detrimental for amplified tone, mostly refering to feedback. What I’ve found, however, is that a well tuned soundboard (along with the rest of the guitar) can be very lively and loud acoustically before it runs into problems with amplification. Frank plays a lot of his smaller concert venues with out any amplification, which is a huge testament to how well the guitar projects acoustically.

Part of what goes into achieving the tone is a half profile soundboard (the spruce plate I carve from is actually half the thickness of a standard archtop), as well as a hybrid bracing pattern that isolates different areas of the soundboard and provides a natural range for the treble and bass frequencies without fighting each other. The hand wound pickup is based on the De’Armond, a single coil blade pickup which is then canted at an angle, this aids in fattening the tone of the blade pickup. The resulting sound is very rich and full but almost as acoustic as if you had a mike mixed in with the magnetic pickup. The guitar is very comfortable as well (a requirement from Frank!), with its deep carved waist the 15″ body feels like its only 14″. The body also tapers so it is thinner where it tucks into your shoulder and thicker where it sits on your knee, making it feel like a thinner guitar than it sounds. You can get the rest of the specs and options as well as listen to soundclips on my website: www.thorellguitars.com “

At the other end of the Guitar cord, Both Frank and Vinnie plug into JazzKat Amps (a Jazz model and an Acoustic model) while Gary plays an old Acoustic upright Bass that projects more from the actual instrument than the amp it is plugged into. In fact, Frank has microphones only at the foot of the stage which helps in capturing the sounds of the guitars rather than miking the amps directly, creating a more natural sound rather than an electric sound. I’m not sure of the exact and intricate details involved in getting the Frank Vignola sound, but whatever he’s doing, it’s working!

If you ever have the opportunity to check out the Frank Vignola Trio, don’t pass it by. It was a performance that I’m sure will live on in the memories of audience members for a long, long time.

*Sadly, Les Paul had passed away before this review was published.

About the Author: Lyle Robinson is the owner/creator/editor of Jazz Guitar Life, a popular web based publication focusing on the Jazz Guitar Community and related news.

Link to this Article: 

http://www.jazzguitarlife.com/frank-vignola-trio-montreal-international-jazz-festival-2009-jazz-guitar-life-gig-review/