Walking the Bass (Bill’s Music Shelf)
Frank Vignola is considered to be among the top rank of guitarists on the music scene today. Born on December 30, 1965, in Long Island, New York, he began playing guitar at the age of five. As his proficiency grew, he spent many hours listening to the music of legendary guitarists, Django Reinhardt, Joe Pass, and Johnny Smith. Frank not only gained a spiritual sort of inspiration from these guitarists recordings, he also made an intricate study of the complexities of these guitar masters styles, slowing down his records to analyze many a solo. Frank’s first teacher was his father, a semi-professional banjo player. Later, Frank became the star pupil of guitarist Jimmy George, who was one of the original Dion and the Belmonts. At age 12, Frank took up the tenor banjo and swiftly burst upon the music scene in a way that would portend many of the accolades and milestones to come in his career as a jazz guitarist. Though obviously steeped in the traditional schools of jazz, especially in the formative years, Frank would ultimately take inspiration from a wide arc of the musical spectrum. Guitarists such as Django, Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery and Lonnie Johnson are obvious influences, but one might be surprised to learn that rocker Jimi Hendrix has also received the close scrutiny of Frank’s ear. Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Thad Jones and Duke Ellington have all had inspirational impact on the music of Frank Vignola. While still in his teens, Frank experienced the most effective music education possible—right on the bandstand as a working musician. Soon named among the top ranked musicians in New York, Frank performed and toured with such headliners as Max Morath and Leon Redbone. At age 23, he decided to lead his own group and formed his version of the famed Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Their debut at the New York cabaret, Michael’s Pub, was a smash success and launched his career as a guitarist ‘in the spotlight.’ Tours of Europe, recording sessions, and an exclusive recording contract with the Concord Jazz label would all follow in short succession in a few short years. Frank would perform and/or record with such varied artists as Chet Atkins, Madonna, Jon Faddis, Woody Allen, Ringo Starr, Manhattan Transfer, Frank Wess, Elvin Jones, Lionel Hampton and countless legends from the golden age of jazz.