It’s guys like Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo that made me give up the guitar and switch to the clarinet and sax. I just knew I would never be able to capture on strings that exotic Reinhardt gypsy swing, so I traded my Martin in for a Selmer. These two guys have got it down, and they do it with a panache I never would have dreamed of. They came to LA last year, and performed a lot of the material on this latest disc during their set which brought the house down.
What they’ve done here is taken some of the classics and Baby Boomer hits, and used jazz as a verb, the way it originally was intended. A “jazzed up” Beethoven’s 5th with electric bassist Mark Egan, for example includes a bohemian lilt, while Julien Labro/acc, Zach Brock/vio and Mat Wigdon/b join in on Rimsky Korsokov’s “Scheherazade” to create music made for a night at Piazza Navona. Even better is when they all get together to work up to a frenzy on the Rocky theme “Eye of the Tiger” and a plaintive serenade on Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind.” As far as finger stylings, Vignola and Raniolo have a dexterity that is as symbiotic as Mozart and Da Ponte, as exampled on the wondrously lusty and celebrative “Carmen Habanera.” These guys have successfully swung the 19th Century and Wonder Years like they were meant to be treated. Have fun with this one!
Azica Records
www.frankvignola.com