Jazz guitar virtuosos Frank Vignola and Pasquale Grasso put on a spectacular performance of their arrangements and improvisations of jazz standards and their own individual compositions, delivered with incredible musicianship and warm performance skills to a full house at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs on Friday, August 30th. Though it was a repeat appearance for Vignola, it was Pasquale’s first appearance at Caffe Lena and, most likely, not his last.
Vignola and Pasquale are not a standing duo but teamed up for this performance, as they have on several occasions in the past and will later this year and into next year at various US venues.Vignola is one of the most highly respected and internationally sought after guitarists in multiple genres, having played with countless jazz artists and artists in other types of music as diverse as Madonna, Ringo Starr and Donald Fagan. He has appeared at prestigious venues including New York’s Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, and Birdland where he performs regularly
Grasso, who Pat Metheny called “The best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life”, has a style which is truly his own, stemming from influences as divergent as John Scofield, Charlie Parker, Bill Frissel and classical music and shaped in part by the nuances of jazz piano on guitar. Grasso, now in his thirties, moved to New York from Italy fifteen years ago and has been thrilling the jazz world ever since. He plays primarily at jazz clubs in New York City, either solo or with his trio or quartet.
Vignola delivered his virtuosity with his longtime companion, a 1950s Gibson L7 hollow body archtop with McCarty P90 pickups, played through a Fender Princeton Reverb tube amp. Grasso took the opportunity to introduce the audience to his brand new custom made Trenier hollow body jazz guitar with its single TK Smith “Charlie Christian”- bar type pickup, which he played through a stellar 1940s Gibson EH185 tube amp.
Rather than performing from a set list for either of their two sets, the two took turns deciding what the pair would play as the night progressed, with occasional exchanges of “What do you what to play? I don’t know, what would you like to do?” followed by one laying down a few notes to intro a piece with the other joining in with chord comping harmonizing the melody played by the other, with the pair often “switching” roles. Their selections included “Segment” and “Billy’s Bounce” by Charlie Parker in a posthumous homage to Parker’s August 29 birthdate; the jazz standard “Body and Soul”; “Monks Dream”, “Blue Monk” and “Evidence” by jazz pianist Thelonius Monk; “Stardust” played as a tribute to “straight ahead” jazz guitarist Russel/ Malone who passed away unexpectedly in Japan a few weeks ago; and a number of Pasquale Grasso’s original compositions.
There are few things in music as enjoyable as players improvising together at a level where each brings out a musical invitation and challenge to the other to weave their contribution into the other’s and this was a prime example, song after song, of just that level of virtuosity. And it was apparent from both their facial expressions and their musical interweaving that the two performers were enjoying each other’s contribution at least as much as the audience was. It was truly a “dance of two guitars”. Gazing around the room at the people in the audience made it clear that they were transfixed on every passage delivered in the intimate setting that is part of the historic charm and the ambiance of Caffe Lena.
At times the pair would trade four or eight bar melody or chord melody solos back and forth, with each one’s contribution complementing the other’s, and with facial expressions making it apparent how much they enjoyed what they were doing. Whether they were delivering what seemed to be melody runs of 32nd notes with absolute clarity and well placed clear spaces in the mix interchanged with chord solos or chord harmonies that visited the entire span of the guitar’s fingerboard; or more ballad-like slower tempo masterpieces, Vignola and Grasso truly delivered a master class in jazz guitar.
Long time Caffe Lena house live sound engineer Joe Deuel did his usual excellent job presenting their sound to the room, micing intentionally set low volumes of the two amps into the house’s live sound, balancing and EQing them with perfection.
