frank vignola

The liner notes to this project state many fine cigars were smoked during the making of this CD. That's not all that was fired up. Vignola burns from the outset. My hunch is Frank is a fan of George Benson, since his playing often sounds similar. There are also shades of Joe Pass, plus a hint of Pat Metheny-all of which points to Vignola's great fluidity on his instrument. The opening cut "Organized Confusion," takes listeners on a whirlwind hard-swinging ride. "President Street" is soft and lyrical. A couple of tunes have a Latin flair which helps show off Vignola's more graceful chops. Then there's "Jog Left," a complex tune, Spanish-tinged and blue. But what sets it apart from the rest of the material here is a jagged stop-start rhythm which holds a tension between melodic phrases, plus there's a dynamite funky synth-organ solo by Allen Farnham. - Deni Kasrel(JazzTimes)

Interactive video lesson on TrueFire’s new interactive video player - features many enhancements and new features including wide screen video, looping, slow motion, zoom, tuner, metronome, keyboard shortcuts and much more.

Gypsy Jazz Duets came together under an unusual and somewhat improvised set of circumstances. Yet, in the true spirit of “gypsy jazz,” those improvisations gave birth to an extraordinary learning experience for any jazz guitarist, particularly for those with a passion for gypsy jazz guitar.

Gypsy Jazz Duets came together under an unusual and somewhat improvised set of circumstances. Yet, in the true spirit of “gypsy jazz,” those improvisations gave birth to an extraordinary learning experience for any jazz guitarist, particularly for those with a passion for gypsy jazz guitar.

Guitarist Frank Vignola takes an inventive stab at the "tribute" album genre with Deja Vu (Concord Vista CCD-4802-2; 54:29), which hovers mostly over pop tunes of the '60s ("White Room") and '70s . Vignola smoothes out and overdresses some of his pieces here (Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff," with its echoing vocals, and Carole King's "It's Too Late," reworked as a synthy midnight smooth jazz piece), but pulls strange and compelling quirky vibes from others. Foreigner's dewy ballad, "Waiting for a Girl Like You," for example, is moved into a plucky 6/8 tempo to become a weird little swinging piece. Likewise Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" romps strangely along at an upbeat, rubberband disco pace. It's odd, but it works. Vignola's doodling, warm-toned guitar work is strong throughout-though not enough to rise above the annoying vocals populating a blues/jazz rework of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way." Extra points are earned for brazen invention here, even if the creative spirit does not always hit the mark. - by By Hilarie Grey (JazzTimes)

Its jam night. Someone calls out the inevitable A minor to D9 vamp. You take the first solo and light the joint up. Now its your turn to comp. First couple of choruses, no problem. Next few, your comp is getting a little tired but youre hanging in there. Now the soloist starts to ramp things up and youre plumb out of ideas. Audience gets restless. Soloist glares. Gig is up. Been there? Yup, join the club.

Interactive video lesson on TrueFire’s new interactive video player - features many enhancements and new features including wide screen video, looping, slow motion, zoom, tuner, metronome, keyboard shortcuts and much more.
Gypsy Jazz Duets came together under an unusual and somewhat improvised set of circumstances. Yet, in the true spirit of “gypsy jazz,” those improvisations gave birth to an extraordinary learning experience for any jazz guitarist, particularly for those with a passion for gypsy jazz guitar.

Designed to motivate and inspire students, Guitar Sherpa's innovative learning systems employ a hands-on, contextual format. Students play their way through Guitar Sherpa curriculum rather than working through tedious examples and exercises. Frank Vignola is one of the most multi-dimensional artists in the industry. A monster player and composer, Frank's work with everyone from Les Paul to Donald Fagen make him the perfect guide for this intensive exploration of chord inversions. Inversion Excursion will exponentially increase your chord, comping and rhythm pattern vocabulary. Instead of simply memorizing chord forms from a book, Inversion Excursion teaches you how to unleash chorus after chorus of fresh ideas by giving you a grip on the chord forms and then illustrating how to apply them in a musical context. You'll learn how to instantly pull out an endless variety of interesting voicings and rhythms to keep both the soloist and the audience engaged and motivated. You'll learn hundreds of inversions up and down the neck, across all string groups, in all keys. You'll work through major chord inversions using video demonstrations and extensive charts (over 500 pages!) that illustrate root, first inversion, second inversion and third inversion forms. Unlike your typical chord book, you'll play your way through the course within a musical context and learn how to apply the inversions with rhythmic ideas in virtually any style of music. Over the course of your Inversion Excursion journey you'll develop a massive vocabulary of chords, patterns and applications that you can pull out when comping, arranging, composing and improvising. In short, you'll NEVER find yourself struggling to come up with something fresh and appropriate, if not downright dazzling. Hands-On Learning Tools included with Inversion Excursion: Text Lesson Guide, Chord Charts, Practice Rhythm Tracks, Bonus Material. Secure PIN enclosed in DVD package for quick and secure download of learning tools.