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There are none parts without him playing. Looks like he's got 2 fender twins and he still sounds a mile away in a wash of effects.
Originally Posted by sgosnell
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02-08-2024 01:27 PM
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Idem.... Originally Posted by sgosnell
still way too close Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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What a strange night that was......
Everyone's lost except Stern
???!!!
S
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I was in the room - the sound was great. I won't debate the topic of Stern's use of effects, but I will say this: it's integral to his creative approach and his playing was outstanding. So many ideas flowing...
When Frank called "Wing and a Prayer," and Gary got the sheet music out, I assumed they were playing one of Mike's original compositions. Indeed - it was. And it was gorgeous - the audience was truly moved by it. Equinox and Softly were my favorite of the 'standards' they played that night.
As someone who lives on the west coast and has the opportunity to see one or two of Frank's live shows at Birdland each year, I really appreciate the effort that Birdland is making to stream these shows on YouTube. It's a multi-camera production and requires a videographer and sound engineer. This adds to their overhead costs. Thank you Birdland!
I'm trying to catch as many shows as I can because like everything in music and in life, this too will pass.
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Killer version of "It might as well be spring" - tight as a well-oiled machine.
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The video and audio quality of the Birdland streams is usually excellent. There are often imbalances in the audio at the start, but they get fixed. Emmet Cohen's streams are also of professional quality. OTOH the Mezzrow and Smalls streams are amateurish at best. The audio is terrible, as is the video from three fixed low-resolution cameras. I've stopped bothering with the Mezzrow and Smalls streams. I look at one now and then to see if there is any improvement, but not yet. It's not worth the cost to me, and the cost is zero. I wouldn't even consider paying for it. Birdland tried a pay to view model with the Vignola livestreams, and that apparently didn't work out, so they went back to free, and IMO it's one of the best-produced streams around, on a par with Emmet Cohen's. I don't know how they get that quality in an apartment.
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Tonight
21 February 2024
Rodney Jones joins Frank Vignola, Ted Rosenthal, Gary Mazzaroppi and Vince Cherico.
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Frank seems to have become inseparable from that Eastman Pisano. Love the sound!
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There's even youtube videos about him using it. Originally Posted by Oscar67
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I think Frank proves the player is more important than the tool.Larry Carlton is known for playing a 335,but i've seem him down through the years play Valley Arts strat/tele,Fender Tele,Gibson Les Paul and now his Sire line of Guitars and he sounds like himself no matter what he plays.It proves you don't need to spend crazy money to sound good.
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As a guitarist Frank is highly accomplished and egoless. His solos are consistently melodic, no matter the idea he is expressing. As a bandleader, he is collaborating with a wide range of jazz music artists on the stage at Birdland.
He owns and plays many guitars, but he's digging the tone he's getting from the Pisano on the bandstand. Ask Frank about the AR480 - he will tell you the guitar feels and sounds great and that is why he is playing it. He presently has two signature guitars in production - one of them from Eastman - the other from Sadowsky. There's no reason for him to play a Pisano except that he digs it.
I wouldn't have paid attention to that particular guitar if Frank wasn't playing it. But it's hard to ignore if you are a fan. I bought one in August. It is a delight to play and, at a street price of around $1600, it's a lot of guitar for the money.Last edited by Bflat233; 02-23-2024 at 09:53 PM.
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It’s easy to bond with Eastman archtops. Somehow they worm their way in. Someone who I occasionally teach always plays my 580CE during lessons and yesterday she asked if she could borrow it with intent to buy. I have too many guitars and I’m about to sell half of them, so I said yes. I’m secretly hoping she’ll bow out.
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Happy to see Minor7thb5 here Originally Posted by AllanAllen
Great player, sympathetic guy. And the music alone is usually worth the videos.
On the issue of Frank Vignola's guitar: It goes to show that marginal utility is real. If you have a decent $2000 guitar, the only thing that holds you back is your skill on the instrument.
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Off topic - just occurred to me while watching this, how many jazz guitarists stand for their set ?
I sat down (briefly) at a gig many years ago & the sax player was not pleased...Val Doonican's name came up...
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I stand. Originally Posted by dot75
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That’s true even for instruments well below $2k. But there’s inspiration to consider. I think Frank plays it because it inspires him. How would he fare with a much more expensive instrument like a $9k custom shop Strat, or an Explorer, or a LP? Frank’s a pro, he would make it work somehow, but he probably wouldn’t be at 100%. I think that if a guitar stays in tune and is inspiring, then price becomes sort of irrelevant. Originally Posted by Schwoop
Kudos to Frank for playing someone else’s signature guitar despite having several signature models of his own.
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I wonder if he just leaves it at Birdland. He’s not playing it on his home YouTube videos.
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He has played an older Benedetto, and an Eastman Vignola model, as well as the Vignola model Sadowskys, on the Guitar Night series. I've seen him using lots of guitars on his YouTube videos. I think he probably has plenty of guitars in multiple locations. The Concord Jazz Guitar Collective was an all Benedetto group, and I suspect that Frank and Jimmy both still have some Benedettos around.
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Tonight.
28 February 2024.
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night: Django Edition! With Frank Vignola, Joscho Stephan, John Jorgensen, Vinny Raniolo, Arnt Arntzen (guitars), Gary Mazzaroppi (bass).
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Tonight was one of my usual jam session nights, but I seem to have come down with a cold and feel miserable, so decided to stay home. The Mrs. was out teaching, and there's nothing on TV so I watched this, my first time watching the guitar night show. Originally Posted by David B
I agree with everything everyone says about Frank Vignola, from his playing, interaction and guitar. While I knew of him prior to this, it was my first time seeing/hearing Rodney Jones. The first thing I noticed was his right hand technique. He used thumb on the first tune, which really caught my eye, and switched back and forth. For the last tune, he asked the audience which to use, pick or thumb, and he ended up using both.
Seeing this impressed me because after struggling to use a pick, I recently decided to use my thumb and it feels much better. Some jam session mates even noticed the improvement. And I think using my thumb is more comfortable, since I anchor my right hand when picking anyway. I'm just a casual player, spending most practice time on tunes, so it was inspiring to seeing a top notch player using their thumb. Perhaps I need to get out more, but in this instance it was not going out that led to what amounts to a shot in the arm.
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Love this! Joscho is a monster. Originally Posted by David B
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Did anyone watch the Louis Armstrong tribute before? Also great
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Great rhythm work by Arnt Arntzen. Don't sleep on this one guys.
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6 March 2024.
Al Gafa is this week's guest.
Last edited by David B; 03-07-2024 at 11:59 AM.
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That was a treat yesterday!
How great it is that they put these show up online so that I can listen from the other side of the world...
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