Home » Jazz Articles » Frank Vignola
Jazz Articles about Frank Vignola
Donald Fagen: Morph the Cat
by Woodrow Wilkins
There's an engaging quality to Donald Fagen's songwriting and perfectionism that makes Steely Dan fans flock to his solo albums. While The Nightfly (1982) and Kamakiriad (1993) were expressly Fagen, Morph the Cat closely resembles Steely Dan without Walter Becker. The lineup partially reflects the ensemble that recorded the Dan's 2003 release, Everything Must Go, and toured with the group that year. The cast includes drummer Keith Carlock, guitarists Hugh McCracken and Jon Herington, and trombonist Lawrence Feldman. An assortment ...
Continue ReadingDonald Fagen: Morph the Cat
by AAJ Italy Staff
Donald Fagen sta al rock come Duke Ellington stava al jazz. Non sarà per i continui attestati di stima che la mente degli Steely Dan spesso gli tributa, ma l’attitudine nella creazione e nell’arrangiamento, l’eleganza nella scelta timbrica e armonica, la condotta delle parti e la ricerca melodica come filo labile da cucire nella stoffa preziosa della song form, rimandano spesso agli insegnamenti di Ellington. L’altro elemento portante e decisivo è la letterarietà dei testi. A volte criptici, a volte ...
Continue ReadingDonald Fagen: Morph The Cat
by Mike Perciaccante
Donald Fagen's third solo CD, his first such recording in thirteen years, blends jazz, soul, funk and just about every other musical influence you can name on nine new songs whose subject matter runs the gamut. The eclectic songs on Morph The Cat cover some interesting topics: a romantic interlude with an airport security guard ("Security Joan"); a conversation with the ghost of the late Ray Charles ("What I Do"); mortality ("Brite Nightgown"); and a cult taking over the US ...
Continue ReadingDonald Fagen: Morph The Cat
by John Kelman
Sometimes tight-knit teams like Donald Fagen and Walter Becker--better known as Steely Dan--make it difficult to determine what each individual brings to the table. It's no secret that Becker and Fagen have strong jazz sensibilities, not to mention an affection for Tin Pan Alley, having started out as staff writers for ABC Records before realizing their music was too sophisticated for the artists they were writing for. But Fagen's previous solo albums--Nightfly (Reprise, 1982) and Kamikiriad (Reprise, 1993)--and Becker's 11 ...
Continue ReadingFrank Vignola/Joe Ascione: 66 2/3
by Marcia Hillman
The Frank & Joe Show's second release finds the group expanded to a sextet--lead guitarist Frank Vignola and percussionist Joe Ascione add rhythm guitarist Ken Smith, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi, and percussionists Chuck Ferruggia and Rich Zukor to the roster (the disc also includes one vocal apiece by Jane Monheit and Janis Siegel). The “show opens with Rodgers and Hammerstein's standard “It Might As Well Be Spring done with a samba-like beat. Vignola plays the melody, then goes off ...
Continue ReadingThe Frank and Joe Show: 33 1/3
by David Rickert
It's easy to forget that in the beginning jazz was music designed for entertainment and not considered serious art. The Frank & Joe Show takes its inspiration from such a time, a bygone era when the audience preferred to jitterbug rather than to just sit and listen. Frank Vignola has already displayed a serious Django jones on his previous albums, yet wisely has avoided recording a CD full of gypsy music when the real thing is so ready and available. ...
Continue ReadingFrank Vignola/Joe Ascione: 33 1/3: The Frank & Joe Show
by Mitchell Seidel
Guitarist Frank Vignola and drummer/percussionist Joe Ascione recently marked their one-year anniversary of Sunday night gigs at New York's Sweet Rhythm with the release of this wonderfully quirky album that defies definition. How else can you describe a recording that features the theme from an old cartoon show, a rock era pop tune, Cole Porter and Rimsky-Korsakov all on the same disc? Vignola and Ascione have long established themselves as younger musicians with both an appreciation for ...
Continue Reading
