A STROLL AROUND THE LOCAL JAZZ CLUBS….

John Pisano Guitar Night with Frank Vignola/Vinny Raniolo@Vitellos
01.24.12
By George W. Harris

It’s fitting that the Italian restaurant Vitellos would be the host of
three thrilling goombas of the guitar. The first Paisan, John Pisano,
holds the chair here every Tuesday (soon to be moving to Lucy’s 51 in
Toluca Lake), and hosted the all too infrequent to the Best Coast combo
of guitarists Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo. Starting the show in
duet form with takes of “Stardust” and “I’m Getting Sentimental Over
You,” the sartorially slick gents mixed old school gypsy sounds with a
21st Century of technique and chops, with unison pickings on the latter
that brought hoops of admiration from the packed house.

But the pair were nothing if not varied and entertaining, as they then
upped the musical ante with a mix of sensous latin passion with Spike
Jones humor on a take of “Tico Tico” that segued into “The Godfather
Theme” before finally climaxing in a “Stairway To Heaven” that made
every guitar student either vow to practice his chops or chuck his
guitar altogether. Mixing thrilling guitar riffs with hilarious
choreography, the pair went peaux de deux on a blistering take of “Swan
Lake” before rollilng into “Carmen” that smoked like a Havana cigar. A
Django Reinhardted rendition of Beethoven and Mozart mixed jazz and
classical chops that definitely told Tchaikovsky the news.

When bebop master Pisano joined the fray, the restaurant turned into a
Tuscan delight. The melding of Pisano’s lines on “Crazy Rhythm” had the
flexibility of linguini, while Vignola’s al dente picking on a bossa
nova’d “Body and Soul” was complemented by the tortellini-beefy bite of
Raniolo’s steady and striving strumming. By the time the trio closed
with a swingingly sensational “Stomping at the Savoy,” the only
question that the audience wanted an answer to was “can a gig get any
better than this?”