Jazz guitarist Frank Vignola and violinist and fiddler Tessa Lark are two renowned, award-winning instrumental virtuosos who are now performing shows as a duo.
They'll be taking the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday at Tuckerman Hall for the final concert of Music Worcester's 2023-24 season.
"We play completely acoustic. It's a lot of fun," Vignola said during a recent telephone interview.
The program will feature original arrangements and improvisations spanning classical to jazz and old to new. "While we do dedicate to the original, we can open up and put a bit of jazz on it," he said of pieces such as George Gershwin's Prelude No. 2, originally written for piano. Vignola and Lark's repertoire also includes "Girl With the Flaxen Hair" by Claude Debussy, "When You Wish Upon a Star" by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, "Round Midnight" by Thelonious Monk, "My Favorite Things" by Rodgers and Hammerstein, "Django" by John Lewis, and many more.
"A unique and unforgettably exciting performance'
Although Vignola and Lark play somewhat in the hot swing style of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, the famous guitarist and violinist who formed the Paris-basedQuintette du Hot Club de Francein 1934, they are their own musicians — "a lot of cool music at a high level," Vignola said.
Jazz Guitar Today has said the improvisation and musical knowledge of Vignola and Lark results in "a unique and unforgettably exciting performance."
"She's an amazing instrumentalist," Vignola said of Lark. "I try to keep up."
Widely praised for her technical agility and expressive nuance, Lark is not only an acclaimed traditional fiddler in her native Kentucky, she has also garnered an Avery Fisher Career Grant, a Grammy nomination for best classical instrumental solo and other accolades cementing her place as a classical violin star.
Vingola said they met when he was teaching at the Juilliard School in New York City and Lark, who was there on its artistic diploma program, took his class which involved playing in an ensemble. "She was wonderful." At the end, "I kind of jokingly said if you ever need a rhythm guitarist let me know," he said.
"Lo and behold," she did.
'I'm very lucky to be alive'
It was for a concert in Indianapolis in 2017, but Vignola was recovering from serious injuries received in an ATV accident. During the pandemic she called again and the two performed together online. The musical chemistry was obvious, Vignola said. The show in Indianapolis was re-booked.
This is the first full season the two have performed live, in-person concerts together — about seven or eight so far at the time of the interview. They have already booked shows for next season, Vignola said.
He had been sidelined for over a year by the ATV accident which occurred when he crashed into a tree. He suffered internal bleeding, two collapsed lungs and several broken bones including his right arm. "I'm very lucky to be alive," he said.
The bone in his right arm became infected and he had multiple surgeries. He has a metal plate in the arm which will be removed in the near future. With it all, "I am feeling great," he said.
'I wasn't afraid to knock on doors'
A native of Long Island, New York, Vignola studied at the Cultural Arts Center of Long Island and went on to enjoy a lot of sideman gigs in the 1980s. He also formed the Hot Club Quintet in New York, named afterthe Quintette du Hot Club. At 27, he signed with Concord Jazz and recorded his first Concord session as a leader. He has since recorded over 30 albums for different labels as a leader and has been a guest on hundreds of recordings. He has played with guitar masters such as the late Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List.” Vignola currently holds a residency at New York's famed Birdland Jazz Club, where guests have included Lark. He is also an esteemed music educator including producing guitar video teaching courses and running his online Jazz Studio.
Vignola took to the guitar early and can recall being fascinated by hearing a Reinhardt recording. "My father (who was a musician) taught me a couple of chords and I'd play along with the record." He now has his students play along with recordings, he said.
When he was 7 years old, "I got a good teacher, Jimmy George...he was (a) great guitar player. He taught me how to read, how to play scales."
That's something else Vignola imbues with his own students. "A lot of young musicians think they don't have to read music, but it's important," he said.
He got his first paid gig as an artist when he was 13. The pay of $50 felt good. "It hasn't gone up much since then," he joked.
But he was working constantly. "I wasn't afraid to knock on doors. I got a lot of opportunities. Show up on time, dress properly, learn the music. One gig led to another."
Asked what led him to performing jazz rather than, say, rock, he said he loves rock. One of his early favorites was Frank Zappa, and he also listens to groups such Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin.
"I enjoy putting on Aerosmith. I think Keith Richards (of the Rolling Stones) was the best at guitar breaks. But my heart for playing is in jazz," he said.
Regardless, Vignola paraphrased Duke Ellington's maxim, "Music is either good or bad."
Tessa Lark and Frank Vignola, presented by Music Worcester
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, May 18
Where: Tuckerman Hall, 10 Tuckerman St., Worcester
How much: $45 to $65; student, $17.50; youth, $7.50. musicworcester.org
