Frank Vignola & Pasquale Grasso
Saturday, July 26, 4:45 pm
Veteran guitarist Frank Vignola has teamed up with rising jazz guitar star Pasquale Grasso to create a unique and intimate musical experience for Litchfield Jazz Festival fans. Vignola’s stunning virtuosity made him the guitarist of choice for top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, John Lewis, Tommy Emmanuel, Lionel Hampton, and the legendary Les Paul who put Frank on his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List” for the Wall Street Journal.
Over the years, Vignola has performed in 21 countries on three continents in venues like the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Lincoln Center, Blue Note, and the world’s oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy. With over 30 CD’s as a leader, he has guested on hundreds more and produced 18 books and 42 video courses. His on-lne lessons reach thousands of guitarists, as do his in-person international Jazz Camps. Birdland hosts “Frank Vignola Guitar Night” every Wednesday to sell-out crowds.
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Pat Metheny has called Pasquale Grasso “the best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life…” Grasso, 37, was born in Ariano, Irpino, Italy and began playing guitar as a child. In 2012, after studying at the Music Conservatory of Bologna, he moved to New York City and quickly made a name for himself. That same year, he became a Jazz Ambassador for the US State Department and toured extensively. In 2015, he won the Wes Montgomery International Jazz Competition. Since then, he has performed with leading musicians, among them Barry Harris, Frank Wess, Ray Drummond, John Mosca, Sacha Perry, Ari Roland, Bucky Pizzarelli, Harry Allen, Grant Stewart, and others. His duo performances with the emerging young vocalist and now multi-GRAMMY winner Samara Joy set them both on a path to fame. Grasso partners with Vignola in educational programs and has a weekly residency at Mezzrow Jazz Club in New York City.
This is Frank Vignola’s first appearance at Litchfield Jazz Festival and Pasquale Grasso’s second. His first was with Samara Joy in 2022. Their duo toured extensively before and after the Litchfield date; six months later, Samara won the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Linger Awhile, featuring Paquale on three tracks.
Sponsorship of this program was provided by George and Louise Porto. George, who was a Litchfield Jazz Camper in his early retirement, now resides in the South and is active in his local jazz scene.
