The Madison (NJ) Community Arts Center was bursting at the seams as guitar maestros Frank Vignola (right, above) and Vinny Raniolo transported the enthusiastic audience across the musical landscape with tunes by Richard Rodgers, Django Reinhardt, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and many, many more.
Starting off with Rodgers’ “It Might As Well Be Spring”, the energetic duo’s set at December 7th’s Jersey Jazz LIVE! included Reinhardt’s “Song of Autumn”, Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek” (with vocal refrain), Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes”, and Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, so closely associated with Roberta Flack.
There was also a tribute to Les Paul, and Vignola recounted his early days at the New Jersey Jazz Society Waterloo Village concerts in the early ’80s when, as a teenager, he got to play with guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli and Tal Farlow and bassist Milt Hinton, among others.
The guitar virtuosos were preceded by a spirited Rising Stars opening act featuring a Summit High School jazz quartet led by the brilliant alto saxophone of New Jersey All-State Jazz Ensemble member Luka Milinkovic (photo below). Displaying a savvy knowledge of the musical scene, the Summit student musicians mixed two jazz classics — Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments” and Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the A Train” with two American Songbook standards — Jimmy Van Heusen’s “It Could Happen to You” and Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood.” Milinkovic was joined by pianist Nicolas Solis-Negron, bassist Gavin Lowenberger, and drummer Jeremy Oh, all displaying a musical prowess well beyond their years.
Funding for Jersey Jazz LIVE! has been made possible, in part, by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of The National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding for this concert was provided by NJJS Board member Cynthia Feketie.
PHOTOS BY MARGUERITE LA FOUNTAINE
