by Andy Graham
Oct 21 08

Legendary guitar master Les Paul, who has played alongside a slew of prominent folks in his 92 years, says Frank Vignola is "the greatest guitarist I have ever had the pleasure of sitting next to."

A local audience can hear why, participate in a live recording and support the Tibetan Cultural Center of Bloomington during Monday's "Concert for Peace" set for 7 pm at Bloomington's First Christian Church.

Vignola and his quintet, with Aaron Weinstein, will headline a show featuring Chicago-based folk-bluegrass acoustic quartet The Giving Tree Band, local singer-songwriter Tim Grimm and local jazz chanteuse Janiece Jaffe.

There is a suggested donation of $10 for those attending the show, but all donations will be accepted. Proceeds will benefit the TCC, which hosts a visit by the Dalai Lama this week. So will proceeds from the planned CD from the performance.

A concert to celebrate the Dalai Lama's return was already in the works when Rich Reardin, a local record and radio producer and a TCC volunteer, spoke over the phone with Anthony Piatt, who runs Bloomington-based Fly on the Wall Media. Fly on the Wall represents Vignola and The Giving Tree Band, among others.

Reardin was planning to record The Giving Tree Band for an installment of his nationally syndicated radio show, "In Search of a Song," and a week's delay in arrangements meant the band would be in town in conjunction with the Dalai Lama's visit.

"The Giving Tree Band is very philanthropic in nature, and so I said to Rich, 'Do you want me to ask them if they'll play?' " Piatt recalled. "He did, and asked if any other artists Fly on the Wall represents might be interested. And it just so happened Frank Vignola was finishing a four-night stand in St. Louis and was available.

"We had interest from a lot of people, as it turned out, all on last-minute notice. Neither Rich nor I are show promoters, and we had no budget, no foundation, no committee, but people were very responsive, including sponsors."

Harley-Davidson of Bloomington chipped in to cover the costs of making the planned CD. Jake's was interested in hosting the show, but Reardin and Vignola opted for the church as a better venue in which to record the CD.

"The concert proceeds will help raise funds, obviously, but whether we had 200 or 400 or 800 people in attendance, the CD was really the thing" Piatt said. "We wanted to make sure we had great sound quality and that the event is focused on the music."

Vignola has played alongside a wide array of top-notch artists, from Chet Atkins to Madonna, from Ringo Starr to Lionel Hampton, in addition to a 200-2005 stint playing every Monday night with "The Les Paul Trio" in New York. Vignola is comfortable playing everything from fusion and pop-jazz to swing and hard bop,to rock and R&B. Influences range from Joe Pass and Django Reinhardt to Pat Metheny and Eric Clapton.

"Frank's fabulous," Piatt said. "He's one of the top guitarists on the planet."

Just ask Les Paul.