StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Frank Vignola live in St. Louis

This week, let's take a look at a couple of video clips featuring guitarist Frank Vignola, who will return to St. Louis to perform Friday, March 7 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Vignola's concert will be recorded for a DVD to be released by Mel Bay Records; these two clips offer what could be considered a "sneak peek," recorded from the audience at Jazz at the Bistro during Vignola's last visit here in October 2007.

This video looks to have been made from on or near the staircase on the east side of the room, and though it's basically just a wide shot of the band, the audio is quite listenable. You'll see Vignola on guitar, along with Vinny Raniolo (guitar), Pete Coco (bass), Rich Zukor (percussion), Matt Flinner (mandolin) and Casey Driessen (violin). The two tunes on display, "Luke" (up above this paragraph) and "Kong Man" (down below), give a good taste of how Vignola skillfully blends jazz, bluegrass, gypsy music and various other styles in a way that seems both familiar and fresh.