Yes, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo are amazing guitarists with extraordinary technical skills, but what you should also know is that their music is fun! Look at the collection of songs on their new album, Melody Magic. They play the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony as a non-stop romp, and they cover the classic from Rocky III, “Eye of the Tiger,” along with works by Bach, Bizet, Grieg, and Sting. The website all about jazz calls the album a “finely crafted collection of some of the greatest classic(al) music melodies in existence, arranged by one of the most talented, earnest-and-enlightened guitarists in the business today.”

Frank grew up in the suburbs of New York, studied guitar at the Cultural Arts Center of Long Island, and worked as a sideman for folks like Leon Redbone and Madonna, as well as leading his famed Hot Club of France tribute band in New York City in the late 1980s. Since then, he’s worked with many of the world’s top musicians, including Les Paul, Wynton Marsalis, Ringo Starr, Donald Fagen, and Queen Latifah, recorded several solo albums and collaborations with greats like Tommy Emmanuel, Martin Taylor, and David Grisman, and found time to write 18 guitar instruction books. In the words of the New York Times, he’s “one of the brightest stars of the guitar.”

At the tender age of 27, Vinny has already performed alongside many of the finest musicians in the world, including Tommy Emmanuel, Tony Trishka, Bucky Pizzarelli, David Grisman, and Matt Flinner. About his work on The Guitar Lover’s Sampler, Volume I, producer Erica Miller writes, “It was like gazing into the future of music.”

Visit Frank Vignola's website

Visit Vinny Raniolo's website

Listen to a track from Vignola and Raniolo: