Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night celebrates International Jazz Day with special guests Maria Muldaur and Pasquale Grasso at The Birdland Theater.
In celebration of International Jazz Day, the iconic Birdland Theater presents Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night with an all-star lineup of jazz greats tonight (Wednesday, April 30 at 8:30; doors open at 7:30). The evening will present guitar virtuoso Vignola alongside special guests Maria Muldaur and Pasquale Grasso, with Gary Mazzaroppi on bass and Rudy Peschauer on drums for one night only.
Known for his dazzling technique and dynamic performances, Vignola welcomes legendary six-time Grammy nominee Muldaur, whose bluesy voice and timeless presence have captivated audiences for decades, and Grasso, whose technical brilliance is setting new standards in jazz guitar.
Muldaur, who came to prominence with Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band in the 1960s and went on to a stellar career as a headliner, is a peerless interpreter of pre-War blues styles, particularly those of the blues divas of the 1920s. Her upcoming release, One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey, pays tribute to one of the great blues women of the past century. Muldaur got to know Spivey, who had started her own record label, when the veteran blues performer took the young singer under her wing, and she was the first to put Muldaur on record (as well as a young harmonica player named Bob Dylan). Muldaur would have breakthrough success in the 1970s with her sultry pop hit “Midnight at the Oasis,” but much of her repertoire is taken from or inspired by bawdy blues performers such as Spivey, whose bold tradition she wraps around her like a feather boa.
