Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040089
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER HENSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Cancel them. You're going to Roanoke College to hear some great jazz instead. Internationally acclaimed jazz guitarist Vinny Valentino is bringing his trio to Olin Hall, tonight at 8, just so he can lay some righteous riffs on all the hip people of the valley.
Sure, the name sounds like someone John Travolta would play in the movie. But Valentino, a native of Northern Virginia, is a remarkably accomplished musician. He has four albums, national recognition, and a jazz hero who says he's a genius.
Valentino does it all. He's modern and eclectic, but also distinctive and well-rooted. His sound is similar to George Benson, Earl Klugh or Charlie Byrd. His guitar has a clear, warm tone and his up-to-the-minute phrasing is expressive and challenging.
When he was 16, Valentino saw George Benson play live. He was floored. "...I played my guitar for two straight days afterward," Valentino told JazzTimes Magazine. "My eyes were opened to the fact that I hadn't even started on this instrument yet."
Now it's Benson who's impressed. He has called Valentino a "young genius with a brilliant tone and fresh ideas."
A jazz studies graduate of Howard University, Valentino has received grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts for a series of works called "New Music for Three Jazz Guitars." He's had club and concert engagements all over the U. S., and Europe. His fourth recording, "The Distance Between Two Lines," shot up the jazz charts in 1993.
Like a lot of the younger jazz stars today, Valentino is working hard to redefine jazz without alienating the genre's voracious audience. And he's good at it. His own compositions are full of new ideas anchored to familiar styles. He'll play a ballad with fat, soulful notes. Then he'll take a jazz standard, like "Don't Blame Me," and turn it into a complex bossa/be-bop chock full of rhythmic quirks and hairpin turns. His music is fresh and emotive, and obviously a ball to perform.
Joining Valentino on bass is Paul Langosch, an experienced player if ever there was one. He has performed with Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, George Shearing and Mel Torme (who's done a lot more than just those wacky Mountain Dew commercials). He's played bass on a Grammy-winning album, and on a Grammy nominee. And he's been on "The Tonight Show" seven times, for Pete's sake. Rounding out the trio is drummer Richard Seals II, who brings experience and a solid rhythm and blues tradition to the group.
So, get a sitter, cancel the laundry and eat a little early. Jazz is right here, man! The hip doctor will see you now! Tonight! In Salem! You'll be impressed even if you aren't George Benson.
Tickets are $8.
Call 375-2333 to reserve a ticket.
by CNB