"Closet Hendrix guy" rocks out Vignola group bridges genres while riffing on Doobies and Mozart

Frank Vignola stands as one of the most tasteful and competent of a younger generation of guitarists who can summon the spirit of Django Reinhardt through their fingers. But while he can swing with the best veterans, he has always harbored desires to ... rock! "I got into the business playing swing music, but I was a closet Hendrix guy," confesses Vignola, who brings The Frank and Joe Show, a New York-based group he co-leads with drummer/polyrhythmic wonder Joe Ascione, to Denver next weekend. "I never really had the opportunity to work in rock bands."

It's often the other way around, with successful rock performers from Charlie Watts to Sting attempting to express themselves through the sophistication of jazz as a side project. But Vignola has figured out a way to bridge the genres while satisfying traditional jazz aficionados and those open to eclecticism with The Frank and Joe Show.

The group's debut CD, "33 1/3" (Hyena) is unpretentious entertainment charged with accessible virtuosity. Vignola and Ascione (and the other four members of the group, two guitarists and two percussionists) serve up a Doobie Brothers cover ("Long Train Runnin"') and the theme from "Spider-Man" alongside Cole Porter standards and a rollicking take on Mozart.

"It's Django meets Jimi," Vignola says. "It's hilarious, with these odd time signatures; we do a little thing in 17/4. We just tried to pick great songs, and we don't like to get bored playing the same songs over and over again." Vignola, who is 38 but often plays like he's living in 1938, has a wide range of styles and a rich history from which to choose songs and influences. Part of the fun of The Frank and Joe Show is its successful attempt to appropriate pop music throughout the 20th century (and beyond, in the case of Mozart) and make it all seem timeless.

"We play to a lot of different people age-wise. It's like we have a jam-band thing going," Vignola says with a laugh, referring to the wide cross section of followers for groups like the Dead and the Allman Brothers.

While they unquestionably play jazz, The Frank and Joe Show feels like that elusive rock group Vignola's always wanted to bang away with. There's a spirit of camaraderie when you hear him talk about his band as his friends, as opposed to a group of hired hands. "If one guy in the group can't make it, we don't take the gig," he says. "We have that high school garage band mentality."

The Frank and Joe Show is at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom, Helen Bonfils Theater at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. Tickets are $40. Call 303-670-8471.