As the editor of Guitar Sessions I don't particularly relish featuring my hometown of St. Louis in the "City Scene" column so frequently, but we are simply an outstanding city for practically all styles of music. This is primarily due to the number and variety of educational and performance venues in the St. Louis area. From specialty music studios, house concerts, hole-in-the-wall listening rooms, and intimate jazz clubs to major conservatories and universities, venerable concert hall stages, outdoor amphitheaters, and stadiums- St. Louis has it all.

One of the best places to hear live music in St. Louis is the Sheldon Concert Hall and it is this venue that has been instrumental to Mel Bay Publications in providing the ideal acoustic environment and audience for several of our author/artists including: Howard Alden, Muriel Anderson, Stephen Bennett, Thom Bresh, Corey Christiansen, Tommy Emmanuel, Natalie MacMaster, Mike Marshall, Mark O'Connor, Buddy and John Pizzarelli, Tony Rice, Chris Thiele, The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and most recently- jazz guitar wizard, Frank Vignola.

"The Sheldon," as it is known for short, hosts an audience of about 750 with not a bad seat in the house. Mel Bay Publications filmed its first live video performance there with Tommy Emmanuel in April of 2000; the resulting product, Tommy Emmanuel: Live at the Sheldon Concert Hall was first issued as a VHS video and then went on to become our #1-selling DVD.

In March 2005, we filmed the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, then consisting of Andrew York, John Dearman, Scott Tennant, and Bill Kanengiser, to create the first motion picture record of their performance skills in their then 25-year history. LAGQ, Live! has become a favorite among classic guitar aficionados.

On March 7, 2008 Frank Vignola's Rhythm Machine took the Sheldon's stage and delivered more than two hours of their unique fusion of bluegrass, blues, rock, Gypsy-jazz, hard bop, post-bop, and swing plus imaginative jazz settings of classical themes. The Sheldon audience witnessed the collaboration of a masterful quintet consisting of Frank on archtop guitar, Vinny Raniolo on flattop rhythm guitar, Aaron Weinstein on violin, Pete Coco on upright bass, and Rich Zukor on percussion. It's worth noting that Zukor's drum kit contains just three elements- a high-hat, a cymbal and a single drum- a djembe! Using his bare hands or brushes, Zkor achieved a wide variety of sounds.

An extremely versatile jazz guitarist, Frank Vignola has toured and recorded with Bucky Pizzarelli, Les Paul, Lionel Hampton, Donald Fagen, Queen Latifah, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Madonna, David Grisman, Mark O'Connor and many more. Suffice to say that Frank has a number of resources that he can draw upon at a moment's notice, and what's more, he can do it in a virtuoso fashion any night of the week. At times, Frank has called their style "Gypsy-Grass" but whatever it is, it sets people in motion in their seats and bursting into spontaneous applause.

I'm anticipating that over time, Mel Bay Publications will continue to collaborate with the folks at the Sheldon to create more musical magic and mayhem, and record it for a worldwide audience.

Stephen Rekas

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