Usually when someone's referred to as one of the best-kept secrets in town, it's an aspiring journeyman or a niche-genre artist that's flying under the radar. But as the weekly resident of one of St. Paul's premier clubs, Cory Wong doesn't quite fit under either category -- the jazz-and-more guitarist is a seasoned virtuoso whose crossover appeal actually led to one of his solo pieces, "Upstream," being licensed as a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band. That's a decent measure of fame -- along with his history of gigging with stars like Bootsy Collins and the Blind Boys of Alabama. But that versatility as a jazz-literate player equally at home in a blues, rock or funk context is what really makes for a draw. And as his double album Quartet/Quintet proves, his facility with traditional bop and modern fusion alike gives him a huge stylistic wheelhouse and plenty of space to stretch out his agile fingers.
