Johnny Frigo & His Quintet - I Love John Frigo...He Swings (1957)

2014-06-21T15:56:58Z

Johnny Frigo & His Quintet - I Love John Frigo...He Swings (1957)


1.What A Diff'rence A Day Made (2:27)
2.Polka Dots And Moonbeams (4:15)
3.Blow Fiddle Blow (2:47)
4.Blue Orchids (2:59)
5.Gone With The Wind (3:02)
6.Squeeze Me (3:33)
7.You Stepped Out Of A Dream (2:55)
8.Moonlight In Vermont (3:16)
9.If Love Is Good To Me (3:32)
10.Big Me - Little Me (2:13)

John Frigo (violin, bass)
Mike Simpson (tenor saxophone, flute)
Cy Touff (bass trumpet)
Vic Val (tenor saxophone)
Dick Marx (piano)
Herb Elllis (guitar)
Ray Brown (bass)
Phil Faieta, Norm Jeffries (drums)

Johnny Frigo spent most of his professional life as a jazz bassist, but in the mid-'80s he picked up his first instrument, the violin, and started what amounted to a second jazz career on that instrument. Frigo biographies frequently refer to an obscure album release from the 1950s that prefigured this change, and this is it, a session Frigo recorded in 1957 at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago for Mercury Records. Joined by guitarist Herb Ellis (Frigo and Ellis had previously worked together in the Soft Winds Trio with pianist Lou Carter), Norm Jeffries on drums, Dick Marx on piano, Cy Touff on trumpet, and the great Ray Brown on bass, Frigo delivers a wonderful swing/bop mixture that stands seamlessly with his 1980s releases. At times he uses the violin like a horn, punching in and blocking out solid runs, and at other times, like on the beautiful "Blue Orchids," he uses the instrument to approximate a tenor vocalist, stretching the melody into marvelous shapes. Frigo even does a call-and-response duet with himself on the self-penned "Big Me -- Little Me," answering the violin lines with his own bass runs. I Love John Frigo...He Swings somehow got lost in the shuffle when it was released, and Frigo went back to bass playing for 30 years before getting a late second chance at recording this kind of small-group sides on violin once more. The original master tapes of this session apparently suffered some degradation, and the recordings red-line occasionally in the digital transfer, but it's nothing too serious. Mercury/Verve should be commended for bringing this delightful album back to life. --- Steve Leggett, Rovi

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Johnny Frigo - Debut Of A Legend (1994)

2014-06-16T16:10:38Z

Johnny Frigo - Debut Of A Legend (1994)


01. Get Happy
02. I'm Old Fashioned
03. Osaka Saki
04. Too Late Now / Street of Dreams
05. Bow Jest
06. Nuages
07. Jitterbug Waltz
08. Heather on the Hill / How Are Things in Glocca Morra
09. I Love Paris
10. Here's That Rainy Day
11. Lush Life
12. Jeannine

Johnny Frigo - violin
Bob Kindred - clarinet, tenor saxophone
Joe Vito - piano
Gene Bertoncini - guitar
Michael Moore - double-bass
Bill Goodwin – drums

Violinist Johnny Frigo's third album as a leader (he had previously made a forgotten date for Mercury in 1957 and a Chesky CD in 1988) is his definitive set, even though he was 77 at the time. With a good supporting cast (guitarist Gene Bertoncini, Bob Kindred on tenor and clarinet, pianist Joe Vito, bassist Michael Moore, and drummer Bill Goodwin), Frigo mostly explores standards, plus two of his originals. The music, falling between swing and bop, is superior straight-ahead jazz; among the highlights are "Get Happy," "Bow Jest," "Jitterbug Waltz," and "Jeannine." Frigo's sudden prominence in his '70s (considering he spent most of his career as a bassist) was as unlikely and welcome an event as trumpeter Doc Cheatham's late-period triumphs. ---Scott Yanow, Rovi

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Johnny Frigo & His Quintet - I Love John Frigo...He Swings (1957)

Johnny Frigo - Debut Of A Legend (1994)