Johnny Frigo & His Quintet • I Love John Frigo...He Swings

Review by Steve Leggett

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.

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Reseña por Steve Leggett

Johnny Frigo pasó la mayor parte de su vida profesional como bajista de jazz, pero a mediados de la década de los 80 tomó su primer instrumento, el violín, y comenzó lo que equivalía a una segunda carrera de jazz con ese instrumento. Las biografías de Frigo se refieren con frecuencia a un álbum oscuro de la década de 1950 que prefigura este cambio, y esto es todo, una sesión que Frigo grabó en 1957 en Universal Recording Studios en Chicago para Mercury Records. Junto al guitarrista Herb Ellis (Frigo y Ellis habían trabajado juntos en el Soft Winds Trio con el pianista Lou Carter), Norm Jeffries en la batería, Dick Marx en el piano, Cy Touff en la trompeta y el gran Ray Brown en el bajo, Frigo ofrece Maravillosa mezcla de swing / bop que se integra perfectamente con sus lanzamientos de los años 80. A veces usa el violín como un cuerno, pinchando y bloqueando carreras sólidas, y otras veces, como en las hermosas "Orquídeas azules", usa el instrumento para aproximarse a un vocalista de tenor, estirando la melodía en formas maravillosas. Frigo incluso hace un dúo de llamada y respuesta consigo mismo en el autoguiado "Big Me - Little Me", que responde a las líneas de violín con sus propias pistas de bajo. Amo a John Frigo ... He Swings, de alguna manera, se perdió en la confusión cuando fue lanzado, y Frigo volvió a tocar el bajo durante 30 años antes de tener una segunda oportunidad para grabar una vez más este tipo de equipos de grupos pequeños en el violín.

Tracks
1. What A Diff'rence A Day Made
2. Polka Dots And Moonbeams
3. Blow Fiddle Blow
4. Blue Orchids
5. Gone With The Wind
6. Squeeze Me
7. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
8. Moonlight In Vermont
9. If Love Is Good To Me
10. Big Me - Little Me

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

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