Dan Russo (

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 13 October 1885 —

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, 5 September 1956) was an American violinist, songwriter, and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

leader during the 1920s and 1930s. Russo assembled his first orchestra in Chicago at the beginning of the 1920s, which had an engagement at the Oriole Terrace in Detroit. This group was conducted together with the pianist

Ted Fiorito Theodore Salvatore Fiorito (December 20, 1900 – July 22, 1971),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 95. known professionally a ...

, and became known under the name of the Oriole Orchestra, also performing at the Chicago

Edgewater Beach Hotel The Edgewater Beach Hotel was a resort hotel complex on Lake Michigan in the far-north neighborhood community of Edgewater in Chicago, Illinois, designed by Benjamin H. Marshall and Charles E. Fox. The first multi-story building was built ...

. These performances were also broadcast on the radio in 1924. In 1926 they opened an engagement at the Aragon Ballroom. The orchestra consisted of three saxophonists, two trumpets, a trombone, a piano, a tuba, a banjo, drums, and Russo on the violin. Russo's orchestra was a well-known territory band in Chicago and the Midwest; Some recordings were made for the labels Columbia and Brunswick under the band names The Oriole Terrace Orchestra and Russo & Fiorito's Oriole Orchestra. In 1927, Fiorito and Russo parted, and each continued his own band; Russo took over the old band name for recordings until 1932. Dan Russo also worked on the song "

Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!) Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!) is a 1922 song with music and lyrics by Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman and Danny Russo, per the credits on the original sheet music cover. Some other sources also credit Ted Fio Rito and Robert King for the song, but make ...

", which he wrote with

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (G ...

and Ernie Erdman. It was played by

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

& the Vitaphone Orchestra and was used on the soundtrack of

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

's '' Bullets over Broadway'' (1994).

References

External links

* Musicians from Chicago American jazz violinists American jazz bandleaders American big band bandleaders 1885 births 1956 deaths Jazz musicians from Illinois 20th-century violinists {{US-conductor-stub