Johnny Frigo (December 27, 1916 – July 4, 2007) was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
violinist, bassist and songwriter. He appeared in the 1940s as a violinist before working as a bassist. He returned to the violin in the 1980s and enjoyed a comeback, recording several albums as a leader.
Biography
Frigo was born in Chicago and studied violin for three years beginning at age seven. In high school he started to play double bass in dance orchestras. In 1942 he played with
Chico Marx
Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx ( ; March 22, 1887October 11, 1961) was an American comedian, actor, and pianist. He was the oldest brother in the Marx Brothers comedy troupe, alongside his brothers Harpo Marx, Arthur ("Harpo"), Groucho Marx, Juliu ...
's orchestra and performed a comedy routine on violin with Marx on piano.
He entered the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
during World War II and played in a band on
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...
with
Al Haig and
Kai Winding
Kai Chresten Winding ( ; May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of " More", the theme from the movie ''Mondo Ca ...
.
After a brief turn at active service near the end of the war he moved to New Jersey. He toured with
Jimmy Dorsey
James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peopl ...
's band from 1945 to 1947, later forming the Soft Winds trio with Dorsey's guitarist
Herb Ellis and pianist
Lou Carter. During this time he wrote the music and lyrics to "
Detour Ahead",
which has been recorded by
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...
,
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
,
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...
,
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...
, and
Carola
Carola is a female given name, the Latinized form of the Germanic given names Caroline or Carol.
People named Carola include:
Acting
* Carola Braunbock (1924–1978), Czech-born East German actress
* Carola Höhn (1910–2005), German actre ...
. During that time, he also wrote the sardonic swing tune "
I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out" which was recorded by
June Christy
June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued ...
and the
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...
Orchestra. Chicago jazz vocalist
Erin McDougald recorded the song 50 years later on her album ''The Auburn Collection'' (2004).
In 1951, Frigo returned to Chicago, primarily working as a studio bassist and arranger. He also led the band at Mr. Kelly's, a popular Rush Street nightspot. Between 1951 and 1960 he played fiddle hoedowns and novelties with the Sage Riders, the house band for the
WLS radio program ''
National Barn Dance
''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS (AM), WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''.
''National Barn Dance'' also set the stag ...
''. He played with the Sage Riders for another fourteen years after
WGN revived the show in 1961. In that time he worked with Chicago jazz vocalist
Anita O'Day
Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self-proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...
in live and studio recordings done in Chicago. He was featured (on bass) on O'Day's quartet version of "No Soap, No Hope Blues". Frigo is credited as playing fiddle for the track "A Rectangle Picture" on the
Mason Proffit album ''Wanted'' released in 1969 on the Happy Tiger label.
In the mid-1980s Frigo largely abandoned playing bass to concentrate on violin. After performing with
Monty Alexander
Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was in ...
,
Ray Brown, and
Herb Ellis at Chicago's Jazz Showcase, he was invited by Alexander to join the trio for several live dates that produced ''Triple Treat II'' and ''Triple Treat III'' (Concord, 1987). Johnny Carson asked Frigo why it took so long to start his career as a violinist. Frigo replied, "I wanna take as long as I could in my life so I wouldn't have time to become a has-been".
He performed as a jazz violinist at festivals worldwide, including the
Umbria Jazz Festival and
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is a festival held annually on the second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. The festival moved to Rotterdam in 2006 after the demolition of the Statenhal in The Hague where it was originally held. ...
. Frigo also was a published poet and artist and played flugelhorn. He wrote and performed the 1969 Chicago Cubs fight song "Hey Hey, Holy Mackerel".
Death
Frigo died of cancer in a Chicago hospital on July 4, 2007, at age 90.
Personal life
Frigo was married twice and had one son with each wife. He was survived by his second wife, the former Brittney Browne, and one son, jazz drummer Richard "Rick" Frigo, who was born to his first wife, Dorothy Hachmeister. His other son, Derek John Frigo, who was born to Browne, was the lead guitarist for the rock band ''
Enuff Z'nuff''. Derek Frigo died of a drug overdose on May 28, 2004.
Discography
As leader
As sideman
References
Sources
''When My Fiddle's in the Case: The Poetry and Paintings of Jazz Violinist Johnny Frigo''. Lost Coast Press, 2004
External links
NPR ObituaryObituary at Jazzhouse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frigo, Johnny
1916 births
2007 deaths
20th-century American violinists
American jazz musicians
American jazz violinists
American people of Italian descent
Chesky Records artists
American male violinists
Jazz musicians from Chicago
Swing violinists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
Statesmen of Jazz members
Deaths from cancer in Illinois
Arbors Records artists