The Swingin'st

by Vido Musso

Overview

Although issued in 1956, the recordings on Vido Musso's first LP for the Modern label were actually done around 1953-1954, with a young Maynard Ferguson on trumpet. Modern was one of the leading R&B-oriented independent labels of the early and mid-'50s, and as might be expected, these sides were a little R&B-influenced, particularly in some of Musso's tenor sax vamping and the boogie patterns of some of the tunes. But really it was for the most part straight swing jazz, albeit slightly modernized from (and more clearly recorded than) what Musso had recorded as a younger swing musician in the 1930s and 1940s, even including a remake of the classic he'd cut in the '30s with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, "Sing, Sing, Sing." This isn't the grittiest or most creative swing jazz, and even by the early to mid-'50s was sounding a bit behind the times. But it's cleanly and zippily executed, and only on the hucklebuckling grind of "Rock House Blues" do they really tread close to '50s R&B. The 2004 CD reissue of The Swingin'st on Ace, incidentally, is substantially different from the original LP, more than doubling the length by adding the entirety of Musso's second Modern album, 1957's Teenage Dance Party; a previously unissued alternate take of the single "Blue Night"; and the 1954 single "Vido's Drive"/"Frosty." Teenage Dance Party, as can be deduced from the title, was a more consciously R&B-oriented set, with the incongruous addition of a creepy organ. It makes for a somewhat incongruous pairing with the more conventional The Swingin'st, though it's handy for rounding up Musso's most significant Modern output onto one disc. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	01/04/2005
Label:	Ace
UPC:	0029667005524

Tracks

1. Sing, Sing, Sing
2. Back Street Boogie (Musso's Boogie)
3. Jersey Bounce
4. Movin' On
5. Emaline
6. Rockin' Time (Roseland Boogie)
7. Vido's Boogie
8. Sherry Pink
9. On Stage
10. Rollin'
11. Rock House Blues
12. Russian Lullaby (Lullaby)
13. Sorrento
14. Intermission Riff
15. You Feel It
16. Rockin' Time
17. Sweet Sue
18. Honky Tonk
19. Speak Easy
20. Blues for Two
21. Oh! Yes
22. Oh Marie
23. Blue Night
24. Vido's Drive
25. Frosty

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Vido Musso   Primary Artist,Sax (Tenor)

Technical Credits

Joe Josea   Composer
Clifford Scott   Composer
Vido Musso   Composer
Billy Butler   Composer
Irving Berlin   Composer
Louis Prima   Composer
Sam Ling   Composer
Jules Taub   Composer
Peter Gibbon   Liner Notes,Archive Research
Nick Robbins   Mastering
Ray Wetzel   Composer
Will J. Harris   Composer
Bill Doggett   Composer
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Victor Young   Composer
George Little   Composer
Barrie Smith   Package Design
Ernesto de Curtis   Composer
Berisford "Shep" Shepherd   Composer
Edward Johnson   Composer