Vido Musso
Musso (middle) performs with Benny Goodman (left) and Sid Catlett (right) in the 1940s.
Background information
Birth name	Vito Gugliermo Musso
Born	(1913-01-16)January 16, 1913[1] Palermo, Sicily[1]
Died	January 9, 1982(1982-01-09) (aged 68) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Saxophone
Years active	1930–1975

Vido William Musso (January 16, 1913 – January 9, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist.

Biography

Musso moved with his family from Sicily to the U.S. in July 1920, having arrived at the Port of New York on the Italian steamship Patria. They lived in Detroit, where Musso started learning to play clarinet. Ten years later, he went to Los Angeles and formed a big band with Stan Kenton in 1935.^[1][2] Musso dropped out the next year to work with Gus Arnheim, Benny Goodman, and Gene Krupa. He accompanied Billie Holiday and pianist Teddy Wilson on recordings in the late 1930s. He replaced Bunny Berigan as the leader of his band and tried unsuccessfully at other times during the 1930s and 1940s to be a big band leader. But most of his career was spent as a sideman. After returning to Goodman, he was a member of big bands led by Harry James, Woody Herman, and Tommy Dorsey. He went back to play with Kenton during the middle 1940s. Having moved to California, he retired around 1975.^[1]

As a leader, Musso recorded for Savoy (1946), Trilon (1947), Arco, Fantasy (1952), RPM, Crown, and Modern.^[2]

The Santa Monica Daily Press, (25th. March, 2016), mentioned that Shecky Greene married Musso's daughter, Marie Musso, in 1985.

Discography

As leader

Singles

• "Jig-a-Jive" // "I've Been a Fool" with Betty Van (Davis & Schwegler, 1938)
• "Moose on a Loose" // "Vido in a Jam" (Savoy, 1946) with Kai Winding, Gene Roland, Boots Mussulli
• "Spellbound" // "Lem Me Go" (Savoy, 1946) with the Eddie Safranski All Stars (including Lem Davis)
• "My Jo-Ann" // "Big Deal" (B-side by Charlie Ventura) (Savoy, 1946)
• "On the Mercury" with the Raye Sisters // "Vido's Bop" (Trilon, 1947)
• "Vido in a Mist"// "Gone with Vido" (Trilon, 1947)
• "Trees" with Ray Wetzel // "The Unfinished Boogie" (Trilon, 1947)
• "The Day I Left Alsace-Lorraine" with the Honeydreamers // "Checkerboard" (Trilon, 1947)
• "Santa Lucia" // "Pagliacci" with Stan Kenton and his Orchestra (Capitol, 1950)
• "Blue Night" // "Vido's Boogie" (RPM, 1953)
• "Vido's Drive" // "Frosty" (RPM, 1954)
• "Blues for Two" // "Speak Easy" (RPM, 1957)
• "Lullaby" // "Roseland Boogie" (Crown, 1953)
• "Musso's Boogie" // "Sing, Sing, Sing" (Crown, 1954)
• "Flat Top Boogie" // "Power House Boogie" (Crown, 1954)

Albums

• Loaded (Savoy MG-12074, 1956) with Kai Winding, Gene Roland, Boots Mussulli, Eddie Safranski, Denzil Best.
• The Swingin'st (Modern LMP-1207, 1956) with Maynard Ferguson, Milt Bernhart. Re-released in US in 1957 on Crown Records (CLP-5007). Released in UK in 1961 on Eros Records (ERL-50030).
• Teenage Dance Party (Crown Records CLP-5029, 1957) (with Doug McClure on front sleeve). Released on Eros Records in UK in 1961, with different front sleeve.
• Thanks for the Thrill (Sounds of Yesteryear, 2015).

As sideman

With Wardell Gray

• Way Out Wardell (Modern, 1956)

With Stan Kenton

• Artistry in Rhythm (Capitol, 1950)
• Encores (Capitol, 1950)
• Stan Kenton's Milestones (Capitol, 1950)
• Stan Kenton Classics (Capitol, 1952)
• The Kenton Era (Capitol, 1955)
• Kenton in Hi-Fi (Capitol, 1956)

With Jess Stacy

• Tribute to Benny Goodman (Atlantic, 1954)