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 /TiVo