Johnny Frigo, 90; bassist, violinist co-wrote jazz standard ‘Detour Ahead’

Johnny Frigo, 90, a versatile jazz violinist and bassist who toured with Jimmy Dorsey and collaborated on a jazz standard recorded by Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, died early Wednesday at a Chicago hospital after complications from a fall, his son Rick said.

Frigo was born on Chicago’s South Side and spent much of his career playing stand-up bass. After performing with the U.S. Coast Guard band at Ellis Island during World War II, he toured with Dorsey and his orchestra and played with an orchestra led by Chico Marx. In the late 1940s, Frigo, Lou Carter and Herb Ellis wrote “Detour Ahead,” a song that became a jazz standard recorded by Holiday, Vaughan and Bill Evans, among others.

Frigo also worked as a studio musician and performed in jazz clubs.

In the 1980s, he turned his attention to the violin, appearing twice on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” When Carson asked Frigo why he’d waited so long to launch his jazz violin career, he replied that he didn’t want to leave enough time to become a has-been.