Danny Russo

{{Infobox musical artist | name = Dan Russo | image = File:Dan Russo and Ted Fiorito, 1924.jpg | caption = Russo (left) with Fiorito in 1924 as the Oriole Orchestra. | image_size = 200 px | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|9|5|1885|10|13}} | death_place = Hollywood, California, United States | origin = | instrument = | genre = Jazz, big band | occupation = Songwriter, violinist | years_active = | label = | website = }}

'''Dan Russo''' (Chicago, 13 October 1885 — Hollywood, 5 September 1956<ref>{{cite book |author= |date= 1980 |title= ASCAP Biographical Dictionary |url= https://archive.org/details/ascapbiographica00amer_0/page/436/mode/2up |edition= 4 |location= New York City |publisher= Jaques Cattell Press |page= 436|isbn= 978-0-8352-1283-0 }}</ref>) was an American violinist, songwriter, and big band leader during the 1920s and 1930s.

Russo assembled his first orchestra in Chicago at the beginning of the 1920s, which had an engagement at the Oriole Terrace in Detroit.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|entry=Danny Russo|author=Colin Larkin|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|edition=4th|year=2006}}</ref> This group was conducted together with the pianist Ted Fiorito, and became known under the name of the Oriole Orchestra, also performing at the Chicago Edgewater Beach Hotel. These performances were also broadcast on the radio in 1924. In 1926 they opened an engagement at the Aragon Ballroom. The orchestra consisted of three saxophonists, two trumpets, a trombone, a piano, a tuba, a banjo, drums, and Russo on the violin.<ref>{{cite book|author=Leo Walker|title=The Big Band Almanac|publisher=Ward Ritchie Press|year=1978|page=369}}</ref> Russo's orchestra was a well-known territory band in Chicago and the Midwest; Some recordings were made for the labels Columbia and Brunswick under the band names The Oriole Terrace Orchestra and Russo & Fiorito's Oriole Orchestra. In 1927, Fiorito and Russo parted, and each continued his own band; Russo took over the old band name for recordings until 1932.

Dan Russo also worked on the song "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!)", which he wrote with Gus Kahn and Ernie Erdman. It was played by Al Jolson & the Vitaphone Orchestra and was used on the soundtrack of Woody Allen's ''Bullets over Broadway'' (1994).

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMSLP|id=Russo, Dan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russo, Danny}} Category:Musicians from Chicago Category:American jazz violinists Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:American big band bandleaders Category:1885 births Category:1956 deaths Category:Jazz musicians from Illinois Category:20th-century violinists Category:20th-century American people