Arcuiso "Gus" Bivona was never a household-name clarinetist like Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw or Buddy DeFranco, but during the big band era and throughout the 1950s and '60s, he was one of the finest and most relaxed swing clarinetists in the business. He also was a rock-solid saxophonist. Bivona came up in the late 1930s as a sideman in Will Hudson's band before working with Bunny Berigan in 1938 and '39. Between 1940 and '42, he was a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra and then joined Jan Savitt's band briefly. During World War II, Bivona was in the Naval Air Force Band. [Photo above courtesy of the Bivona family]
After the war, Bivona settled in Hollywood and worked with Tommy Dorsey, Les Brown and Bob Crosby before re-joining Goodman. Next came Woody Herman in 1947 and then the West Coast studios, where he recorded steadily on MGM movie soundtracks and on albums for June Christy, Buddy DeFranco, Ray Anthony, Jack Teagarden and many others.
By the mid-1950s, Bivona landed on TV's Steve Allen Show as part of the band and as Allen's sidekick. He had met Allen when Allen moved in across the street from his family in Van Nuys in 1949. Bivona's first leadership album was Hey! Dig That Crazy Band for Mercury in 1956, just as pop records went from 10 inches to 12 inches. His second one in 1957 for Mercury was Music for Swingers: Gus Bivona Plays the Music of Steve Allen, a superb recording. Bivona not only assembled a stellar big band of Hollywood's top musicians but also brought in two crack arrangers.
As the album's title implies, all of the songs were composed by Allen. What's more, Bivona contracted superb arrangements from Henry Mancini and Skip Martin. Here's the band (dig the trumpet section!): Conrad Gozzo, Pete Candoli, Mannie Klein and John Best (tp); Si Zentner, Joe Howard, Nick Di Maio and George Roberts (tb); Gus Bivona (cl,as, conductor);, Les Robinson and Mahlon Clark (as); Georgie Auld and Don Lodice (ts); Pete Terry (bar); Jimmy Rowles (p); Vince Terry (g); Joe Mondragon and Mike Rubin (b) and Alvin Stoller (d).
While the music on the album is technically in the dance-band sphere, the writing is so extraordinary that it's really a powerhouse listening album. I'm guessing the softer, more inventive arrangements for Selfish Love, Marvelous, Lazy Rhapsody, Conversation and Mr. Moon were by Mancini while the hard-chargers were by Martin. We have no way of knowing for sure, since the album's reverse side doesn't say.
All in all, Bivona's clarinet on the album is as cool and as smooth as can be, and the band and arrangers he put together in 1957 were sensational. He also deserves credit for the idea of recording Steve Allen tunes. Each and every song on the album has a melodic, snappy feel without drifting commercial. The album also reminds us that as personable and as funny as Allen was as a TV host, he was an equally gifted songwriter whose efforts went way beyond This Could Be the Start of Something Big, perhaps his best-known tune. He reportedly wrote hundreds of songs.
Gus Bivona died in 1996 and Steve Allen died in 2000. A special thanks to Steve Schindler, who informs me that Gus Bivona's wife, Ruth Robin, a former big band singer, died in 1987. Bivona's son, Gary, is a trumpet player, and his grandchildren are members of The Interrupters, a California ska punk band. The group features Aimee Interrupter on lead vocals, Kevin Bivona on guitar, Justin Bivona on bass and Jesse Bivona on drums.
JazzWax tracks: You're in luck! Music for Swingers: Gus Bivona Plays the Music of Steve Allen (Mercury) is available for download here.
The album also is available at Spotify (type in "Music for Swingers").
JazzWax clips: Here's But You Did...
Here's Gus Bivona featured on alto sax and clarinet with the MGM Studio Orchestra (dig the size of that soundstage!)...
Here's a short documentary on Bivona (it starts 26 seconds in)...
And here's This Could Be the Start of Something Big from Music for Swingers...
