Issue Ten

    The man is the picture of poise.  In conversation, you are captivated by his quiet charm and cannot help but be impressed by the thoughtfulness of his responses to questions, and the patience and good humor reflected in his eyes and smile.  He puts you instantly at ease.  You forget that you are in the presence of a prodigious musical talent and instead, embark on a pleasant journey through a world of musical memories conducted by a guide who, in his own right, has left an indelible imprint on the landscape of jazz in North America.
    To quote Rob McConnel, his close friend, fellow musician and leader of the Grammy winning Boss Brass, “Guido Basso is quite simply the best damn fleugel horn player in the world.”  And no-one who has heard him play, either live or in his many recordings would dispute that claim, except perhaps the man himself, because part of his charm is a modesty that is disarmingly refreshing when manifest in someone blessed with his prodigious talent.  Guido has been a fixture on the music scene since leaving Montreal at the tender age of nineteen to tour with the Louis Bellson band, and he remains one of the “tastiest” jazz trumpet/fleugel horn players you will ever have the pleasure to hear.
   Guido was born in a modest neighborhood in Northeast Montreal sixteen years after the last of his six siblings.  At the age of nine, his older brother (who played saxophone) gave him a trumpet for Christmas because he thought it would be cool to have a trumpet player in the family.  In Guido’s own words, his brother “wasn’t much of a teacher.”  Though he had no idea how to play the trumpet himself, he tried to teach Guido for the next year, and while he failed as a teacher he did succeed in fostering the desire to play in the young lad.  At this point Guido got a bona fide teacher and quickly progressed.  When he was thirteen he was working with a small combo in a local restaurant, for the princely sum of one dollar an hour.
    He progressed to the point that he was playing summers in a dance band at Ideal Beach in St.Rose, Quebec and eventually worked in Maury Kaye’s band at the El Morocco, a top night-club in Montreal that regularly featured internationally famous guest artists.  Here,Vic Damone who appeared as a guest artist with the band, heard Guido play and offered him a job playing with him on a cruise ship.  Guido accepted and set off for the Caribbean, where he experienced summer weather in the winter for the first time.  The band was booked to play in Cuba but as luck would have it, Castro marched triumphant into Havana and the band’s tour was cancelled.  Guido headed back to his old gig at the El Morocco.  It was here that Louis Bellson heard him in an after hours jam session and invited him to tour with his band.  Guido was on the road again–he was only nineteen years old.
    The legendary Pearl Bailey, Bellson’s wife and the band’s feature vocalist, took a liking to the young trumpet player with the dark, Italian good looks, and quickly made him a part of her act, bringing him center stage with her and feigning interest in more than just his playing.  He remained with Bellson for two and one half years but when the band took a break while Pearl made a movie, Guido headed back to Montreal.  He was booked to play a trade show for General Motors.  The cast of the show included the then Miss Toronto.  Guido fell in love and as they say, the rest is history.  In quick succession he married, decided to get off the road and moved to Toronto, his wife’s home.  Louis Bellson’s loss was definitely Toronto’s gain.
    It was also a good move for Guido because he hit Toronto just when live music was at its peak.  The city was packed with excellent musicians and there was tons of work.  Guido fit into the Toronto scene beautifully, playing regularly in the clubs, recording studios and on both radio and TV.  During the heydays in the sixties and the seventies you could hardly go anywhere in Toronto without seeing or hearing Guido Basso.  He worked as a musician, contractor and music director on television and radio and worked with music greats such as Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Stan Getz, Stan Kenton, and Joe Williams to name but a few.  He became so well known that many stars of the entertainment world like Paul Anka would employ him as contractor for the Canadian leg of their tours, based on his well-earned reputation.  He was even booked to do guest shots on popular American TV shows like “Sonny and Cher” and “The Johnny Cash Show,” where he was the bad guy in a hilarious trumpet duel with the famous Al Hirt.  He has done more albums than he can count and has won a Grammy with the Boss Brass and a Juno for jazz as recently as last year..
    Typical of his self-effacing modesty he claims that a lot of his success was due to luck.  Apparently, having heard that Miles Davis had had his horn laquered a shade of blue Guido decided that it would be cool to have his horn lacquered green.  He did this at the time that Canadian TV was turning to color.  Producers of the big musical variety shows would say, “Get the kid with the green horn.”  His success was due more to the cool sound of his horn–not its color.  Over the years he matured from a colorful Harry James style trumpeter to the mature, velvety soft trumpet and fleugel horn stylist he is today.  His phrasing is impeccable, each riff flows with seemingly effortless ease from the horn, and resolves perfectly with a thoughtful close.  How he plays is so much a reflection of who he is that its easy to see why he was honored by being inducted into the Order of Canada.
    Guido is working less now, only playing what he wants to and when he wants and saving himself for the stuff he loves to do–which is improvising on familiar tunes in a small ensemble of other great jazz players.  He spends an increasing amount of time on his country property in Eastern Ontario with his wife Kristin, being a gentleman farmer growing garlic, cooking gourmet meals, and enjoying fine wines.  He does a jazz cruise every year with his musical friends and if you have the time and can afford the trip it’s a rare opportunity to hear Guido at his best.
    His consummate artistry was perhaps best summed up by Jack Sheldon (no slouch as a trumpeter himself) who said upon hearing Guido’s rendering of “Portrait of Jenny” on a Grammy winning Boss Brass album “You might as well quit right now cause you’ll never top that again.”  Well Jack may be right but music lovers hope that as he claims he’ll “keep playing as long as he’s got his teeth.”

    –photo by dellas