CHICAGO (AP) -- Johnny Frigo, a versatile jazz violinist and bassist who toured with Jimmy Dorsey and co-wrote the jazz standard "Detour Ahead," has died, according to his son. He was 90.

Frigo died early Wednesday at a Chicago hospital after battling cancer in recent years, said his son Rick Frigo.

Johnny Frigo was born on Chicago's South Side and spent much of his career playing bass. After playing with the U.S. Coast Guard band at Ellis Island during World War II, he toured with clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra.

Around that time, Frigo wrote "Detour Ahead" with Lou Carter and Herb Ellis, a song that became a jazz standard recorded by Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, among others.

He was in his late 60s or early 70s when he turned his attention to the violin, appearing twice on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

"Nobody played violin like him," said his son. "Chicago's a poorer place without him."

Frigo was also a poet and artist with a keen sense of humor, his son said. When Carson asked him why he'd waited so long to launch his jazz violin career, he replied that he didn't want there to be enough time for him to become a has-been, his son said.

Frigo is survived by his son; wife, Brittney Brown; and sister, Aurora Bray.

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