(an early cruise ship) called Esperia, but because of his youth, the captain took him on board as a passenger. In New York he first heard jazz and swing music. Pippo copied many records, sections, and he improved his skills as an arranger. In 1922 he was discovered by Armando di Piramo and joined his orchestra at Olimpia and de Ferrari in Genova. In 1923, serving in the Italian Army in Rimini, he founded a military orchestra. On 12 April 1924, he finished his service and came to Milan to play at Cova, for Di Piramo's orchestra. A few months later Philip's brothers came to Cova, with their band, the Riviera Five. Pippo taught Sid the basics as arranger, and he gave saxophone lessons, including the pizzicato technique. In Milan he performed his first recording at Pathè, near Sempione. In 1925 he started his career as an author, first for Armando, then with Carisch and finally with Curci, where he started a long relationship. He also began working as an arranger, and in 1925 after a short period at Carminati, his first line up was for Blue Star. Blue Star The Orchestra had two fixed members, Gianni Miglio and Luigi Balma, and included many others. Pippo played nine instruments and selected the members of his orchestra with a simple rule: each member must play at least three instruments, read music and play a wide list of songs from memory. The band soon held seven musicians, who played 36 instruments including the mellophone. “Pics of this time show a group of seven performers and all around a huge scenery of instruments, in one of these you can count at least 26: almost four each! It must have been an astonishing show to see them!”. Blue Star's debut show was 25 July, at Sempioncino; then at Cova with great success and at Olimpia; it became known as one of the greatest Italian orchestras. Thanks to Eugenio Pugliatti, Blue Star performed in France and Switzerland. They played at Casino de Cannes, at Saint Raphael, at Ciro in Paris, at Palace Hotel in Saint Moritz. Accompanied by Pugliatti, they played in Costantinople part of a financially successful tour. He purchased a flat for his parents in Pegli and a Fiat 507 Torpedo. He played in Genova at Grand'Italia. In the following years he performed in Cannes, Saint Raphael and again in Paris and Milan