Shorty Rogers
Encyclopedia
Milton “Shorty” Rogers (April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994), born Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz
. He played both the trumpet
and flugelhorn
, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger
. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley
and Red Norvo
. From 1947 to 1949, he worked extensively with Woody Herman
and in 1950 and 1951 he played with Stan Kenton
.
Rogers appeared on the 1954 Shelly Manne
album The Three and the Two along with Jimmy Giuffre
. Much of the music he recorded with Giuffre showed his experimental side, resulting in an early form of avant-garde jazz
. He also made notable recordings with Art Pepper
and Andre Previn
, among others.
From 1953 through 1962 Rogers recorded a series of RCA Victor
albums (later reissued under the Bluebird
label) and Atlantic
albums with his own group, Shorty Rogers and His Giants, including Shorty Courts the Count (1954), The Swinging Mr. Rogers (1955), and Martians Come Back (1955), the album title alluding to the tune "Martians Go Home" which Rogers had composed and performed on The Swinging Mr. Rogers earlier the same year. These albums incorporated some of his more avant-garde music. To some extent they could be classified as "cool" jazz; but they also looked back to the "hot" style of Count Basie
, whom Rogers always credited as a major inspiration.
Credited with the composition of the music for UPA's Mr. Magoo
cartoon Hotsy Footsy and the Looney Tune
Three Little Bops
, Rogers eventually became better known for his skills as a composer
and arranger than as a trumpeter.
After the early 1960s Rogers stopped performing on trumpet, and left the jazz scene for many years. Among other composing and arranging activities, he arranged a series of records for The Monkees
in the late 1960s, and in the 1970s wrote the jazzy background score to TV's The Partridge Family
during the show's first season. He also contributed episode scores for the fourth season of Starsky & Hutch. Finally, in 1982, he was persuaded to pick up his trumpet and return to performing in jazz ensembles, playing first with Britain’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra
and soon with Bud Shank
and others. In the 1990s he formed a Lighthouse All Stars group along with Shank, Bill Perkins
and Bob Cooper
.
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz
West coast jazz
West Coast jazz refers to various styles of jazz music that developed around Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. West Coast jazz is often seen as a sub-genre of cool jazz, which featured a less frenetic, calmer style than bebop or hard bop. The music tended to be more heavily arranged,...
. He played both the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and flugelhorn
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley
Will Bradley
Wilbur Schwictenberg was an American trombonist and bandleader who also performed under the name Will Bradley...
and Red Norvo
Red Norvo
Red Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
. From 1947 to 1949, he worked extensively with Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
and in 1950 and 1951 he played with Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
.
Rogers appeared on the 1954 Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing...
album The Three and the Two along with Jimmy Giuffre
Jimmy Giuffre
James Peter Giuffre was an American jazz clarinet and saxophone player, composer and arranger. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.-Biography:Born in Dallas, Texas, of Italian ancestry,...
. Much of the music he recorded with Giuffre showed his experimental side, resulting in an early form of avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
. He also made notable recordings with Art Pepper
Art Pepper
Art Pepper , born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an American alto saxophonist and clarinetist.About Pepper, Scott Yanow of All Music stated, "In the 1950s he was one of the few altoists that was able to develop his own sound despite the dominant influence of Charlie Parker" and: "When Art Pepper...
and Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
, among others.
From 1953 through 1962 Rogers recorded a series of RCA Victor
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
albums (later reissued under the Bluebird
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
label) and Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
albums with his own group, Shorty Rogers and His Giants, including Shorty Courts the Count (1954), The Swinging Mr. Rogers (1955), and Martians Come Back (1955), the album title alluding to the tune "Martians Go Home" which Rogers had composed and performed on The Swinging Mr. Rogers earlier the same year. These albums incorporated some of his more avant-garde music. To some extent they could be classified as "cool" jazz; but they also looked back to the "hot" style of Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, whom Rogers always credited as a major inspiration.
Credited with the composition of the music for UPA's Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo
Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem...
cartoon Hotsy Footsy and the Looney Tune
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
Three Little Bops
Three Little Bops
Three Little Bops is a 1957 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, with voices by Stan Freberg and music by jazz composer/trumpeter Shorty Rogers...
, Rogers eventually became better known for his skills as a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and arranger than as a trumpeter.
After the early 1960s Rogers stopped performing on trumpet, and left the jazz scene for many years. Among other composing and arranging activities, he arranged a series of records for The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
in the late 1960s, and in the 1970s wrote the jazzy background score to TV's The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
during the show's first season. He also contributed episode scores for the fourth season of Starsky & Hutch. Finally, in 1982, he was persuaded to pick up his trumpet and return to performing in jazz ensembles, playing first with Britain’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra
National Youth Jazz Orchestra
The National Youth Jazz Orchestra is a British jazz orchestra founded in 1963 by Bill Ashton.Based in Westminster, London, NYJO started life as the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra and evolved into becoming the national orchestra...
and soon with Bud Shank
Bud Shank
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank, Jr. was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and throughout the decade worked in various small jazz combos. He spent the 1960s as a first...
and others. In the 1990s he formed a Lighthouse All Stars group along with Shank, Bill Perkins
Bill Perkins (saxophonist)
Bill Perkins was a cool jazz saxophonist and flutist popular on the West Coast jazz scene, known primarily as a tenor saxophonist. Born in San Francisco, California, Perkins started out performing in the big bands of Woody Herman and Jerry Wald. He also worked for the Stan Kenton orchestra, which...
and Bob Cooper
Bob Cooper (musician)
Bob Cooper was a West Coast jazz musician known primarily for playing tenor saxophone, but also for being one of the first to play solos on oboe. He worked in Stan Kenton's band starting in 1945 and married the band's singer June Christy...
.
Discography
- Modern Sounds, Shorty Rogers & His Giants (1951; Capitol RecordsCapitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
H-294) - PopoPopo (album)Popo is a jazz album co-led by trumpeter Shorty Rogers and alto saxophonist Art Pepper, recorded in 1951.-Track listing:#"Popo " – 4:19#"What's New? " – 2:17#"Lullaby In Rhythm " - 5:22...
(1951; Xanadu RecordsXanadu RecordsXanadu Records was a jazz music record label specializing in bebop throughout the 1970s and 1980s founded by Don Schlitten, recording and issuing recordings by some legendary names in jazz music.-Discography:...
) - Short Stops (1953; Bluebird RecordsBluebird RecordsBluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
) - Infinity Promenade (1953; RCA Victor Records 20-5503)
- Tale of an African Lobster (1953; RCA Victor Records 20-5503)
- Shorty Rogers and His "Giants" (1953; RCA Victor Records LPM-3137; 10 inch LP)
- Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (1954; RCA Victor Records LJM-1004)
- The Swinging Mr. Rogers (1955; Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
ALS-1212) - Martians Come Back (1955; Atlantic Records SD-1232)
- Martians Stay Home (March 1, October 21 & November 3, 1955; Released by Atlantic Records, K50714, in 1980)
- Clickin with Clax (March 27 & 30, 1956; Released by Atlantic Records, K50481, in 1979)
- The Big Shorty Rogers Express (1956 RCA Victor LPM-1232; reissued on CD, RCA Victor CD 74321 18519 2)
- Wherever the Five Winds Blow (1956; RCA Victor LPM-1326)
- Shorty Rogers Plays Richard Rodgers (1957; RCA Victor LPM-1428)
- Way Up There (1957; Atlantic Records SD-1270)
- Portrait of Shorty (1957; RCA Victor LPM-1561)
- Afro-Cuban Influence (1958; RCA Victor LPM/LSP-1763; reissued on CD)
- Chances Are It Swings (1958; RCA Victor LPM/LSP-1975)
- The Wizard of Oz and Other Harold Arlen Songs (1959; RCA Victor LPM/LSP 1997)
- Bossa Nova (1962; RepriseReprise RecordsReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
R/R9 6050) (Reissued as Return to Rio on Discovery DS-899) - Jazz Waltz (1963; Reprise R/R9 6060)
External links
- Shorty Rogers biography
- Interview with Shorty Rogers
- [ Yanow, Scott. "Shorty Rogers" (Web site allmusic)]
- Alphabet Conspiracy - Shorty makes a brief appearance in this 1959 educational film.