D.A. Pennebaker, Bill Evans, Shorty Rogers ....

This weekend at JazzWax, D.A. Pennebaker, Bill Evans, Shorty Rogers, Cher and more... https://t.co/9kit7NG8Ol pic.twitter.com/sxHren1v4k

— Marc Myers (@JazzWax) 15 de julho de 2017

Bud Shank: Shorty Rogers, 1954

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

June 09, 2016

If you're looking for an introduction to West Coast jazz or simply want the pure stuff, Bud Shank's recordings for the Pacific Jazz label in the 1950s are a great place to start. Bud had a sterling, aggressive sound on the alto saxophone, with the feel of a sports car pulling away from the curb. His albums for Pacific Jazz wisely teamed him with top like-minded Los Angeles talent, including Shorty Rogers, Bill Perkins, Bob Cooper, Claude Williamson and others. Yesterday, I spent the day writing while listening to Bud's entire Pacific Jazz output. Each album remains a masterpiece—from a technician's standpoint and from a soul perspective. Bud was always all in—he loved lowering his foot on the proverbial gas pedal—but he also had enormous sensitivity and depth.

The album that stuck in my ear during yesterday's listen was Bud's first leadership date—simply called the Bud Shank Quintet. It featured flugelhornist Shorty Rogers backed by Jimmy Rowles (p) Harry Babasin (b) and Roy Harte (d)—a superb rhythm section. This album was originally recorded for Nocturne as part of its "Jazz in Hollywood" series and reissued later on Pacific Jazz. The enterprising Harte founded both labels as well as Drum City, a leading drum retailer in West Hollywood.

What's fabulous about this album is that all of the songs were composed by Rogers, who had one of the finest lyrical sensibilities of all the West Coast jazz writers-arrangers. We also get to hear Rowles, one of the most elegant and delicate West Coast pianists of the period, and Harte, whose stick and brushwork were terrific. We even get to hear Bud play flute on Lotus Bud. But the real standout on this album was the superb and still underappreciated bassist Harry Babasin. His lines here were meaty, rock-solid confident and smart. So much so that the sound of his bass rises out of the rhythm section to become the third horn. [Photo above of Bud Shank by Roy Harte Jazz Archives/CTSImages]

It's remarkable that 62 years later, this music sounds just as fresh and joyous as it did in 1954. There's no filler. I only wish Bud were still with us so I could call him up to talk about it. For my interviews with Bud, scroll down the right-hand column under JazzWax Interviews for the "Bud Shank" links. [Photo above of Shorty Rogers by Roy Harte Jazz Archives/CTSImages]

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the Bud Shank Quintet playing the compositions of Shorty Rogers as well as three other Bud Shank albums for Pacific Jazz here. If you're feeling flush, spring for the The Pacific Jazz Bud Shank Studio Sessions, a Mosaic box now out of print but available here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Bud Shank and Shorty Rogers on Rogers' ballad Jasmine, which has a These Foolish Things feel...

And here's Just a Few. Dig Bud and Rogers motoring around on this one...

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Shorty Rogers

At JazzWax, 3 videos of monster flugelhornist Shorty Rogers in the 1980s https://t.co/EAhRNEJO9v pic.twitter.com/F8dylktBdJ

— Marc Myers (@JazzWax) June 3, 2016

Larry Bunker 1928 - 2005

Uploaded on Mar 27, 2010
Larry Bunker on drums performing "Time Was" with Shorty Rogers [tp], Gary LeFebvre [ts], Lou Levy [p] and Gary Peacock [b].

Shorty Rogers Is Long On West Coast Jazz

by Steven A. Cerra

“The definition of "West Coast Jazz?" You know, I've been asked that question so many times. It's a hard one. I'm not trying to evade the question, I'm just trying to figure it out myself. Maybe I was a practitioner of it, but as I think it over, all of us in music are products of our environment and heritage. Shelly Manne, Jimmy Giuffre and myself who are so distinctly associated with this sound...when I look back at our musical heritage, I remember that we all loved the Kansas City 7, a small unit out of the Basie band, and groups that you don't hear people speak about anymore. Bassist John Kirby, for instance, had kind of soft sounding group. 

Just to express ourselves and have fun, some of our tunes were in the softer groove. Lester Young played clarinet in the Kansas City 7 and created a sound much like Giuffre was getting later. If you research it and analyze it, you'll see a very strong similarity between the Kansas City 7 sound and what later became known as the "West Coast Jazz" sound. A quite similar sound coming out of the East Coast was called "Cool Jazz." They are kind of interrelated with each other. 

The bottom line is we're just a few guys trying to have fun, enjoying and expressing ourselves through playing.” - Shorty Rogers as quoted in Steven Harris, The Kenton Kronicles

Although not specifically credited, the following piece on Shorty Rogers appeared under the continually running “The West Coast of Jazz” series in the February 5, 1959 edition of Down Beat magazine. The Los Angeles Associate Editor at that time was John Tynan who more than likely penned the piece.

As you read about what was going on in Shorty’s career in 1959, please keep in mind that this is just one aspect of the vibrant and dynamic musical scene that was the world of many Los Angeles based Jazz musicians.

Doing movie studio calls, radio jingles and TV commercials during the day and playing Jazz gigs at night while interspersing recording sessions at all hours of the day and night was the norm. 

It was a marvelously creative time for all concerned.

Who knew that in less than a decade much of it, if not most of it, would all be over?! With the benefit of hindsight, there is an ironic twist to one meaning for the word  “long” in the title of this piece.
“Arms dangling, head bent and bobbing to the beat, fingers snapping and jaws chomping gum, the short, dark-bearded trumpeter stood alone in the center of the recording studio listening to a playback.

Shorty Rogers had left his horn at home for this particular record date. In his capacity as west coast supervisor for RCA-Victor jazz albums his job in this instance was in the booth, overseeing the performance of a small group, led by tenor-ist Jack Montrose, which included Red Norvo (Shorty's brother-in-law), Barney Kessel, Red Wooten, and Mel Lewis.

''Swell, fellas," Shorty drawled as the playback ended, "let's go on to the next one."

Back at his bench in the booth, Rogers lit his tenth cigarette since the session began, took a swig from a bottle of coke and, when the musicians were ready, cued them on the first take of the next number.

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Shorty Rogers As Interviewed By Steve Voce

Steven A. Cerra / Steve Voce / Jazz Journal
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
““I was really very lucky, because I left school at 17 knowing that I had a job waiting for me. I had been working with a kids' band at a high school dance. We did them often, made about three dollars a night. This night we were told that we were having a special guest and sure enough Will Bradley arrived. He asked if some of the guys could play with him, and we had a jam session. I was chosen on trumpet, and Will must have liked what he heard, because later he told me that he was reorganising the band and asked for my phone number. 

At that time I listened a lot to Bobby Hackett and Roy Eldridge. Dizzy Gillespie was just beginning to emerge with some revolutionary things. Anyway, the Will Bradley-Ray McKinley partnership had just broken up when I joined the band, and Shelly Manne came in to replace Ray. That was the first time I met him. Shelly used to sing some of Ray's vocal numbers, too. I didn't start writing until after I joined the army in 1943. I'd been to the High School Of Music And Arts in New York, and it was compulsory to take a music theory class, but I didn't like it, I thought it was a waste of time. I didn't get along with the teachers and I wouldn't do any homework.

Later, in the army band, we had a lot of time on our hands and I got the urge to write a few things to see what they sounded like. That's when it began, but of course before the army when the Bradley band broke up, I went with Red Norvo's small group, which included Aaron Sachs on reeds and Eddie Bert on trombone. I always admired and got on well with Red, and later on he married my sister.

“That band was unique and I think Red developed a special soft, intimate band sound. He played unamplified xylophone and because of this the horns played muted a lot of the time.' [The band can be heard on 'New York Town Hall Concert Vol I & 2 Commodore ‎– 6.26168 AG] [For more information on the concert please visit http://www.jazzhistoryonline.com/Town_Hall_1945.html]

Red recommended me to Woody later on when I came out of the army, and he had a lot to do with me getting on to what was then considered to be the band, so it was like when I left high school, I had a job waiting for me. 

“Red had joined Woody when the band had reorganised in New York and Chubby Jackson, Flip Phillips and Bill Harris had come in. There was a fantastic spirit, just a joy of playing, and everyone was influenced by Bird and Dizzy and was trying to bring their way of playing on the band. It was just so much fun to be playing with those guys and such a precious gift and honour that I'm lost for words. Neil Hefti and Ralph Burns and the other arrangers were just marvellous, and for me it was like going to school, a graduate course, a real luxury. 

“It was funny because I came onto the band out of the army and replaced Conte Candoli, who'd just been drafted and sent to the same camp I'd just left! It kind of scared me to join that band, to be honest with you, but Pete Candoli who was sitting next to me just took me in like another brother and really watched over me. It's an association that's still going on to this day. We're still very close and we go to the same church and share things together.

“I was 21 when I joined the band. The first writing I did was the things for the Woodchoppers [the small group within the Woody Herman big band]. We were in Chicago and we were told about an album to be done by the Woodchoppers. Red suggested I submit a few things, and some of them were rearrangements of things I'd done for Red's band. That's when I wrote Igor. It was for Stravinsky, of course. I loved him and one of the greatest things that happened to me was that later I got to meet him and he came to some concerts I played. When the Herd recorded Ebony Concerto he rehearsed us in New York City and I remembered when we came to California he was here and rehearsed the band again to get us ready for the recording. It was a great experience.'


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Shorty Rogers: 'Dementia'

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

There were plenty of kitsch horror films made and released in 1953, including The Neanderthal Man, It Came From Outer Space and The Magnetic Monster. Among the exceptions, however, was Dementia, later known as Daughter of Horror. Completed in '53, the film wasn't released until '55 thanks to a tangle with Hollywood censors. The neo-expressionist film was directed by John Parker and starred Adrienne Barrett, both of whom are virtually unknown today. Comedian Shelly Berman can be seen as a stoned beatnik toward the end, and Marni Nixon did the overdubbed vocals.

What makes this black-and-white gem so terrifying is its complete lack of dialogue (that's one way to hold down the budget!). The music by avant-garde composer George Antheil, sound effects and creepy lighting (with eerie narration added in places later by Ed McMahon) all combine to raise suspense and neck hairs.

Some today might view the film as high camp, but to me it's still one of the few psychological terror films from the decade that holds up, give or take a few hammy elements. And it's wonderfully inventive, though borrowing in places from M (1931) and the 1945 British horror film Dead of Night (above). John Cassavetes surely must have been influenced by the film's raw approach for his taut, independently-produced Shadows (1959).

But enough cinema talk. Of note for JazzWax readers is that Shorty Rogers and His Giants perform Wig Alley (aka Morpo) in a club scene toward the end. It's one of the only films of this great '53 band (minus Art Pepper and Shelly Manne). The Giants here include Milt Bernhart on trombone, John Graas on French horn, Shorty Rogers in trumpet, Jimmy Giuffre on tenor sax and Howard Rumsey. The pianist is probably Frank Patchen, the tuba player is likely Gene Englund and the conga player is likely Roy Harte. I can't place the eye-twitching drummer, who may be an actor. [Photo above, from left, of Milt Bernhart and Shorty Rogers]

JazzWax clip: Here's Dementia (aka Daughter of Horror), complete. Shorty Rogers and His Giants start at 43:38...

A special thanks to Ray McDonald.

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Shorty Rogers: 'Jazz Scene USA'

If you're a YouTube hound, then you're certainly familiar with a clip or two from 1962 featuring flugelhornist Shorty Rogers and His Giants. Those clips—in relatively poor audio and visual condition—make up part of Rogers' appearance on Jazz Scene USA, a nationally syndicated show produced by Steve Allen.

Last week, Jimi Mentis in Athens provided a link to the full show in sterling form. A big thanks to Jimi. Here's Shorty Rogers and his Giants—Rogers (flhn), Gary LeFebvre (ts, fl), Lou Levy (p). Gary Peacock (b) and Larry Bunker (d). A killer group akin to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers on the East Coast and a fierce reminder of just how great these guys were...

- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2014/01/shorty-rogers-jazz-scene-usa.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Jazzwax+%28JazzWax%29#sthash.H4IyBFpA.dpuf

Shorty Rogers: Rock Sessions

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Shorty Rogers led a double life in the 1950s. By day, he was one of West Coast jazz's founding fathers—standing out as a dynamic trumpeter and flugelhornist, a prolific big-band and small-group composer-arranger, and dominant bandleader. But in his off hours, he had an alter-ego—Boots Brown, an early rock-and-roller who recorded about a dozen jump-boogie singles.

Why Rogers bothered and went incognito to do so has been something of a mystery. He didn't really need the money. Was he simply gaslighting the music industry—showing executives that any decent jazz artist could knock off the stuff provided horns honked and the drummer could keep a solid strip-time beat. What's the meaning of the name Boots Brown? And why was Block Buster in '52 credited to "Mickey Rogers?" A royalty annuity for two-year-old son Michael?

We know that in 1957 Shorty Rogers and a handful of his  pals recorded the rock-and-roll music used in the Looney Tunes cartoon Three Little Bops. The hipster send-up of the Three Little Pigs was conceived and narrated by humorist Stan Freberg, and Rogers is listed in the credits.

But the soundtrack was just the most visible tip of Rogers' rock-and-roll efforts during this period of transition in the music business. According to Rogers' discography, there were nine Boots Brown sides recorded in 1952 and '53—six for three RCA singles and three more tracks added to fill out an album of multiple 45s on Groove, RCA's R&B label (this was the label's first release). The 45s eventually were converted to a 33 1/3 LP.

My guess is Rogers was asked by his label to record them when RCA was trying to establish its new 45-rpm format. On the '52 session, the musicians included Shorty Rogers (tp), Milt Bernhart (tb), Bud Shank (as), Jimmy Giuffre (ts), Gerry Mulligan (bar), Marty Paich (p), Jimmy Wyble (g), Howard Rumsey (b), Roy Harte (d) and Jo Jo Johnson (vcl).

On the '53 session, the musicians were Shorty Rogers (tp), Bud Shank (as), Dave Pell and Jimmy Giuffre (ts), Bob Cooper (bar), Frank Patchen (p), Howard Rumsey (b), Shelly Manne (d) and Charles Schrouder (vcl).

According to Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, "the six titles by Shorty Rogers on Boots Brown and His Blockbusters are spoof versions of rock-and-roll numbers; the other side of this LP is also a rock-and-roll spoof by top East Coast jazz men who go by Dan Drew and His Daredevils." Based on my research, the Dan Drew gang included saxophonist Al Cohn, trumpeter Nick Travis and pianist Elliot Lawrence.

Rogers returned as Boots Brown in '58 and '59 for another bunch of RCA sides that included Juicy, Trollin' and Block Buster. If I get a chance this week, I'll give Dave Pell a buzz to find out the deal and report back. [Pictured above, from left: Harry Babasin, Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne and Marty Paich in 1952]

JazzWax clips. Two from the Boots Brown rock-and-roll repertoire:

Here's Boots Brown and His Blockbusters playing Shortnin' Bread from 1952 (on the German Elektrola label). Wow, Jimmy Giuffre could wail!...

- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2013/06/shorty-rogers-rock-sessions.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Jazzwax+%28JazzWax%29#sthash.gIKqU3J2.dpuf
Used with permission by Marc Myers

Shorty Rogers: Portrait of Shorty

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

As modern as Stan Kenton was in 1950, he wasn't modern enough for Shorty Rogers. Rogers, like many members of Kenton's band at the time, was a big fan of Count Basie and his orchestra's dynamic ability to swing hard. While Kenton was obsessed with modern classical music in 1950, Rogers and others like Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Shelly Manne and Bob Cooper wanted a hipper sound that merged the blues feel and swing of the East Coast with the cool, linear harmony of the West Coast.

So in the fall of 1950, Rogers formed a band that someone wittily named "the Giants." The group was really a holding 

company, of sorts. Unlike touring bands led by Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and other stars that retained the same personnel, Rogers chose his Giants based on who happened to be available. In this regard, the Giants was a prefabricated unit that could be broken down into small groups like sextets, octets and nonets or built up to form a large, towering orchestra.

The first Giants session was a nonet that Rogers assembled to back vocalist June Christy in September 1950 (the A Mile Down the Highway session). Unlike Miles Davis' nonet in New York and Dave Brubeck's octet in San Francisco, Rogers' group wasn't interested in modern classical theory. Instead, the Giants was a smooth blending of horns that was akin to a barbershop vocal group—except with instruments. Kenton's brassy bluster wasn't Rogers' model, but Woody Herman's tightly voiced reeds and lyrical horns was.

Early on, Rogers kept his Giants compact. He had that luxury, since he had a gift for arranging small groups so they'd sound twice or three times their size. In March 1953, Rogers finally assembled a bona fide big band and recorded Cool & Crazyfor RCA. There was plenty of swing and powerful brass. But in the middle of it all, Rogers would solo in the simplest, most melodic terms. It was almost as if he had purposely started a riot so he could come in a play peacemaker. That was certainly one way to stand out.

In 1957, Rogers began using a big band again. Perhaps one of the finest Giants recordings of this period was Portrait of Shorty, which was recorded in July 1957. By then, most of the best musicians in Hollywood were no longer attached to bands. They were making a fortune freelancing in recording and movie studios, and had become highly polished. The band onPortrait of Shorty is a staggering group of mighty West Coast muisicans, and the trumpet section alone is frightening:

Shorty Rogers (tp,flhrn) Al Porcino, Conrad Gozzo, Don Fagerquist, Conte Candoli, Pete Candoli (tp) Frank Rosolino, George Roberts, Harry Betts, Bob Enevoldsen (tb) Herb Geller (as,ts) Richie Kamuca, Jack Montrose, Bill Holman (ts) Pepper Adams (bar) Lou Levy (p) Monty Budwig (b) Stan Levey (d).

Gone is the mannered writing of earlier Giants bands. Here, Rogers maintains his signature voicings and steady build. But he also has no trouble throwing it into sixth gear, letting the band wail, grow soft and offer swinging, searing solos. The big addition from a tonal standpoint is Pepper Adams, who adds a solid seal bark in the reed section.

Every single track is outfitted with distinct West Coast sensibility, ambitious swing and Hermanite harmonies on a grandscale. Saturnian Sleigh Ride is a layered piece that continuously rises and plateaus. Martian's Lullaby is smoothly sculpted, with lines sliding in and out like screen walls. Or dig the long fanfare introduction to Play! Boy. And Bluezies is a barn burner that features Herb Geller and Pepper Adams going at it.

Portrait of Shorty is about as good as the West Coast jazz sound gets—cocky, harmonious and as wide open as a convertible. So who painted the portrait on the cover of Portrait of Shorty?Sergei Bongart [pictured], a Russian painter who settled in Los Angeles. According to the album's liner notes, Bongart painted Rogers' image "as an artist inspired by an artist." 

JazzWax tracks: You can find a copy of the CD here. Or it's available at iTunes for $5.99.

A special JazzWax thanks to James Harrod and David Langner. For more on Sergei Bongart, go here.

JazzWax clip: Here's Shorty Rogers on flugelhorn in a scene from the Peter Gunn TV series, featuring vocalist Lola Albright. "Hiya Shorty!"

Used with permission by Marc Myers

In 1969, trumpeter Shorty Rogers stopped recording....

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
Used with permission by Marc Myers

In 1969, trumpeter Shorty Rogers stopped recording. He was simply too busy to keep up with the practicing necessary to handle the endurance of a studio session. The flood of work in Hollywood compelled him to focus on composing, arranging and orchestrating for television and the movies. Rogers, along with Gerry Mulligan, had been one of the chief architects of West Coast jazz in the early 1950s, and his arrangements for The Giants, his nonet, set new exciting standards for mid-sized jazz groups.

But by the late 1960s, times had changed. The popularity of acoustic jazz was dimming, and the trumpet's star power was rapidly being eclipsed by the electric guitar. Instead, Rogers put down his flugelhorn to write music for The Partridge Family Show, The Rookies, The Love Boat and other commercial fare.

Then in late 1982, in Bath, England, Rogers led Britain's National Youth Orchestra (NYO) in arrangements of material he had recorded originally with his Giants in the 1950s. He also played flugelhorn with the NYO, much to the delight of the audience. In fact, the concert went so well that Shorty started to think about recording again. [Photo by Ray Avery/CTSImages.com]

When Rogers returned to Los Angeles, he resumed his TV-writing work and forgot about recording. But on one of the TV dates he was conducting, studio trumpeter Bobby Shew approached Rogers on a break and urged him to reconsider. Rogers seemed apprehensive, Bobby told me last week. "Shorty was afraid he no longer had playing chops," Bobby said. More with Bobby Shew in a moment.

After a pep talk from Bobby, Rogers decided to go forward. For the record date, Rogers pulled out many of his old arrangements and wrote a new one. Then he assembled a frighteningly able nonet of West Coast musicians: Bobby Shew (trumpet and flugelhorn), Shorty Rogers (flugelhorn), Bill Watrous (trombone), Bud Shank (alto sax and flute), Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Bill Perkins (baritone and tenor sax, and flute) [pictured], Pete Jolly (piano), Monty Budwig (bass) and Shelly Manne (drums).

The album that followed was Shorty Rogers & His Giants: Re-Entry, a tremendous session recorded over two days in May 1983 for Atlas Records. Atlas was a Japanese label that saw value in recording American jazz at a time when Michael Jackson, Madonna and the British pop invasion dominated record sales. The American record business was staffed by a new generation of executives for whom jazz was ancient history.

Re-Entry is one of those rare instances of a group-revival album that works. In most cases, ensembles from the 1950s that were re-assembled for recording sessions in the 1970s and 1980s fell flat. Quite the contrary here. The playing is top notch and the solos are as spirited and as fresh as when Shorty Rogers and His Giants first recorded. This album is really that good.

The tracks include Al Cohn's bouncy The Goof and I; original Giants' gems like Powder Puff, Short Stop, The Girl Friend, Walk Don't Run and Bunny (which features trombonist Bill Watrous); For the Love of Art with a searing solo by Bud Shank; Johnny Mandel's swinger Not Really the Blues; and a new one written for the date called Re-Entry. Each track has the snap and firepower of Rogers' dates from 30 years earlier.
Last week I spoke with trumpeter Bobby Shew [pictured] about the recording session:
 

"Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, I used to do all of Shorty's TV sessions. During one of those sessions, on a break, I asked him if he ever would consider playing again. After his complaints about lost chops, I offered to help him get back in shape.

"He took some lessons and made enough progress to put that group together for the recording. But he was still unsure of his chops. So I was hired to play his parts on the ensembles. But he didn't want me to play any solos. As much as I loved Shorty, I was really disappointed to not be given a chance to solo. "To be honest, it spoiled the experience a tad for me, sorry to say. It is a nice album, though, and it did help Shorty get a bit active again."


Here's Infinity Promenade, an original Giants classic, with Rogers (flugelhorn), Bud Shank (alto sax), Jimmy Giuffre and Bob Cooper (tenor saxes), Bill Perkins (baritone sax), Pete Jolly (piano), Monty Budwig (bass) and Shelly Manne (drums)...
http://www.jazzwax.com/2010/02/shorty-rogers-reentry.html