- Shorty Rogers
Infobox musical artist
Name = Shorty Rogers
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Milton Rajonsky
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Born = birth date|1924|4|14
Died = death date and age|1994|11|7|1924|4|14
Origin = flagicon|USAGreat Barrington, Massachusetts , USA
Instrument =Trumpet ,Flugelhorn
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Genre =Jazz Cool jazz
Occupation =Trumpeter
ArrangerComposer
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Label =Xanadu Records Bluebird Records Atlantic Records
Associated_acts =Stan Kenton ,Woody Herman ,Art Pepper
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Notable_instruments =Milton “Shorty” Rogers (
April 14 ,1924 –November 7 ,1994 ), born Milton Rajonsky inGreat Barrington, Massachusetts , was one of the principal creators ofWest Coast jazz . He played both thetrumpet andflugelhorn , and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Rogers worked first as a professional musician withWill Bradley andRed Norvo . From 1947 to 1949, he worked extensively withWoody Herman and in 1950 and 1951 he played withStan Kenton .Shorty Rogers eventually became better known for his skills as a
composer and arranger than as a trumpeter, having composed the music for UPA'sMr. Magoo cartoon "Hotsy Footsy " and theLooney Tune "Three Little Bops ". Rogers appeared on the 1954Shelly Manne album "The Three and the Two" along withJimmy Giuffre . Much of the music he recorded with Giuffre showed his experimental side, resulting in an early form ofAvant-garde jazz . He also made notable recordings withArt Pepper andAndre 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.After the early 1960s Rogers stopped performing on trumpet, and left the jazz scene for many years, although was notable for contributing episode scores for the fourth season of
Starsky & Hutch .Finally, in 1982, he was persuaded to pick up his trumpet and return, playing first with Britain’sNational Youth Jazz Orchestra and soon withBud Shank and others. In the 1990s he formed aLighthouse All Stars group along with Shank, Bill Perkins andBob Cooper .Discography
* "Short Stops" (1953;
Bluebird Records )
* "Popo" (1951;Xanadu Records )
* "The Swinging Mr. Rogers" (1955;Atlantic Records ALS-1212)
* "Martians Come Back" (1955; Atlantic Records SD-1232)
* "The Big Shorty Rogers Express" (1957 reissue of material recorded 1953 and 1956; reissued on CD, RCA Victor CD 74321 18519 2)
* "Way Up There" (1957; Atlantic Records SD-1270)
* "Bossa Nova" (1962; Reprise R/R9 6050)
* "Jazz Waltz" (1963; Reprise R/R9 6060)
* "The Wizard of Oz and Other Harold Arlen Songs" (1959; RCA Victor)External links
* [http://www.spaceagepop.com/rogers.htm Shorty Rogers bio]
* [http://www.jazzprofessional.com/interviews/Shorty%20Rogers_1.htm Interview with Shorty Rogers]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:6x7tk6dx9kra~T1 Yanow, Scott. "Shorty Rogers" (Web site "allmusic")]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/alphabet_conspiracy Alphabet Conspiracy] - Shorty makes a brief appearance in this 1959 educational film.
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