Shorty Rogers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shorty Rogers
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Milton Rajonsky |
| Born | April 14, 1924 Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | November 7, 1994 (aged 70) Van Nuys, California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1944–1994 |
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Milton "Shorty" Rogers was an American jazz musician. His real name was Milton Rajonsky. He was born on April 14, 1924, and died on November 7, 1994. Shorty Rogers was a key person in creating a type of jazz known as West Coast jazz. He played the trumpet and the flugelhorn. He was also very good at arranging music, which means he wrote and organized musical pieces for bands to play.
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About Shorty Rogers
Shorty Rogers was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in the United States. He started his music career playing with famous musicians like Will Bradley and Red Norvo. Later, from 1947 to 1949, he worked a lot with Woody Herman. In 1950 and 1951, he played with Stan Kenton.
Concerts and Performances
On June 7, 1953, Shorty Rogers and his orchestra performed at a big concert. This was the ninth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Many other famous musicians also performed that day. These included Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Roy Brown, Don Tosti, Earl Bostic, Nat "King" Cole, and Louis Armstrong with his All Stars.
Recording Albums
From 1953 to 1962, Shorty Rogers recorded many albums. He made records for RCA Victor and Atlantic Records. Some of his albums included Shorty Courts the Count (1954) and The Swinging Mr. Rogers (1955). He also released Martians Come Back! (1955). This album's title was a fun reference to his song "Martians Go Home."
His music was sometimes called "cool jazz." But he also looked back to the "hot" style of Count Basie. Shorty Rogers always said that Count Basie was a big inspiration for him.
Music for Movies and Cartoons
Shorty Rogers also wrote music for films and cartoons. In 1957, he created the music for the Friz Freleng cartoon Three Little Bops. This was special because it was one of the first Warner Bros. cartoons not to have music by the usual composers, Carl Stalling or Milt Franklyn. Two years later, he wrote the music for the MGM movie Tarzan, the Ape Man. He also worked on other movies like Fools (1970) and The Teacher (1974).
Shorty Rogers passed away on November 7, 1994, in Van Nuys, California. He was 70 years old.
Shorty Rogers' Music
Shorty Rogers was a very busy musician. He recorded many albums as a band leader. He also played on albums for other artists and arranged music for them.
Albums as a Leader
Here are some of the albums where Shorty Rogers was the main artist:
- Modern Sounds (1951)
- Shorty Rogers and His Giants (1953)
- Cool and Crazy (1953)
- Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (1954)
- The Swinging Mr. Rogers (1955)
- Martians Come Back! (1955)
- Shorty Rogers Plays Richard Rodgers (1957)
- The Swingin' Nutcracker (1960)
- Bossa Nova (1962)
- Jazz Waltz (1962)
Working with Other Musicians
Shorty Rogers also played trumpet or flugelhorn on many albums by other artists. Here are a few:
- With Teddy Charles: Collaboration West (1953)
- With Stan Kenton: Innovations in Modern Music (1950)
- With Perez Prado: Voodoo Suite (1955)
- With Shelly Manne: The West Coast Sound (1955)
Arranging Music for Others
Shorty Rogers was also a talented music arranger. He helped many famous singers and bands create their sound. Here are some of the artists he arranged music for:
- Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Christmas Album (1968)
- Chet Baker: Chet Baker & Strings (1954)
- Bobby Darin: You're the Reason I'm Living (1963)
- Bobbie Gentry: Ode to Billie Joe (1967)
- Peggy Lee: In Love Again! (1964)
- The Monkees: He arranged music for their songs like "Daydream Believer" (1967) and albums like The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (1968).
- Buddy Rich: Big Swing Face (1967)
- Mel Tormé: Comin' Home Baby! (1962)
See also
In Spanish: Shorty Rogers para niños
- List of jazz arrangers
