Shorty Rogers
The Contributions of Shorty
Rogers
Some thoughts and sentiments,
personal and documented on a great contributor to American
Jazz
You could say that it all started with the Stan Kenton
orchestra. Certainly he had the musicians that would go on to become
the front runners for what would become, "West Coast Jazz." Art
Pepper, Hampton Hawes, Shorty Rogers, Bud Shank and Shelly Manne were
among the leaders who would incorporate what Miles Davis and Gil
Evans had created in the after bebop idiom and lend a flavor of
California to ensue that which would become the jazz style of the
West Coast. Shorty Rogers would do For Stan Kenton the beginnings of
a sound and approach that would become his unique voice and calling
card for a writing and playing approach that would become easily
identifiable throughout the rest of his jazz career. Listen to early
Kenton pieces penned by Rogers such as, "Viva Prado" and "Jolly Roger
" to begin to get the feeling of where the style and verve of Roger's
writing would go on to lead California into a hip, cool and extremely
creative approach to jazz.
Certainly with musicians like Hampton Hawes and Shelly
Manne leading the way at Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach
a lot of invention and smooth renditions of bebop lines would pave
the way for a refreshing approach to a great music.
Through all of this there was one "Super Player" to emerge
in the person of Art Pepper who could have been called the " Charley
Parker" of Californian music. However, it was Shorty Rogers that
would best define the mode of this Western captured sense of cool
melodic blends in harmony with the Southern Californian way of life
added to it.
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