Shorty Rogers & His Giants

Biography

Milton Rajonsky, 14 April 1924, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA, d. 7 November 1994, Van Nuys, California, USA. After studying in New York, Rogers played trumpet in the bands of Will Bradley, where he first met Shelly Manne, and Red Norvo. Military service interrupted his career, but in 1945 he joined Woody Herman for a spell, during which he also wrote a number of bop-flavoured big band charts. After Herman, he played with and arranged for the Stan Kenton band, thus increasing his public exposure still more. While with Kenton he also composed a number of features for fellow sidemen such as Art Pepper and Maynard Ferguson.

During the 50s Rogers worked mostly in California, still writing hard-swinging charts for Kenton but trying to find work locally. He worked in films, appearing on-screen and on the soundtrack of The Man With The Golden Arm (1955). He also recorded with his own big band, effectively ‘borrowing’ most of the...

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