One of Shorty Rogers's finest albums was released originally by RCA in 1953 on a 10-inch LP or as a pair of extended-play 45s. Both had Jim Flora's wonderful cartoon illustration on the cover. RCA had invented the 45rpm in 1949 to compete with Columbia's 33 1/3, which was introduced in 1948. But by '53, RCA had thrown in the towel and issued its records on the 33 1/3 and 45 formats. The 45 version was for those who had already bought RCA's 45rpm players. The label's decision to embrace the 33 1/3 was a result of pressure from its classical musicians, who had began to defect to Columbia for the LP's new improved sound.
Cool and Crazy was recorded 70 years ago, in March and April of 1953, but you'd never know it from the music, which sounds so modern and fresh. The record features a slam-bang band at the dawn of West Coast jazz and Rogers's compositions and arrangements are gloriously optimistic, with loads of terrific harmony and contrapuntal lines.
His band featured Shorty Rogers, Conrad Gozzo, Maynard Ferguson, Tom Reeves and John Howell (tp); Milt Bernhart, John Halliburton and Harry Betts (tb); John Graas (fhr); Gene Englund (tu); Art Pepper and Bud Shank (as); Jimmy Giuffre (ts,cl); Bob Cooper (bar); Marty Paich (p); Curtis Counce (b) and Shelly Manne (d). This band fleshed out his core nonet, known as the Giants, which he had formed in late 1952.
The tracks are Coop de Graas, Infinity Promenade, Short Stop, Boar-Jibu, Contours, Tale of an African Lobster, Chiquito Loco and The Sweetheart of Sigmund Freud. The record was recorded at RCA Victor's Music Center of the World (above) between NBC Studios and the Brown Derby restaurant on North Vine Street in Hollywood.
For me, there are only a handful of albums that sound like Hollywood in the early 1950s, when West Coast jazz was emerging and you could hear the elation of musicians in the recordings. In Los Angeles, top jazz musicians could earn a living in recording studios; lead record dates and no longer had to go on grueling big-band tours to make money. The L.A. weather was perfect year-round; the beach and golf courses were nearby; they could afford cars and a nice house in the San Fernando Valley; and the highways were new and relatively free of congestion. All of this is baked into the sound of Cool and Crazy.
Here's Shorty Rogers's Cool and Crazy without ad interruptions...
Other ad-free Backgrounders in my series:
- Zoot Sims Plays Bossa Nova, go here.
- Lee Morgan: Lee-Way, go here.
- Bossa Nova for Swinging Lovers, go here.
- Leon Spencer: Louisiana Slim, go here.
- Bossa Nova Modern Quartet: Bossa Nova Jazz Samba, go here.
- Bill Evans & Luiz Eça: Piano Four Hands, go here.
- Ray Brown Trio: Don't Get Sassy, go here.
- Os Tatuis: Os Tatuis, go here.
- Waltel Branco: Mancini Tambem É Samba, go here.
- Jack Wilson Plays Brazilian Mancini, go here.
- Conjunto Copacabana Bossa: Bossa, go here.
- Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Swings Lightly, go here.
- Charles Earland: Charles Earland, go here.
- Kenny Burrell: Crash! w/ Jack McDuff, go here.
- Jack McDuff: The Heatin' System, go here.
- Horace Silver: Horace-Scope, go here.
- Antonio Carlos Jobim: Wave, go here.
- Sonny Stitt: Sonny Stitt Plays, go here.
- Sonny Stitt with Bennie Green: My Main Man, go here.
- Johnny Hodges and Earl Hines: Stride Right, go here.
- Lionel Hampton: Bossa Nova Jazz, go here.
- Johnny Hodges & Ben Webster: Cellar Session, go here.
- Bill Evans: Solo Sessions Vol. 1, go here.
- Frank Wess: Trombones & Flute, go here.
- Presenting the Buddy DeFranco & Tommy Gumina Quartet, go here.
- Ernest Ranglin: Wranglin', go here.
- Dave Pell Octet: Plays Rodgers & Hart, go here.
- Milt Buckner: Block Chords Parade, go here.
- Roberto Menescal: A Nova Bossa, go here.
- Count Basie: Have a Nice Day, go here.
- Freddie Green: Mr. Rhythm, go here.
- Leny Andrade: Leny Andrade, go here.
- Johnny Alf: Ele é Johnny Alf, go here.
- Dodo Marmarosa: Dodo's Back, go here.
- Freddie Redd: The Music From the Connection, go here.
- Nicola Stilo & Toninho Horta: Duets, go here.
- Urbie Green: Persuasive Trombone, go here.
- Johnny Richards: Something Else, go here.
- Wayne Shorter: JuJu, go here.
- Hampton Hawes: All Night Session!, go here.
- Shorty Rogers Plays Richard Rodgers, go here.
- Chet Baker: Pretty/Groovy, go here.
- Sonny Stitt: The Sensual Sound of Sonny Stitt, go here.
- Gil Mellé: New Faces, New Sounds, go here.
- Herbie Mann and Charlie Rouse: Just Wailin', go here.
- Bobby Hackett: Memorable & Mellow, go here.
- Tina Brooks: Back to the Tracks, go here.
- Sonny Rollins Plays for Bird, go here.
- Red Garland: A Garland of Red, go here.
- Grant Green: Gooden's Corner, go here.
- Eumir Deodato Plays Marcos Valle, go here.
- Horace Parlan; Movin' & Groovin', go here.
- Russ Garcia: Four Horns and a Lush Life, go here.
- Vic Lewis: Plays Bossa Nova at Home and Away, go here.
- Buddy Collette's Swinging Shepherds, go here.
- Dizzy Gillespie: Gillespiana, go here.
- Nelson Riddle: Communication, go here.
- Nelson Riddle: Changing Colors, go here.
- Elmo Hope: Complete Trios, 1953-1966, go here.
- Buddy Collette: Man of Many Parts, go here.
- The Herbie Mann-Sam Most Quintet, go here.
