SHORTY ROGERS: FOUR CLASSIC ALBUMS (THE BIG SHORTY ROGERS EXPRESS / SHORTY ROGERS AND HIS GIANTS / WHEREVER THE FIVE WINDS BLOW / CHANCES ARE IT SWINGS) (2CD)

AVID Jazz here presents four classic Shorty Rogers albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“The Big Shorty Rogers Express”-Shorty Rogers & His Giants……….Here we find the famed arranger and trumpeter Shorty Rogers moving away from the small group format and into the big band field. Shorty and his fellow musicians Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Jimmy Giuffre, Marty Paich to name but a few, bring a fresh West Coast spirit to the traditional big band swing ethic! “Shorty Rogers & His Giants”………………Shorty is once again joined by many fine players including Milt Bernhart on trombone, Hampton Hawes on piano, John Grass on French horn alongside stalwarts Art Pepper, Jimmy Giuffre, and Shelly Manne for a combination of swing and small group numbers. “Wherever The Five Wind Blows”…………Jimmy Giuffre, Lou Levy, Ralph Pena and Larry Bunker join Shorty in a meteorlogical blowing journey where the band swings with its usual tasteful and mellifluous style. We encounter monsoons, hurricanes and prevailing Westerlies while the music remains beautifully explanatory and the band, all rightfully famous, are on top form! “Chances Are It Swings”…………Billed as Shorty Rogers & His Orchestra this 1958 recording date finds Shorty in fine and plentiful company in the form of the likes of Pete & Conte Candoli, Bud Shank, Barney Kessell, Red Norvo and Paul Horn. Here Shorty collaborates with song writer Robert Allen producing a “happy combination of brilliant arranging and hit songs”
All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest sound quality ever!

CD1
1-12: ‘The Big Shorty Rogers Express’
1. Blues Express
2. Pink Squirrel
3. Coop De Graas
4. Infinity Promenade
5. Short Stop
6. Boar- Jibu
7. Pay The Piper
8. Home With Sweets
9. Tale Of An African Lobster
10. Contours
11. Chiquito Loco
12. The Sweetheart Of Sigmund Freud
13-24: ‘Shorty Rogers And His Giants’
13. Morpo
14. Bunny
15. Powder Puff
16. Mambo Del Crow
17. Joycycle
18. The Lady Is A Tramp
19. The Pesky Serpent
20. Diablo’s Dance
21. Pirouette
22. Indian Club
23. The Goof And I
24. My Little Suede Shoes

CD2
1-5: ‘Wherever The Five Winds Blow’
1. Hurricane Carol
2. Breezin’ Along In The Trades
3. Marooned In A Monsoon
4. The Chinook That Melted My Heart
5. Prevailing On The Westerlies
6-17: ‘Chances Are It Swings’
6. Chances Are
7. No Such Luck
8. It’s Not For Me To Say
9. Lilac Chiffon
10. I Just Don’t Know
11. Who Needs You
12. Everybody Loves A Lover
13. Come To Me
14. My Very Good Friend In The Looking Glass
15. You Know How It Is
16. A Very Special Love
17. Teacher, Teacher