Get Shorty

Mavis Rivers & Shorty Rogers - Mavis Meets Shorty (1962) {2014 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series WPCR-27933}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 208 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 71 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 119 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1962, 2014 Reprise / WEA / Warner Japan | WPCR-27933 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Cool / Trumpet

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Mavis Rivers meets Shorty Rogers – and the result is a hell of a swinging session that may well be the greatest record ever from this overlooked vocalist! Shorty brings a groove into play right from the start – one that pushes Rivers past her sometimes-trilling style, and into a mode that's rock-solid and soulful all the way through – very much in the same spirit that Marty Paich or Oliver Nelson might bring to their own great arrangements for a singer.

William Kearney aka Guitar Shorty keeps it lean, mean and direct on this outing. Recorded in New Orleans, this session features his regular road band, abetted by Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff and some top N.O. players like Buckwheat Zydeco bassist Lee Allen Zeno. Shorty penned seven of the 12 tunes aboard, and the mix on this album runs from Texas shuffles ("Sugar Wugar," "I'm Going Back to Houston"), low down blues ("I Wonder Who's Sleeping in My Bed," "You're a Troublemaker," "Me and You Last Night") to New Orleans rock & roll ("I Want to Report a Crime," "Hard Time Woman," "The Porkchop Song" and the title track) and funk ("Don't Mess with My Woman," "Let's Get Close"), plus a heartfelt tribute to Hendrix on an extended workout on "Hey Joe." A wide and varied session that showcases the guitarist's wide-ranging chops and skills.

Shorty Rogers - You Shorty, Me Tarzan! (1959) {MGM–Giant Steps GSCR032 rel 2010}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 284 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 129 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 40 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956-59, 2010 MGM / Giant Steps Records / Cherry Red Records | GSCR 032
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Stage & Screen / Trumpet

Assembled is the rare percussive soundtrack to Tarzan the Ape Man that featured the likes of Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Frank Rosolino and other famed West Coasters. Said Shorty: "At first, I was slightly apprehensive when MGM approached me to write and record the soundtrack for a Tarzan movie, but I needn't have concerned myself. They just said, make it exciting with plenty of drumming, and left me alone to get on with it. So I approached it as if I was really making a new Giants album, which is what it really was. I don't want to sound discourteous, but the album we made was much better that the actual movie". Also included is an equally rare 'live' appearance by the Big Band version of the Giants from an appearance on the TV show the Stars of Jazz.

More impressive than Shorty's British venture thanks to superior production values and a better handle on his past (there's a stellar remake of "Hard Life"), Topsy Turvy made it clear that Guitar Shorty was back to stay stateside. Black Top assembled a fine New Orleans combo for the majority of the album, as Shorty proved that his act translates beautifully to record minus the crowd-pleasing acrobatic antics. When he's not turning somersaults, doing backward flips, and standing on his head – all while playing, of course – Guitar Shorty is prone to cutting loose with savagely slashing licks on his instrument. Live, he's simply amazing – and after some lean years, his latter-day albums for Black Top, Evidence, and Alligator have proven that all that energy translates vividly onto tape.