Shorty Rogers on AllMovie

With his jazzy score and arrangements for The Wild One, Shorty Rogers played an instrumental role in bringing jazz music to film and television scores. A native of Great Barrington, MA, Rogers launched his career at age 16 as a trumpet player for Will Bradley's band and then that of vibraphone player Red Norvo in the early '40s. Rogers was among the first jazz artists to use the flügelhorn. In the '50s, Rogers, like fellow artists Dave Brubeck, moved to Los Angeles to perfect the new West Coast sound. In addition to playing music, Rogers proved to be a talented composer and arranger whose music was played by such jazz greats as Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and Charlie Barnett. Following his success with the classic Brando film, Rogers spent most of his time writing scores.