“The Wizard Of Oz And Other Harold Arlen Songs” – Shorty Rogers (arr, cond, tp); Jimmy Giuffre (ts, cl); Herb Geller ts); Bud Shank (as, ts); Bob Enevoldsen (tb); Pete Jolly (p); Barney Kessel (g); Larry Bunker (vib); Joe Mondragon (b); Mel Lewis (dr)

Shorty Rogers took the majority of numbers on this LP from the musical “The Wizard Of Oz”, which Americans in the Fifties knew from Broadway and from the cinema. But to detect basic jazz improvisations within them and arrange these was a real challenge. To achieve the best possible result, it needed a man as brilliant as Shorty Rogers to tackle the score with a baton in his hand.
The six musical titles on Side A – all of which Judy Garland sang, performed, and virtually embodied and which, of course, were all smash hits – offer a wonderful opportunity for elaborate improvisations by all soloists thanks to their simplicity, catchiness and light heartedness. Worth special mention are “Ding Dong!” and “Over The Rainbow”, with the delightful miniature piano concerto by Pete Jolly.
The five numbers on the B Side are all well known to jazz fans, and have been for many years, because Harold Arlen contributed repertoire to the Great American Songbook. “Blues In The Night” is not quite ‘black’ enough – but that’s only logical since they were white West-Coast musicians, and not from Harlem. But otherwise all the numbers have that famed cool drive, which audiences under the warm Californian sun so loved in the Fifties and Sixties.
Both sides of this LP are proof positive that Shorty Rogers and His Giants perform music that swings. And who’s to say that such music shouldn’t be jolly and fun?

Recording: February 1959 at RCA Victor’s Music Center of the World, Hollywood. Production: Dick Peirce