Al Cohn and Shorty Rogers - Equal and Different

Al Cohn • Shorty Rogers

East Coast — West Coast Scene

This album is in no way a contest, but a sincere effort to bring about a comparison of East and West Coast styles. Everything was essayed on an equal footing — the same 

instrumentation was used, an outstanding arranger-soloist of each school was chosen as leader, individual members were allowed considerable latitude for an exhibition of their solo capacities. Consequently, most of the arrangements are of the loose variety, within which the leaders and sidemen are able to demonstrate their improvisational talents. That is why this album has two sets of notes, just as it has two absolutely distinct types of modern jazz. Each different in its own peculiar way, each offering a musical excitement of the highest order. *Jack Lewis (liner notes)*

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About Al Cohn and His "Charlie's Tavern" Ensemble:

Take a group of top-flight jazz musicians, put them in a room to themselves — even in "Charlie's Tavern," the established oasis of New York jazzmen — and it's a safe bet that they'll come up with some pretty wild music. But take a group of East Coast instrumentalists, put them in a small, but wonderfully active recording studio, and  it's an equally sure thing that they'll "cut" just about anything anyone has to offer. For swinging jazz in a modern idiom I'll take the East — in Charlie's Tavern it's Al Cohn three to one.

In the final analysis, there may not be a great deal to choose from between jazz of these two coastal schools — each is obviously loaded with men of enormous invention and talent. But, as representative of what is happening in the environs of Manhattan, these sides are wonderfully expressive of what comparisons are being made. *Bill Zeitung (liner notes)*

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About Shorty Rogers and His Augmented Giants:

The West Coast jazz scene has for some time been almost completely dominated by Shorty Rogers who has kept modern jazz alive when many despaired of anything but Dixieland living through the famine. In his writing and playing he has almost single-handedly created and nurtured a definite West Coast style. The loose, swinging beat, the complex harmonies that have more than ever before brought a rapport between classical music and jazz — above all, the constant experimenting for something new in voicing, instrumentation or phrasing — all these things help to define the West Coast style, the Shorty Rogers style. The two are inseparable.

This record is, I fell, a fine demonstration of the West Coast jazz scene. The best man in the area, truly great arrangements by Shorty, variety of tempos — the musicians could ask no more, nor could the listener. Here are some of the finest things happening in jazz today, played by the most articulate spokesmen — the West Coast jazzmen themselves. *Paul Krupa (liner notes)*

A classic session in the tried and true marketing style of "East Coast vs West Coast" jazz, with one side of tracks by a group led by Al Cohn, and featuring Gene Quill, Hal McKusick, and Joe Newman. The other side's got Shorty Rogers representin' on the West Coast, with Jimmy Giuffre, Zoot Sims, Bud Shank, and Shelly Manne. The album's a nice batch of tracks, in the tightly arranged style that characterizes many of these mid-50's RCA jazz sessions. However, since Cohn's measured playing could never really be taken for New York Hot, and since his longtime partner Zoot Sims is part of Rogers' West Coast group, it's hard to say that these sides are really any sort of true battle between the coasts. Instead, though, the tracks are nice and long, with more room for solos than usual, and titles that include "Loki", "Cool Sunshine", and "Inside Out". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

Side 1

1 - Inside Out

(Al Cohn)

2 - Autumn Leaves

(Joseph Kosma)

3 - Serenade For Kathy

(Al Cohn)

Side 2

4 - Cool Sunshine

(Shorty Rogers)

5 - Loki

(Shorty Rogers)

6 - Elaine's Lullaby

(Shorty Rogers)

#1 to #3: Al Cohn And His Charlie's Tavern Ensemble

Joe Newman (trumpet); Eddie Bert, Billy Byers (trombones);

Hal McKusick, Gene Quill (alto saxes)

Al Cohn (tenor sax); Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Sanford Gold (piano);

Billy Bauer (guitar); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, October 26, 1954

#4 to #6: Shorty Rogers And His Augmented Giants

Shorty Rogers (trumpet); Milt Bernhart, Bob Enevoldsen (trombones); Zoot Sims (tenor sax);

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax); Lennie Niehaus, Bud Shank (alto saxes);

Pete Jolly (piano); Barney Kessel (guitar); Curtis Counce (bass); Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, September 11, 1954