Upcoming Events
The West Coast Jazz Hour Big Band under the direction of Josh Nelson and Kevin van den Elzen will celebrate the centennial of two legendary West Coast musicians, Terry Gibbs and Shorty Rogers. Both born in 1924, Terry and Shorty were good friends of one another. They met during their stay in Woody Herman’s Second Herd. Shorty moved eventually to Los Angeles after Woody Herman and Stan Kenton’s band and became the architect of the West Coast Sound. He started his own band “The Giants”, started doing studio work and arranging for RCA Victor. He has arranged for Mel Torme, Ernie Andrews, Les Brown, Bobby Darin, Lena Horna and many more. Shorty passed away on November 7 in 1994. Terry quickly became one of the most famous vibraphone players in the world. He gained fame because of his solo on the famous Woody Herman version of “Early Autumn”. Terry moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and quickly began working as a musical director for various tv shows such as “Operation Entertainment“ and the Regis Philbin Show. He also formed his legendary big band, The Terry Gibbs Dreamband. This band consisted of the best jazz players in Los Angeles. Terry ended up winning the Downbeat poll 5 times in a row and winning the Downbeat critics award with the Dreamband in 1962.
Shorty has written a bunch of arrangements for Terry’s band. Terry is turning 100 years old on October 13, 2024 and will release the 7th volume of Dreamband. This record features unreleased recordings of the Dreamband from 1959. Terry has worked with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, Buddy DeFranco, Alice Coltrane, Dinah Washington and many more. The West Coast Jazz Hour Big Band is honored to pay tribute to these two incredible musicians and their careers. The big band will play various works of Shorty from various recordings such as: Shorty Rogers Courts the Count, Afro Cuban Influence, The Wizard of Oz and other songs by Harold Allen and Swingin’ Nutcracker. The WCJH big band will perform arrangements of the vast repertoire of the Dreamband. The WCJH is composed of top jazz and studio musicians from LA. Josh Nelson has worked with Natalie Cole, Ivan Lins, Anthony Wilson, Dayna Stephens and Gaby Morena, to name a few. Kevin van den Elzen has worked with John Clayton, Dick Oatts, Dianne Reeves, John Beasley, Dick Oatts, Danny Jonokuchi Big Band, Nick Mancini and Bob Sheppard.
Line-up (subject to change):
Saxes: Sal Lozano, Rusty Higgins, Brian Clancy, Bob Sheppard, Tim McKay
Trombones: Alan Kaplan, Alex Iles, Ido Meshulam, Juliane Gralle
Trumpets: Matt Fronke, Dave Richards, Ron Stout, Kye Palmer
Piano: Josh Nelson
Guitar: Larry Koonse
Double bass: Chuck Berghofer
Drums: Kevin van den Elzen
Vibraphone: Jackson Irvine