A native of Rock Island, IL, Short's early musical education came mostly through listening to records: Dixieland through post-bop, Indian music, early-20th-century concert music, and the work of microtonal composer Harry Partch, whose music and self-made instruments Short studied in San Diego in 1974. Short received his bachelor's and master's degrees in music from Northern Illinois University DeKalb, where he was a member of the school's world music ensemble, which performed Balinese and Javanese gamelan music. In 1981, Short formed Worry Later, a Chicago-based quintet that drew its repertoire from the music of Thelonious Monk. He lived in New Orleans for four years before moving back to the Chicago area, which he continues to make his base of operations. Short's first record was Penguin Shuffle (BlueRoom); recorded in 1986, the album was comprised of sessions recorded in both New Orleans and DeKalb. It was released in 1987. By 2001, Short had started his own record label, DepthPerception, which issues limited-edition releases of music by Chicago-area jazz musicians Chuck Burdelik, Ryan Schultz, Larry Kohut, Jeff Beer, John McLean, Mark Tuttle, Mike Freeman, Jim Baker, Billy Weber, and the aforementioned Scea. All of the records include Short as a participant. ~ Chris Kelsey, Rovi