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Jazz Articles about Shelly Manne
Cal Tjader: Plays Harold Arlen and West Side Story
by David Rickert
Like the recently reissued Our Blues, this double CD presents Cal Tjader before he seriously delved into the Latin tunes that made his name in jazz circles. Unlike the previous album, which presented the vibraphonist as a serious improviser, Tjader is content to let the songs take the center stage; about three-fourths of this CD features a string section in the background. The strategy works well. Tjader cuts loose on a few Arlen standards before settling into melodic passages on ...
Continue ReadingShelly Manne: Boss Sounds!
by David A. Orthmann
Although jazzmen based on the West Coast are frequently regarded as rhythmically moribund compared to their East Coast counterparts, there’s nothing effete about Boss Sounds!, a reissue of a 1966 Atlantic release. Recorded live at his club in Hollywood, Shelly Manne sets the pace with his lively yet precise drumming. With an impressive array of rhythms executed by sticks and brushes, adroitly placed beats on the bass drum, and a keen sense of dynamics, he constantly moves the music forward ...
Continue ReadingChet Baker: Chet Baker and Strings
by C. Michael Bailey
With Strings. I have been listening to a several recordings of Jazz artists performing with a string section, including: Clifford Brown With Strings (Emarcy 814 642), Charlie Parker with Strings (Verve 314 523), Art Pepper's Winter Moon (OJC 677), Wynton Marsalis' Midnight Blues: Standard Time Volume 5 (Columbia 68921), and most recently, Chet Baker and Strings (Columbia Legacy 65562). I am enamored with all of these discs. Some of them have stood the test of time, some have not. They ...
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