WEST COAST SMALL GROUP JAZZ AT ITS BEST
Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 12/14/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Shelly Manne deserves to be remembered for the fact that his 1956 recording with His Friends (André Previn and Leroy Vinnegar) of instrumental versions of songs from "My Fair Lady" broke new ground, and led to a series of jazz interpretations of material from Broadway musicals. That is followed by the 1954 recordings of The Two (with Russ Freeman, piano) and The Three (with Shorty Rogers & Jimmy Giuffre), and three tracks from late 1953 of Shelly Manne & His Men. The second disc comprises a February 1956 recording with His Friends, and concludes with Shelly Manne & His Men, recorded a month earlier. Both discs offer a very generous 77 minutes, sound quality is superb, and this is West Coast jazz at its best."