Michel Legrand at Shelly's Manne Hole

Shelly Manne & His Men - Boss Sounds! (1966) {2012 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series 24bit Remaster WPCR-27142}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 290 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 102 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1966, 2012 Atlantic / Rhino / Warner Japan / WEA | WPCR-27142 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Hard Bop / Drums

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Although drummer Shelly Manne was closely associated with the Contemporary label for many years, he also recorded for other companies after Contemporary slowed down operations. This particular Koch CD reissues a set that was cut for Atlantic. The 1966 version of Shelly Manne's Men (altoist Frank Strozier, trumpeter Conte Candoli, pianist Russ Freeman, and bassist Monty Budwig) played in a similar style to his 1950s groups. Only Strozier hints (and only slightly in spots) at the avant-garde explorations then going on elsewhere. The quintet performs three group originals, an obscurity, "The Breeze and I," and "Margie" (which was arranged by Jimmy Rowles). Fine hard bop music.

3-CD Box set, 60-page booklet including comprehensive biography, original liner notes and cover art, rare photos, unseen memorabilia and extensive discography. Shelly Manne (1920-1984) was one of the most important drummers in jazz history. Opening with his first recordings as a leader for Dee Gee Records in 1951 (Chicago) and 1952 (Los Angeles), this collection covers both these septet sessions and the great series of all-star septet and quintet recordings made for Contemporary by Shelly Manne and His Men between 1953 and 1958. Here’s that Manne.

Shelly Manne, along with many other jazz veterans, had to make accomodations in the '70s to changing musical values. While he didn't totally switch gears, there was a different flow and tone to his sessions, something that's clearly audible on Alive in London, a 1970 date cut at Ronnie Scott's and reissued on CD. Guitarist John Morell and electric pianist Mike Wofford reveal as much rock and pop influence as jazz technique, and Manne's backing holds things together without tipping the scales one way or the other. Trumpeter Gary Barone and tenor saxophonist John Gross were equally skillful at adapting, while bassist Roland Haynes held the rhythmic center along with Manne.

Shelly Manne's second "workshop" 10" LP is even more advanced than his first, at times reaching outside the West Coast cool jazz idiom toward contemporary classical music - with no cover tunes this time. Where the first album was centered on a sax ensemble, Vol. 2 is devoted to a four-man brass group - with Russ Freeman or Marty Paich on piano and Joe Mondragon on bass - and this seems to have unleashed a wilder surge of creative freedom among Manne's six arrangers/composers. Indeed, some pieces virtually abandon jazz altogether. Bill Holman's "Lullaby" amounts to a gentle, free-flowing etude for brass and mallets, and Jimmy Giuffre's "Alternation" has no apparent key signature or steady pulse, a series of abstract proclamations colored by percussive effects…