Shelly Manne

Shelly Manne (June 11 1920–September 26 1984), born Sheldon Manne in New York, New York, was an American jazz drummer. He was frequently associated with West Coast Jazz, but his broad range of contributions to music, not only jazz, showed that he could not be readily pigeonholed.

Collaborations

The roster of those whose music Manne enhanced with his subtle, sensitive, and creative percussion is mind boggling. Many old 78-rpm recordings he appeared on were never transferred to other media and are nearly impossible to find. He also appears to have participated in countless unrecorded performances. But even those recordings that were issued as long-playing records over the course of many decades and are still to be found number in the hundreds, perhaps thousands. According to the jazz writer Leonard Feather, Manne's drumming had been heard on well "over a thousand LPs" — a statement that Feather made in 1960, when Manne had not reached even the midpoint of his 45-year-long career.

Related Topics:
Leonard Feather - 1960

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An extremely selective list of those with whom Manne performed would have to include Benny Carter, Earl Hines, Clifford Brown, Zoot Sims, Ben Webster, Maynard Ferguson, Wardell Gray, Lionel Hampton, Junior Mance, Jimmy Giuffre, and Stan Getz. In the 1950s, he recorded two solid albums with Sonny Rollins and, in the 1960s, two with Bill Evans. Around the same time in 1959, Manne recorded with the traditional Benny Goodman and the radical and iconoclastic Ornette Coleman. That he fitted comfortably into a supportive role appropriate to each highlights his extreme versatility.

Related Topics:
Benny Carter - Earl Hines - Clifford Brown - Zoot Sims - Ben Webster - Maynard Ferguson - Wardell Gray - Lionel Hampton - Junior Mance - Jimmy Giuffre - Stan Getz - Sonny Rollins - 1960s - Bill Evans - 1959 - Benny Goodman - Ornette Coleman

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One example of Manne's ability to transcend the narrow borders of any particular school is the series of trio albums he recorded with guitarist Barney Kessel and bassist Ray Brown as "The Poll Winners". (They had all won numerous polls conducted by the popular publications of the day; the polls are now forgotten, but the albums remain available, now reissued on CD, demonstrating the lasting value of the music.) Manne even dabbled in Dixieland and fusion, as well as "Third Stream" jazz. He participated in the revival of that precursor to jazz, ragtime (he appears on several albums devoted to the music of Scott Joplin), and sometimes recorded with musicians best associated with European classical music. He always, however, returned to the mainstream jazz he loved best.

Related Topics:
Barney Kessel - Ray Brown - Dixieland - Fusion - Third Stream - Ragtime - Scott Joplin

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In addition to Dave Tough and Jo Jones, Manne admired and learned from contemporaries like Max Roach and Kenny Clarke, and later from younger drummers like Elvin Jones and Tony Williams. Consciously or unconsciously, he borrowed a little from all of them, always searching to extend his playing into new territory.

Related Topics:
Dave Tough - Jo Jones - Max Roach - Kenny Clarke - Elvin Jones - Tony Williams

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Despite these and numerous other influences, however, Shelly Manne's style of drumming was always his own--personal, precise, clear, and at the same time multilayered, using a very broad range of colors. Manne was often experimental, and had participated in such musically exploratory groups of the early 1950s as those of Jimmy Giuffre and Teddy Charles; yet he never neglected that element usually considered fundamental to all jazz: time.

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Whether playing Dixieland, bebop, or avant-garde jazz, in big bands or in small groups, Manne never forgot to make the music swing. At the same time, always cited by his fellow musicians for listening appreciatively to those around him, he was ultra-sensitive to the needs and the nuances of the music played by the others in the band. His constant goal was to make them – and the music as a whole – sound better, rather than calling attention to himself with overbearing solos.

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Manne didn't have to play in a powerhouse style to be creative. In 1957, the noted critic Nat Hentoff called Manne one of the most "musical" and "illuminatively imaginative" drummers. Composer and multi-instrumentalist Bob Cooper called him "the most imaginative drummer I've worked with". In later years this kind of appreciation for what Manne could do was echoed by jazz notables like Louie Bellson, John Lewis, Ray Brown, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and numerous others who had worked with him over the decades. Composer, arranger, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Benny Carter is on record as having been "a great admirer of his work". "He could read anything, get any sort of effect", said Carter, who worked closely with Manne over many decades.

Related Topics:
1957 - Nat Hentoff - Bob Cooper - Louie Bellson - John Lewis - Harry "Sweets" Edison

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