Shelly Manne | |
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.jpg) Shelly Manne, December 1946 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Sheldon Manne (1920-06-11)June 11, 1920 New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 26, 1984(1984-09-26) (aged 64) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1939–1984 |
Sheldon "Shelly"Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was an Americanjazz drummer. Most frequently associated withWest Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, includingDixieland,swing,bebop,avant-garde jazz, and laterfusion. He also contributed to the musical background of hundreds ofHollywood films and television programs.
Sheldon "Shelly" Manne was born June 11, 1920, inManhattan, New York City, New York. Manne's father Max Manne[1] and uncles weredrummers. In his youth he admired many of the leadingswing drummers of the day, especiallyJo Jones andDave Tough.[2]Billy Gladstone, a colleague of Manne's father and the most admired percussionist on the New York theatrical scene, offered the teenage Shelly tips and encouragement.[3]
From that time, Manne rapidly developed his style in the clubs of52nd Street in New York in the late 1930s and 1940s.[4] His first professional job with a known big band was with theBobby Byrne Orchestra in 1940.[5] In those years, as he became known, he recorded with jazz stars likeColeman Hawkins,Charlie Shavers, andDon Byas. He also worked with a number of musicians mainly associated withDuke Ellington, likeJohnny Hodges,Harry Carney,Lawrence Brown, andRex Stewart.[6]
In 1942, duringWorld War II, Manne joined the Coast Guard and served until 1945.[7]
In 1943, Manne married aRockette named Florence Butterfield (known affectionately to family and friends as "Flip"),[8] a marriage that would last 41 years, until his death.
When thebebop movement began to change jazz in the 1940s, Manne loved it and adapted to the style rapidly, performing withDizzy Gillespie andCharlie Parker.[9] Around this time he also worked with rising stars likeFlip Phillips,Charlie Ventura,Lennie Tristano, andLee Konitz.[10]
Manne rose to stardom when he became part of the working bands ofWoody Herman and, especially,Stan Kenton in the late 1940s and early 1950s, winning awards and developing a following at a time when jazz was the most popular music in the United States.[11] Joining the hard-swinging Herman outfit allowed Manne to play the bebop he loved. The controversial Kenton band, on the other hand, with its "progressive jazz", presented obstacles, and many of the complex, overwrought arrangements made it harder to swing.[12] But Manne appreciated the musical freedom that Kenton gave him and saw it as an opportunity to experiment along with what was still a highly innovative band.[13] He rose to the challenge, finding new colors and rhythms, and developing his ability to provide support in a variety of musical situations.[14]
In the early 1950s, Manne left New York and settled permanently on a ranch in an outlying part ofLos Angeles, where he and his wife raised horses. From this point on, he played an important role in the West Coast school of jazz, performing on the Los Angeles jazz scene withShorty Rogers,Hampton Hawes,Red Mitchell,Art Pepper,Russ Freeman,Frank Rosolino,Chet Baker,Leroy Vinnegar,Pete Jolly,Howard McGhee,Bob Gordon,Conte Candoli,Sonny Criss, and numerous others.[15] Many of his recordings around this time were forLester Koenig'sContemporary Records, where for a period Manne had a contract as an "exclusive" artist (that is, he needed permission to record for other labels).[16]
Manne led a number of small groups that recorded under his name and leadership. One consisting of Manne on drums, trumpeterJoe Gordon, saxophonistRichie Kamuca, bassistMonty Budwig, and pianistVictor Feldman performed for three days in 1959 at theBlack Hawk club inSan Francisco. Their music was recorded on the spot, and fourLPs were issued. Highly regarded as an innovative example of a "live" jazz recording,[17] the Black Hawk sessions were reissued onCD in augmented form years later.
Manne is often associated with the once frequently criticized West Coast school of jazz.[18] He has been considered "the quintessential" drummer in what was seen as a West Coast movement, though Manne himself did not care to be so pigeonholed.[19] In the 1950s, much of what he did could be seen as in the West Coast style: performing in tightly arranged compositions in what was acool style, as in his 1953 album namedThe West Coast Sound, for which he commissioned several original compositions. Some of West Coast jazz was experimental,avant-garde music several years before the more mainstream avant-garde playing ofCecil Taylor andOrnette Coleman (Manne also recorded with Coleman in 1959); a good deal of Manne's work withJimmy Giuffre was of this kind. Critics would condemn much of this music as overly cerebral.[20]
Another side of West Coast jazz that also came under critical fire was music in a lighter style, intended for popular consumption.[21] Manne made contributions here too. Best known is the series of albums he recorded with pianistAndré Previn and with members of his groups, based on music from popular Broadway shows, movies, and television programs. (The first and most successful of these was theMy Fair Lady album based on songs from the musical, recorded by Previn, Manne, and bassistLeroy Vinnegar in 1956.) The recordings for theContemporary label, with each album devoted to a single musical, are in a light, immediately appealing style aimed at popular taste. This did not always go over well with aficionados of "serious" jazz, which may be one reason why Manne has been frequently overlooked in accounts of major jazz drummers of the 20th century.[22]
Much of the music produced on the West Coast in those years, as Robert Gordon concedes, was in fact imitative and "lacked the fire and intensity associated with the best jazz performances".[23] But Gordon also points out that there is a level of musical sophistication, as well as an intensity and "swing", in the music recorded by Manne with Previn and Vinnegar (and later Red Mitchell) that is missing in the many lackluster albums of this type produced by others in that period.[24]
West Coast jazz, however, represented only a small part of Manne's playing. In Los Angeles, and occasionally returning to New York and elsewhere, Manne recorded with musicians of all schools and styles, ranging from those of theswing era through bebop to later developments in modern jazz, includinghard bop, usually seen as the antithesis of the cool jazz frequently associated with West Coast playing.[25]
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From the78-rpm recordings of the 1940s to the LPs of the 1950s and later, to the hundreds of film soundtracks he appeared on, Manne's recorded output was enormous and often hard to pin down.[26] According to the jazz writerLeonard 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.[27]
An extremely selective list of those with whom Manne performed includesBenny Carter,Earl Hines,Clifford Brown,Zoot Sims,Ben Webster,Maynard Ferguson,Wardell Gray,Lionel Hampton,Junior Mance, Jimmy Giuffre, andStan Getz. In the 1950s, he recorded two solid albums withSonny Rollins—Way Out West (Contemporary, 1957) received particular acclaim and helped dispel the notion that West Coast jazz was always different from jazz made on the East Coast[28]—and, in the 1960s, two withBill Evans. Around the same time in 1959, Manne recorded with the traditionalBenny Goodman and the iconoclastic Ornette Coleman, a striking example of his versatility.
One of Manne's most adventurous 1960s collaborations was withJack Marshall, the guitarist and arranger celebrated for composing the theme and incidental music forThe Munsters TV show in that period. Two duet albums (Sounds Unheard Of!, 1962, andSounds!, 1966) feature Marshall on guitar, accompanied by Manne playing drums and a wide variety of percussion instruments unusual in jazz, from "Hawaiian slit bamboo sticks", to a Chinesegong, tocastanets, to piccoloBoo-Bam.
Another example of Manne's ability to transcend the narrow borders of any particular school is the series of trio albums he recorded with guitaristBarney Kessel and bassistRay Brown as "The Poll Winners". (They had all won numerous polls conducted by the popular publications of the day; the polls are now forgotten,[29] but the albums endure, now reissued on CD.) Manne even dabbled inDixieland andfusion, as well as "Third Stream" music. He participated in the revival of that jazz precursorragtime (he appears on several albums devoted to the music ofScott Joplin), and sometimes recorded with musicians best associated with European classical music. He always, however, returned to thestraight-ahead jazz he loved best.
In addition toDave Tough andJo Jones, Manne admired and learned from contemporaries likeMax Roach andKenny Clarke, and later from younger drummers likeElvin Jones andTony Williams. Consciously or unconsciously, he borrowed a little from all of them, always searching to extend his playing into new territory.[30]
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,[31] using a very broad range of colors.[32] Manne was often experimental, and had participated in such musically exploratory groups of the early 1950s as those of Jimmy Giuffre andTeddy Charles.[33] Yet his playing never became overly cerebral, and he never neglected that element usually considered fundamental to all jazz: time.[34]
Whether playing Dixieland, bebop, oravant-garde jazz, in big bands or in small groups, Manne's self-professed goal was to make the music swing.[35] His fellow musicians attested to his listening appreciatively to those around him and being ultra-sensitive to the needs and the nuances of the music played by the others in the band,[36] his goal being to make them—and the music as a whole—sound better, rather than calling attention to himself with overbearing solos.[37]
Manne refused to play in a powerhouse style, but his understated drumming was appreciated for its own strengths. In 1957, criticNat Hentoff called Manne one of the most "musical" and "illuminatively imaginative" drummers.[38] Composer and multi-instrumentalistBob Cooper called him "the most imaginative drummer I've worked with".[39] In later years this kind of appreciation for what Manne could do was echoed by jazz notables likeLouie Bellson,John Lewis, Ray Brown,Harry "Sweets" Edison, and numerous others who had worked with him at various times. Composer, arranger, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Benny Carter was "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.[40]
Though he always insisted on the importance of time and "swing", Manne's concept of his own drumming style typically pointed to hismelody-based approach.[41] He contrasted his style with that of Max Roach: "Max plays melodically from the rhythms he plays. I play rhythms from thinking melodically".[42]
Manne had strong preferences in his choice of drum set. Those preferences, however, changed several times over his career. He began withGretsch drums. In 1957, intrigued by the sound of a kind of drum made byLeedy (then owned bySlingerland), he had a line made for him that also became popular with other drummers. In the 1970s, after trying and abandoning many others for reasons of sound or maintainability, he settled on the Japanese-madePearl Drums.[43]
Manne was also acclaimed by singers.Jackie Cain, of the vocal team ofJackie and Roy ("Roy" beingRoy Kral), claimed that she had "never heard a drummer play so beautifully behind a singer".[44] Jackie and Roy were only two of the many singers he played behind, recording several albums with that husband-and-wife team, with their contemporaryJune Christy,[45] and withHelen Humes, originally made famous by her singing with theCount Basie orchestra.
Over decades, Manne recorded additional albums, or sometimes just sat in on drums here and there, with renowned vocalists likeElla Fitzgerald,[46]Mel Tormé,[47]Peggy Lee,Frank Sinatra,Ernestine Anderson,[48]Sarah Vaughan,[49]Lena Horne,[50]Blossom Dearie,[51] andNancy Wilson.[52] Not all the singers Manne accompanied were even primarily jazz artists. Performers as diverse asTeresa Brewer,[53]Leontyne Price,[54]Tom Waits,[55] andBarry Manilow[56] included Manne in their recording sessions.
At first, jazz was heard in film soundtracks only when a jazz-band performance was an element of the story. Early in his career, Manne was occasionally seen and heard in the movies, for example in the 1942 filmSeven Days Leave, as the drummer in the highly popularLes Brown orchestra (soon to be known as "Les Brown and His Band of Renown").
In the 1950s, however, jazz began to be used for all or parts of film soundtracks, and Manne pioneered in these efforts, beginning withThe Wild One (1953). As jazz quickly assumed a major role in the musical background of films, so did Manne assume a major role as a drummer and percussionist on those soundtracks. A notable early example was 1955'sThe Man with the Golden Arm; Manne not only played drums throughout but functioned as a personal assistant to directorOtto Preminger and tutored starFrank Sinatra.[57] TheDecca soundtrack LP credits him prominently for the "Drumming Sequences".
From then on, as jazz became more prominent in the movies, Manne became the go-to percussion man in the film industry;[58] he even appeared on screen in some minor roles. A major example isJohnny Mandel's jazz score forI Want to Live! in 1958.[59]
Soon, Manne began to contribute to film music in a broader way, often combining jazz,pop, andclassical music.Henry Mancini in particular found plenty of work for him; the two shared an interest in experimenting with tone colors, and Mancini came to rely on Manne to shape the percussive effects in his music.Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961),Hatari! (1962) andThe Pink Panther (1963) are only a few of Mancini's films where Manne's drums and special percussive effects could be heard.
Manne frequently collaborated with Mancini in television as well, such as in the seriesPeter Gunn (1958–1961) andMr. Lucky (1959–1960). Although Mancini developed such a close partnership with Manne that he was using him for practically all his scores and other music at this time,[60] the drummer still found time to perform on movie soundtracks and in TV shows with music by others, including the seriesRichard Diamond (music byPete Rugolo, 1959–1960), andCheckmate (music byJohn Williams, 1959–1962), and the film version ofLeonard Bernstein'sWest Side Story (1961).
In the late 1950s, Manne began to compose his own film scores, such as that forThe Proper Time (1959), with the music also played by his own group, Shelly Manne and His Men, and issued on aContemporary LP. In later years, Manne divided his time playing the drums on, adding special percussive effects to, and sometimes writing complete scores for both film and television. He even provided a musical setting for a recording of theDr. Seuss children's classicGreen Eggs and Ham (1960) and later performed in and sometimes wrote music for the backgrounds of numerous animated cartoons. For example, he joined other notable jazz musicians (including Ray Brown andJimmy Rowles) in playingDoug Goodwin's music for the cartoon seriesThe Ant and the Aardvark (1969–1971).[61] Notable examples of later scores that Manne wrote himself and also performed in are, for the movies,Young Billy Young (1969) andTrader Horn (1973), and, for television,Daktari, 1966–1969. With these and other contributions to cartoons, children's stories, movies, television programs (and even commercials), Manne's drumming became woven into the popular culture of several decades.[62]
Manne was part-owner of the Los Angeles nightclub Shelly's Manne-Hole, located at 1608 North Cahuenga Boulevard from 1960 to 1972, then at a second location at Tetou's restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard[63] until it closed in 1973. The house band at the nightclub was Shelly Manne and His Men, which featured some of Manne's favorite sidemen, such asRuss Freeman,Monty Budwig,Richie Kamuca,Conte Candoli, and laterFrank Strozier, John Morell, andMike Wofford, among many other notable West Coast jazz musicians. Also appearing at the club was a roster of jazz stars from different eras and all regions, includingBen Webster,Rahsaan Roland Kirk,John Coltrane,Sonny Stitt,Thelonious Monk,Michel Legrand,Carmen McRae,Milt Jackson,Teddy Edwards,Monty Alexander,Lenny Breau andMiles Davis. A substantial number oflive albums were recorded there, includingLive! Shelly Manne & His Men at the Manne-Hole (1961),Bill Evans'sAt Shelly's Manne-Hole (1963),Cannonball Adderley'sCannonball Adderley Live! (1964),Les McCann'sLive at Shelly's Manne-Hole (1965) andKeith Jarrett'sSomewhere Before (1969).
Late in 1973, Manne was forced to close the club for financial reasons.Stan Getz was the last artist to be featured there, at the briefly-occupied second location.[64]
After the close of Shelly's Manne-Hole, Manne refocused his attention on his own drumming. It might be argued that he never played with more taste, refinement, and soulful swing than in the 1970s,[65] when he recorded numerous albums with musicians like trumpeterRed Rodney, pianistHank Jones, saxophonistsArt Pepper andLew Tabackin, and composer-arranger-saxophonistOliver Nelson.[66]
From 1974 to 1977 he joined guitaristLaurindo Almeida, saxophonist and flutistBud Shank, and bassist Ray Brown to perform as the groupThe L.A. Four, which recorded four albums before Manne left the ensemble.[67]
In the 1980s, Manne recorded with such stars as trumpeterHarry "Sweets" Edison, saxophonistZoot Sims, guitaristsJoe Pass andHerb Ellis, and pianistJohn Lewis (famous as the musical director of theModern Jazz Quartet).[68]
Meanwhile, he continued to record with various small groups of his own. Just one representative example of his work in this period is a live concert recorded at the Los Angeles club "Carmelo's" in 1980 with pianistsBill Mays andAlan Broadbent and bassistChuck Domanico. With their enthusiasm and spontaneity, and the sense that the audience in the intimate ambience of the club is participating in the music, these performances share the characteristics that had been celebrated more than two decades before in the better-known Black Hawk performances.[69] Although this phase of his career has frequently been overlooked, Manne, by this time, had greatly refined his ability to back other musicians sympathetically, yet make his own musical thoughts clearly heard.[70]
Manne's heavy load of Hollywood studio work sometimes shifted his attention from his mainstream jazz playing. Even in lackluster films, however, he nevertheless often succeeded in making art of what might be called hackwork.[71] Still, for all his tireless work in the studios, Manne's labor of love was his contribution to jazz as an American art form, to which he had dedicated himself since his youth and continued to work at almost to the last day of his life.[72]
Manne died somewhat before the popular revival of interest in jazz had gained momentum. But in his last few years, his immense contribution to the music regained at least some local recognition, and the role Manne had played in the culture of his adopted city began to draw public appreciation.[73] Two weeks before his sudden death of a heart attack, he was honored by the City of Los Angeles in conjunction with the Hollywood Arts Council when September 9, 1984, was declared "Shelly Manne Day".[74]
