Shelly Manne & His Men - Shelly Manne & His Men, Vol. 2 (1998)

Tracklist

01. Dimension in Thirds (Paich)
02. Shapes, Motions, Colors (Rogers)
03. Alternation (Giuffre)
04. Divertimento for Brass & Rhythm (Cooper)
05. Lullaby (Holman)
06. Etude de Concert (Montrose)
07. Concerto for Clarinet & Combo: 1st Movement (Smith)
08. Concerto for Clarinet & Combo: 2nd Movement (Smith)
09. Concerto for Clarinet & Combo: 3rd Movement (Smith)

Recording Date: December 18, 1953 - June 24, 1957

personnel :

#1-6:
Ollie Mitchell (#1-3), Don Fagerquist (#4-6) - first trumpet
Shorty Rogers - second trumpet, flugelhorn
Bob Enevoldsen - valve trombone
Paul Sarmento - tuba
Russ Freeman (#1-3), Marty Paich (#4-6) - piano
Joe Mondragon - bass
Shelly Manne - drums
Recorded in Hollywood, CA; December 18, 1953 (#1-3) and March 17, 1954 (#4-6).
#7-9:
Bill Smith - clarinet
Stu Williamson - trumpet
Bob Enevoldsen - valve trombone
Vincent De Rosa - French horn
Charlie Mariano - alto saxophone
Jack Montrose - tenor saxophone
Bill Holman - baritone saxophone
Russ Freeman - piano
Monty Budwig - bass
Shelly Manne - drums

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. Shorty Rogers' extended "Shapes, Motion, Colors" takes off in all kinds of directions, with some straight-forward swinging portions that resemble contemporary classical music and a dialog for bass and tom-toms to close. However, Bob Cooper keeps his "Divertimento for Brass and Rhythm" swinging at all times, Marty Paich's "Dimension in Thirds" is a joyous piece loaded with brasses playing in thirds (big surprise), and Jack Montrose's "Etude De Concert" is a serious, intricate piece of work that somehow maintains a jazz feeling even when not explicitly spelling out the pulse. Manne is such a great, empathetic drummer that he is able to give most of this experimentation a solid rhythmic core on which to play. Given this music's esoteric bent, it's not surprising that it was reissued on CD only in a limited edition. ~Richard S. Ginell