Shelly Manne - At The Black Hawk (Episode 355)

Story and review of all four volumes of Shelly Manne's classic quintet date at San Francisco's Black Hawk nightclub in September 1959. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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[@mortofon]

Great overview of Manne's formative years in New York. It's so easy to think that he came onto the West Coast scene fully formed.

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

True. I actually knew very little of that part of the story before doing the research for this episode. Probably because I have a bit of an aversion to all things Stan Kenton!

[@CJsTunes]

Pulled the trigger on #1 today. Thanks!

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

Godspeed! 🙂

[@drunkenskelator]

Thanks for the review! I became aware of Shelly Manne after picking up mint originals of Vol. 1&2 along with 64’ pressing of Vol.3. I bought them solely based on their condition and value in Discogs versus the $11 asking price. When I got them home and gave them a listen I was blown away. I have since added another handful of Shelly Manne titles as I came across them.

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

Thanks for watching. He made a few sound effects type records in the 1960s, and there are a couple of soundtrack records he made which are obviously soundtrack records. But otherwise, when it comes to serious jazz, there's not a bad record he made that I'm aware of. I have 22 of his leader albums and I think in total he drums on 80 records in my collection. Consistently tasteful and swinging.

[@DanielHog13]

Great series of jazz genre YT vids over the year+. Love your solid, hyperbole-free details about the albums. Keep it going.👍

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

Thank you. Not sure I could really be a hype man if I tried! I appreciate the support.

[@louisswaim7024]

Great review! I just recently acquired a 4-CD Euro issue of the entire three nights’ performances. Just stunning!

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

Excellent. By the way, the other day I was refreshing my memory of these records on a flight and was listening to a stream of the “Complete” release. Seemed to me I heard a couple of mic cut-outs on Gordon’s solos - possibly on some alternate versions. Can you confirm? Or maybe that was just a streaming glitch.

[@louisswaim7024]

I'll try to listen through, but I don't recall any mic dropouts. This set includes everything recorded over the 3 nights, including Vol. 5, which to my knowledge was only issued as a single CD in 1991. The production values of the Euro CD set by Fingerpoppin Records are excellent, and that pristine Contemporary sound quality is intact.@@TenMinuteRecordReviews

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

@@louisswaim7024 well please don’t make a project of it. Only as you may happen to notice.

[@cardboardmusic]

Nice review (as always). I love the Blackhawk series, but I still think my favourite is the "Shelly Manne Plays Checkmate" album. BTW, try "Alive In London" for more contemporary Shelly.

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

Thanks for the suggestion! Will do. And I agree, Checkmate is a solid outing.

[@JazzBums]

Thanks for this. I just finished collecting the 70s reissues - took about a year to get all 4, and a fun series to sit with one at a time. The next set I’m considering collecting are the 5 or so Chet Baker titles on Prestige. - Mike

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

Nice work! As for Baker, I went all in on his work on Pacific some years ago, have a couple of Riversides, but don’t know much about his Prestige records. Be interested to learn what you discover.

[@bacarandii]

I started paying attention to Shelly Manne when the first OJC records started coming out on CD -- so, in the later '80s and early '90s. I love those Poll Winners albums with Ray Brown and Barney Kessel. ("Four!" LOOKS like it's another Poll Winners record, but substitutes Red Mitchell on bass, adds Hampton Hawes on piano, and was released under Hawes' name.) As you say, Manne is not a bomb-dropper. He's more in the Billy Higgins vein, swinging without pounding (and since Higgins is my top drummer ever, that's high praise from me). I loved his work on Sonny Rollins' Contemporary sessions before I knew who he was. He also gets reflected credit for one of my favorite Bill Evans Trio records, recorded at his Hollywood club in 1963: "Live at Shelly's Manne-Hole" with Chuck Israels and Larry Bunker. ("Isn't It Romantic?" -- the first track -- is my idea of heaven.)

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

Higgins - an outside choice for best drummer but I agree, he elevated anything he was on.

[@ourcatlovesjazz]

Pre-ordering the reissue that was just announced by acoustic sounds !

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

That’s great news that there’s a reissue. Long overdue. Are they doing a 5th LP?

[@jimmccloskey4254]

There are 5 volumes, do you have #5, and your thoughts.

[@TenMinuteRecordReviews]

I don't, as it's only ever been released on evil silver disc :-). However, I've streamed it and it's really quite strong, at least as good and arguably better than the original fourth volume. Feldman features quite significantly.