West Coast Sound 1

Shelly Manne, Buddy Tate, Shelly Manne And His Friends | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B000000Y8T
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,683 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Grasshopper [#]

2. La Murcura

3. Summer Night [#]

4. Afrodesia

5. You and the Night and the Music

6. Gazzelle

7. Sweets

8. Spring Is Here [#]

9. Mallets

10. You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me [#]

11. You're My Thrill

12. Fugue

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shelly Swings with the Best of the West, December 27, 2000

By 

William Faust (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: West Coast Sound 1 (Audio CD)

No one could swing a pair of brushes like Shelly Manne. No disrespect to Buddy, Gene, Jo, Mel or the other giants of the engine room, but Shelly Manne was just so smooth. This disc, a reissue of Contemporary 3507, is a gem of west coast jazz and features arrangements by several of the people who defined the style in the 1950's (Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers etc.). Originally recorded in 1955, Manne has surrounded himself with several west coast studio fraternity members including Bob Cooper, Curtis Counce, Bob Enevoldsen, Russ Freeman, Jimmy Giuffre, Bill Holman, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Marty Paich and others. 12 tracks in all and every one features nice tight clever orchestrations over swing tempos or ballad treatments. I only really disliked one track (Fugue) which was a little too experimental for me. Highly recommended, especially for lovers of California Cool.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars West Coast Sound, February 18, 2011

By 

Jerlaw "JJ" (Sydney) - See all my reviews

This review is from: West Coast Sound 1 (Audio CD)

When I was a kid, I was interested in the East Coast vs. West Coast jazz idiom. In university I even wrote my masters thesis about it. I'm a jazz musician & this controvery no longer exists, But then, in the 50s,following the "Swing Era" it was, & I hate to say it, a black-white thing. West=white East=African American. The difference was that L.A. was very laid back, the east bebop scene was more intense; "Hard Bop", you might say. I don't like the sound now but (East) but I did then. What the heck was bebop anyway? Well, here's the best definition I can give in a short review. Bebop has an 8 note scale instead of a 7. They added like a raised 5th in the major scale so instead od C-D E-F G-G sharpA-B, for that extra note. Bebop has more chromaticism, contrafacts, etc. & gives more freedom to the musician. There are no wrong notes as long as you get from point A to point B, you're Ok. It's a state of mind.As far as the tunes on this CD....there are 5 vols. I'm refering to vol.1. The only tunes you'll recognize is "Spring is here, & "You're my thrill" (maybe). It's the personnel that make the difference, Shelly on drums,Bob Cooper, Curtis Counce, Art Pepper, Marty Paich, Bud Shank.....13 in all. I liked this one, so I'll give it 3 and 1/2 stars....lol. it's got to be 3 or 4. I haven't decided yet.Thanks for reading my rexiew, although I doubt if anyone will, but that's OK too.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like West Coast, this is a fine choice., August 19, 2006

By 

R. J. Maxwell (Deming, NM) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: West Coast Sound 1 (Audio CD)

Shelly Manne had a distinguished career as a drummer and here he works with a kind of Who's Who in West Coast Jazz -- Bob Cooper, Jimmy Giuffre, Marty Paich, Art Pepper and Bud Shank, among others.

The sound we mostly associate with West Coast jazz comes less from the solos than from the smooth arrangements. They sound more like miniature versions of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton than like home-grown small ensembles designed around a few instruments. And they tended to use oddball instruments -- French horns and whatnot. You ought to hear Bob Cooper on another album struggling with a jazz interpretation of "I Can't Get Started" -- on an oboe!

Most of the soloists are competent and professional musicians without being particularly innovative. Gerry Mulligan (not heard here) was an exception. So was Jimmy Giuffre who went on a few years after this recording to come out with a very personal breakthrough album that included a couple of tunes by Jerome Kern in which Giuffre shook of the cliches and did some extraordinary things. And after that went on to play experimental jazz in empty night clubs because evidently no one but musical theorists could understand them.

But here everyone is pretty much at his peak. It was 1953 and 1955 after all, the heyday of West Coast Jazz and its popularity. Aficionados had Howard Rumsey and his Lighthouse All-Stars in their minds constantly.

The musicians all seemed to know one another and to have worked together at various times in different venues. This is a good example of their having fun while producing some memorable work.