Shelly Manne: Bernie's Tune

Track

Bernie’s Tune

Group

Shelly Manne and His Men

CD

Swinging Sounds (Universal UCC09149)

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Musicians:

Shelly Manne (drums), Charlie Mariano (alto sax), Stu Williamson (trumpet), Russ Freeman (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass).

Recorded: Los Angeles, January 19 and 26, 1956

Albumcovershellymanne-swingingsounds

Rating: 85/100 (learn more)

1950s West Coast jazz often got a bum rap for being overly arranged and effete. Tracks like this one put the lie to that claim. Although the blistering “Bernie’s Tune” boasts a clever arrangement, both the band’s reading of it and the subsequent improvisations are hot and muscular. Shelly Manne was one of the hardest-swinging drummers on either coast, and trumpeter Stu Williamson and altoist Charlie Mariano could trace their lineages back to Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.

Reviewer: David Franklin

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