Sunday 6 December 2009

Jack Marshall & Shelly Manne - Sounds!





JACK MARSHALL & SHELLY MANNE
Sounds!
1966
256+ VBR LAME mp3
Vinyl rip & scans from Capitol ST-2610


The Girls of Sao Paulo



This is the final effort in the Sounds! series of duet albums Manne & Marshall did together during the early 60s. Manne was a drummer who always followed a different beat and was quite a bit more experimental than contemporaries like Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson. It was due to this bohemian bent that he proved the perfect percussionist for what amounts to sound-centred stereo test records that also provided an enjoyable listening experience.

The series was experimental to start with and was conceptualised as a showpiece for the flegdling Hi-Fi stereo sound consumers were still adopting at the start of the 60s and was envisioned as a way to demonstrate the frequency range and cutting-edge studio techniques of the era. In fact, after cruising some of the audiophile forums, it's surprising to see this particular LP in the series is still often slapped on to show off the strengths of a $erious $tereo $etup.

While Marshall has an exquisite tone and picks clean as a whistle throughout, Manne does his very best David Van Tieghem and pounds on whatever is at hand, whether shoe-boxes or sheet metal, giving the proceedings an avant-garde flavour belying the simple melodic strings Marshall effortlessly floats atop the percussion. Although a pleasurable listen in its own right, if you'd like to learn something about mic placement you need look no further than this long-play lesson in room, range and dynamics.

This one goes out to The Oracle for his excellent Portal of Groove blog, where you will also find the other releases in the series as well as a heapin' helpin' of hi-fi hi-jinx covering exotica, the-in-sound-from-way-out, space-age-bachelor-pad music and other auditory delights of the dollar bin variety.

Dusty Groove sez:
Wild! Shelly Manne plays odd percussion behind Jack Marshall's jazzy guitar, and the two of them run through an odd bunch of tracks that will stretch the dynamic range of your stereo. More "hi fi" than jazz, but with a firm jazz base -- even though there's odd bits like shoeboxes, whistling, and handclaps. Cuts include "The Girls of Sao Paulo", "The Rain in Spain", and "Choros".

Jack Marshall - Guitar
Shelly Manne - Percussion


1 Theme From "Lawrence Of Arabia"
2 Sweet Sue, Just You
3 All The Things You Are
4 Choros
5 Am I Blue?
6 The Rain In Spain
7 Spanish Dance No.5
8 S'posin'
9 Yesterdays
10 The Girls Of Sao Paulo
11 A Day In Brazil - Medley


Sound off with Manne, Marshall & Soundological HERE or HERE.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many thanks!

cheeba said...

Damn son, you quick! This was up only a minute before you dropped a line!

Enjoy and if you like it, make sure to check more out at P.o.G.!

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ said...

Awesome Possum. Thank you so much Cheeba. I cannot say how much I appreciate getting to hear this one. My best and I will be back at it shortly. ;O

DJ InnaSoul said...

What a gorgeous little record !!

matthew said...

Thanks Cheeba. Looks like interesting music. Many of the stereo "show off" jazz discs at the time are almost unlistenable to as they switch channels in such a random way it makes me feel queasy. I have a 'world of percussion' one somewhere here where the mic placing expertise was definitely lacking...

rowgatien said...

Thanks, this is really out of the blue for me!

alphabet said...

Dope, thanks!!!

Arkadin said...

Like it a lot, many thanks!

cheeba said...

You're all welcome my friends!

@Matthew, I know what you mean and thankfully the "gimmickry" is less about stereo separation and more about the crazy stuff Manne's doing on percussion.

@Oracle, look forward to whatever goodies you'll bring back when you return!

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ said...

Some good ones in the stack.

And I must say, Sometimes I venture into the 1.99 bins. Just so you don't think me cheap. ;O

cheeba said...

LOL!

No way would I think you cheap, mate. Besides, if I did then I'd have to introduce myself to you as pot, Mr. kettle.

I'm from the days of yore when vinyl was a ubiquitous disposable commodity. I still prefer not to pay over $5 if I can help it! That's how us old school crate diggers came up, y'know?

Apani said...

Thank you for this!

cheeba said...

You're welcome Apani!

dputydwg said...

many thanks huge Shelly fan..

cvllos said...

A wonderful sound, thanks for your effort.
Very amusing for us in Brasil to hear Marshall's competence on guitar, like Choros.

Anonymous said...

bought this today in Japan...very cool

Anonymous said...

Many marvelous finds on your blog - thanks for all the effort & annotation. The Major Lance was a particularly gratifying find - my vinyl is in bad shape & this was a great surprise.

Is there any chance that this Marshall/Manne LP could be re-uploaded? I've got a couple others but the cover on this one knocks me out and I've got to hear it.

Thanks again for the great blog.