My Fair Lady | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1956 | |||
Recorded | August 17, 1956 | |||
Studio | Contemporary Records (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 35:56 | |||
Label | Contemporary Records C 3527 | |||
Producer | Lester Koenig | |||
Shelly Manne chronology | ||||
| ||||
André Previn chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [2] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [3] |
My Fair Lady, recorded by "Shelly Manne & His Friends" and released in 1956 by Contemporary Records, is the first album ever made consisting entirely of jazz versions of tunes from a single Broadway musical. [4] It was an instant hit and became one of the best-selling jazz albums of its day. [5]
Shelly Manne & his Friends* (*André Previn and Leroy Vinnegar): modern jazz performances of songs from My Fair Lady, as the full name appeared on the 12-inch LP jacket (Contemporary Records C3527), was begun when drummer Shelly Manne, pianist André Previn, and bassist Leroy Vinnegar assembled on August 17, 1956, in the Contemporary studios in Los Angeles to produce an album of jazz versions of miscellaneous show tunes. (The three, having already recorded together as "Shelly Manne and His Friends", had some experience performing as a trio.)
Previn and Manne were exchanging ideas with producer Lester Koenig, who suggested they do some tunes from the current Broadway musical My Fair Lady . [6] Manne and Previn were so impressed with the Lerner and Loewe songs for the show, that they decided to record more of them. They ended up filling the entire album with My Fair Lady tunes. Koenig brought in the complete score, and that evening Manne and Previn, between them, worked out the arrangements and recorded the entire album in one session, with Vinnegar providing the third "very important musical voice in the trio." [7]
Lively and appealing, and clearly aimed at popular taste, the music also showed some daring, in the vein of the experimentation that was a factor in much West Coast jazz in the 1950s. [8] Previn, with considerable musical training, and having composed several film scores himself, was able to suggest certain technical modifications to the harmony and other aspects of the music. Manne, as the date's leader, provided suggestions of his own, for example to treat what was a fast number in the show as a slow ballad instead. The final number, "I Could Have Danced All Night", was given a Latin touch, with Manne even adding the sound of a tambourine. "There was a total thing going back and forth," as Manne later put it. [9]
The sound was recorded by Roy DuNann, later recognized as one of the great recording engineers. [10]
The result of that session was an unexpectedly successful album, generally cited as the most successful jazz album up to that time, or at least one of them. [11]
After that success, the combo, sometimes under Manne's name, other times under Previn's, as "André Previn and His Pals", recorded numerous other treatments of Broadway musicals in the next few years (the first with Vinnegar on bass, the rest with Red Mitchell, who took over the bass chair when Vinnegar left the group to pursue other musical opportunities), including Li'l Abner (1957), Pal Joey (1957), Gigi (1958), Bells Are Ringing (1958), and West Side Story (1959), all issued on the Contemporary label.
Shortly after the Manne hit with My Fair Lady had shown what could be done in this vein, that musical received whole-album treatment by other jazz artists. Billy Taylor and Quincy Jones brought out My Fair Lady Loves Jazz in 1957, and this was followed by albums of My Fair Lady music by Nat King Cole ( Nat King Cole Sings My Fair Lady ) ; Wild Bill Davis; Dick Hyman with Ruby Braff; Oscar Peterson ( The Oscar Peterson Trio Plays "My Fair Lady" ); and others.
Manne himself worked with arranger John Williams to present a different treatment of the musical in 1964, first issued as My Fair Lady with the Un-Original Cast , and later reissued as My Fair Lady Swings. This album was based on arrangements thoroughly worked out in advance, and some of the tunes were sung by Jack Sheldon and Irene Kral.
All tunes by Frederick Loewe. (Lyrics of the original songs were by Alan Jay Lerner.)
André George Previn was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three prongs: Hollywood, jazz, and classical music. On each he achieved success, and the latter two were part of his life until the end. In movies, he arranged and composed music. In jazz, he was a celebrated trio pianist, a piano-accompanist to singers of standards, and pianist-interpreter of songs from the "Great American Songbook". In classical music, he also worked as a pianist but gained television fame as a conductor, and during his last thirty years created his legacy as a composer of art music.
Sheldon Manne, professionally known as Shelly Manne, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing to the musical background of hundreds of Hollywood films and television programs.
Leroy Vinnegar was an American jazz bassist. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, the self-taught Vinnegar established his reputation in Los Angeles, California, during the 1950s and 1960s. His trademark was the rhythmic "walking" bass line, a steady series of ascending or descending notes, and it brought him the nickname "The Walker". Besides his jazz work, he also appeared on a number of soundtracks and pop albums, notably Van Morrison's 1972 album, Saint Dominic's Preview.
Contemporary Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Lester Koenig in Los Angeles in 1951. Contemporary produced music from a variety of jazz styles and players.
Russell Donald Freeman was a bebop and cool jazz pianist and composer.
"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" is a song from the 1956 musical My Fair Lady, with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. It was originally performed by Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins who also performed it in the 1964 film version.
Double Play! is a 1957 jazz album featuring pianists Russ Freeman and André Previn.
My Fair Lady is a 1956 Broadway musical.
West Side Story is a jazz album by pianist André Previn and his trio. Previn, along with drummer Shelly Manne and bassist Red Mitchell, chose eight compositions from the original score of the Leonard Bernstein musical West Side Story and re-arranged them in a jazz style.
Gigi is a 1958 jazz album by André Previn, Shelly Manne and Red Mitchell. The full album name is Modern Jazz Performances of Songs from Gigi.
Li'l Abner is an album by Shelly Manne and His Friends, recorded in 1957 for Contemporary Records.
Charles Curtis Berghofer, professionally known as Chuck Berghofer, is an American jazz double bassist, who has worked as a studio musician and in the film industry for more than 60 years, including working on more than 400 movie soundtracks.
Pal Joey is a jazz album by pianist André Previn & His Pals, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne, recorded in 1957 and released on the Contemporary label. The album features Previn's jazz interpretations of songs from Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's broadway musical, Pal Joey and followed the success of Manne's 1956 album, My Fair Lady. The album was recorded around the same time as the release of the motion picture.
Shelly Manne & His Friends is a jazz album by drummer Shelly Manne with pianist André Previn and bassist Leroy Vinnegar recorded in 1956 and released on the Contemporary label.
Swinging Sounds is a jazz album by drummer Shelly Manne's group Shelly Manne & His Men, recorded in 1956 and released on the Contemporary label. Early releases of the album were labelled Vol 4, indicating it was the fourth volume of recordings released by the group.
Bells Are Ringing is an album by drummer Shelly Manne's group Shelly Manne & His Friends, with pianist André Previn and bassist Red Mitchell. It was recorded in 1958 and released on the Contemporary label. The album features Manne's jazz interpretations of songs from Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green's broadway musical, Bells Are Ringing and followed the success of Manne's 1956 album, My Fair Lady. The album appeared a year prior to the release of the motion picture.
Jazz Giant is an album by saxophonist Benny Carter that was recorded in 1957 and 1958 and released by Contemporary Records.
My Fair Lady with the Un-original Cast is an album by drummer Shelly Manne with Jack Sheldon and Irene Kral and musical direction by Johnny Williams, recorded in 1964 and released on the Capitol label. The album, featuring Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's music from the Broadway musical My Fair Lady, sought to capitalize on Manne's previously successful My Fair Lady album and the contemporaneous film adaptation.
This is the discography for American jazz drummer Shelly Manne.
André George Previn, was a German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. Previn won four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings.