Broadway Swings: Manne's Elegant Styne Interpretations
Previn's piano leads the way with melodic invention and solid swing throughout.
From the first notes, this trio sounds effortless — Shelly Manne's brushwork and mallets create a warm, conversational backdrop while André Previn's piano carries the melody with both precision and personality. Red Mitchell's bass anchors everything with a walking pulse that feels natural, never pushy. The overall texture is intimate and swinging, closer to a late-night club session than a formal recital. You hear three musicians listening to each other, taking their time with each phrase.
Manne and Previn had already found their groove a couple of years earlier with My Fair Lady (1956), adapting Lerner and Loewe's material with the same approach — smart, lyrical, unpretentious. Bells Are Ringing (1958) applies that same formula to Jule Styne's score from the Broadway show of the same name. The songs here are buoyant and tuneful, and the trio treats them as jazz vehicles rather than show tunes. Previn's improvising drives each track, his touch and articulation doing the work that arrangements might do elsewhere. This is Previn doing what he did best at that moment — swinging hard in a small group, no frills.
The album landed a year before the film version reached theaters, so contemporary listeners heard these interpretations first. It's solid chamber jazz, well-crafted and genuinely enjoyable rather than flashy or risky. For anyone drawn to Previn's post-bop piano work or Manne's sophisticated approach to the drums, this remains a straightforward entry point — the playing is confident, the material is melodic, and the whole thing breathes without strain.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Shelly Manne
The Drum Sessions 1975
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Aurex Jazz Festival '80 - Gentlemen of Swing 1980
Shelly Manne Double Piano Jazz Quartet in Concert at Carmelo's Vol. 2 1985
Sounds! 1966
The musicians on this record
André Previn Plays Fats Waller 1958
André Previn
plays piano here
plays piano here
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But Three's a Crowd 1979
Red Mitchell
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
