Lovers of '50s experimental jazz need to know about this album — it's kind of gotten lost and needs rediscovering. Consisting of 1954 trio and duo selections, these are among the most ambitious and underappreciated recordings of the West Coast school of jazz during its heyday in the '50s. The first six selections feature Manne, trumpeter Shorty Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre on clarinet and tenor and baritone saxes. Some of the pieces are influenced by classical music: Giuffre's "Pas de Trois" employs the rondo form, Manne's "Flip" uses two-voice contrapuntal work to suggest the canon and Rogers uses the 12-tone row-style technique on his composition "Three on a Row." These pieces also contain some of the first recorded examples of third-stream jazz — "Abstract No. 1" is a rare example of a pre-Ornette Coleman free jazz recording and even on the standard "Autumn in New York," Manne doesn't play a steady beat, instead working as a colorist and melodic player. To this day, these sides retain their wonderfully fresh, open quality.

Things get even more stimulating when Manne teams with pianist Russ Freeman for the album's final six cuts. On Freeman's exciting "The Sound Effects Manne," Manne's playful, quirky breaks fill… read more »