Shelly Manne & His Men Play PETER GUNN. Music by Henry Mancini from the TV program starring Craig Stevens. Contemporary Records. Shelly Manne (drums); Victor Feldman, Conte Candoli, Herb Geller, Russ Freeman, Monty Budwig. Recorded in January 1959. Manne and his West Coast jazz band interpret a selection of Henry Mancini-composed themes from the popular late-1950s TV show PETER GUNN, including the title track and a variety of atmospheric interludes. Cuts include “A Profound Gass” and “Sorta Blue,” “Soft Sounds” and the shimmering “The Brothers”.

For the most part, television music was a vast jazz wasteland before the Peter Gunn series debuted in the fall of 1958. The show’s score made a name for composer Henry Mancini and changed the sound of televised drama. It was inevitable that Shelly Manne, Hollywood studio mainstay and a proven champion at jazz interpretations of Broadway shows (e.g., “My Fair Lady” also on Contemporary), would give Mancini’s music a more expansive blowing treatment, and the resulting album reminds us that there was more to Peter Gunn than its dramatic theme and the classic ballad “Dreamsville.” Fans of Manne’s Men should note that the album was taped during the brief tenure of alto saxophonist Herb Geller, and that it makes winning use of the vibes and marimba of added starter Victor Feldman.

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