Two decades after Shelly Manne's untimely death at the age of sixty-four, the unassuming artistry of the once popular bandleader and widely recorded sideman is largely overlooked, if not forgotten.

Perhaps the key to understanding his achievement is to realize that, despite the virtues of his instrumental skills, he viewed himself, perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, as a musician first ...

One the greatest drummers in jazz history, Shelly Manne, was born in New York City on June 11, 1920. Coming from a family of drummers, Manne began working New York's 52nd Street jazz scene in his late ...