Shelly Manne At The Black Hawk, Vol. 5 CD

Personnel: Shelly Manne (drums); Joe Gordon, Richie Kamuca, Victor Feldman, Monty Budwig.
All selections are previously unreleased.
Personnel: Shelly Manne (drums); Richie Kamuca (tenor saxophone); Joe Gordon (trumpet); Victor Feldman (piano).
Liner Note Author: Doug Ramsey.
Recording information: Black Hawk, San Francisco, CA (09/23/1959/09/24/1959).
Unknown Contributor Roles: Victor Feldman; Joe Gordon; Monty Budwig; Richie Kamuca.
Unlike the first four volumes of this series, which included three or four selections previously released plus a "new" alternate take, the final CD of the extensive documentation of the Shelly Manne Quintet's stint at the Black Hawk club consists entirely of previously unreleased material. Fortunately, the performances by trumpeter Joe Gordon, tenor saxophonist Richie Kamuca, pianist Russ Freeman, bassist Monty Budwig, and the drummer/leader are the same high level as on the more familiar material. They perform obscure songs by Horace Silver (has anyone else ever recorded his "How Deep Are the Roots?") and Victor Feldman in addition to a trio feature on "Wonder Why," the ballad "This Is Always," and a new version of the band's theme song, "A Gem From Tiffany." ~ Scott Yanow