PUT ON YOUR SHARKSKIN SUIT…Harmonie Ensemble: Henry Mancini-Music for Peter Gunn

Back in the 50s, some of the best jazz musicians around helped pay the bills by working in the studios for shows like M Squad and Peter Gunn. Composers like Basie and Mancini made TV a swinging time, as shown by this album dedicated to the cop thriller that came to American living rooms from 1958-61. The classic “Theme” is something that is probably in your dna, and will make you grab for your sunglasses and hat. What impressive is how swinging other tunes are, such as the highly hip “Brief and Breezy” and “My Manne Shelly” dedicated to drummer Shelly Manne who played on the original sessions. The ensemble here is tight, with some nice reed passages on tunes like “Soft Sounds” and “Sessions at Pete’s Pad.” This is a disc waiting for a cocktail party-or at least cruising the boulevard on Friday night.

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