The Shelly Manne exhibit in the Percussive
Arts Society Museum includes a variety of drums and
cymbals that Manne played during the 1960s and 1970s,
as well as reproductions of pages Manne appeared on
in old Leedy Drum Company catalogs.
Suspended above the exhibit is a
large photo of Shelly Manne, framed in a manhole casing.
The piece is a relic from the nightclub Manne opened
around 1960 in Hollywood - Shelly's Manne-Hole - that
provided a popular venue for West Coast jazz players
and Manne's own group. Manne, who was at the forefront
of the West Coast jazz movement of the 1950s, is remembered
for his strong sense of swing and the melodic quality
of his playing.
Manne's wife, Florance ('Flip') donated
the drumset to PAS in 1996. Manne died in 1984.
Along with the drumset came other
items from Manne's personal instrument collection. These
include the gold-plated snare drum and cuica shown below,
as well as Manne's 'L.A. 4' flight cases, an antique
glockenspiel, native American and clay drums, large
and small boobams, slit drums, doumbeks, waterphones,
kalimbas and other small instruments. These instruments
are on display elsewhere in the museum.
Emil Richards, a 1994 PAS Hall of
Fame inductee, was instrumental in obtaining this collection
for the museum.
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