BopFest Jazz Festival: Shelly Manne's "Live At The Blackhawk" - Matt Skelton Quintet

Bringing BopFest '19 to a swinging conclusion, UK drummer Matt Skelton's latest ensemble brings together a dynamic quintet of leading London jazz instrumentalists, energised by the inspiration of master jazz drummer Shelly Manne's quintet recordings from the 1950s and 60s.

Skelton's project celebrates in particular the 5 volumes of “Live At The Blackhawk” recorded in San Francisco in 1959. Leading from the drums, Shelly's stellar quintet originally featured Richie Kamuca, Joe Gordon, Victor Feldman and Monty Budwig.

Often touring, recording and appearing on televised concerts, this group helped to ensure that the West Coast jazz scene retained a strong post-bop identity strongly linked to the East Coast quintets of yore led by Parker and Gillespie in Shelly's hometown of New York.

A truly original musician and drummer, Shelly Manne's mastery of his craft are immediately recognisable.

In bringing together this new group, Skelton's objective is to share the legacy of these remarkable live recordings with fresh energy; each of the players here are chosen not for the purpose of emulation but to express their own identities as informed by the original recordings.

Matt Skelton has long been known as one of the foremost drummers on the UK jazz scene, having accompanied many leading internationally known figures such as Harry ''Sweets'' Edison, Conte Candoli, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Warren Vache and Scott Hamilton.

Most recently he has appeared with Steve Grossman, John Hendricks, Curtis Stigers and with Kurt Elling as part of Guy Barker's latest large scale commission for the BBC.