I only have the original Williams LP. Never got around to the Manne version, I'm afraid. Does it differ much from the original?
I've never heard it, and only recently found out about it.
I have long had all three (!) of Shelly Manne's Peter Gunn albums. These are generally very solid; a few interpretations surpass the original versions; others leave you scratching your head, e.g. whose bright idea was it to play "The Brothers Go to Mothers" as a ballad?
The Checkmate album uses a quintet, and includes Russ Freeman, a piano player I like very much. What is interesting about Checkmate is that a few of the tunes are in minor, modal grooves, and it will be interesting to see what a small group does with this material, especially considering the predilection for modal jazz during the immediate post-Kind-of-Blue period.
I used to own this. Didn't exactly wear it out, but it was a nice listen, and I'm not even into jazz. Can't give any musical insights like my learned friend OnyaBirri unfortunately. For me at the time it was just an occasional relaxing change from Ben-Hur, King of Kings, El Cid etc.
