The “Book Musical Genre” in Jazz Around 1960: On Modern Jazz Performances of Songs from My Fair Lady (Shelly Manne, André Previn, Leroy Vinnegar)

Four noteworthy characteristics shape André Previn’s career: (1) versatility in both classical music, film music, jazz, and popular music, (2) longevity with 70 years as a professional musician, (3) all the outward signs of success combined with an erratic critical reception – and (4) a lasting interest in adaptation in all his fields of activity. Following this, the present article focuses on his continuing interest and versatility in adaptation. My emphasis lies on reception and creativity in adaptation on the part of the adapter as a tool to analyze specifics of musical genres – in this case jazz – by comparing differences in the adapter’s approaches towards adaptation in his respective fields. The core part of this article is a case study of the album Modern Jazz Performances of Songs from My Fair Lady, released in 1956 by André Previn with Leroy Vinnegar and Shelly Manne.