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Smokin' At The Half Note | 
 enlarge | Artists: Wynton Kelly Trio, Wes Montgomery
Label: Sundazed Music Inc.
Category: Music
New (7) Used (1) from $12.88
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 283361
Format: Live
Media: LP Record
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 12.3 x 12.1 x 0.5
UPC: 090771021311
EAN: 0090771021311
ASIN: B00140PLJ0
Release Date: April 29, 2008
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| Tracks:
| • | No Blues | | • | If You Could See Me Now | | • | Unit 7 | | • | Four on Six | | • | What's New? |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Wes Montgomery brought the art of the electric guitar to new heights in the 1950s and 1960s before his untimely death at 43. His vaulting style employed octaves much as his main influence, Charlie Christian, did in the Benny Goodman Sextet. Montgomery's crowd-pleasing facility with the fretboard was best employed in live performance when he could stretch out and really be heard. Smokin' is a thoroughly satisfying live album recorded in 1965 and 1966 at the New York nightclub, with co-leader Wynton Kelly and his trio--Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Montgomery and Kelly are in perfect sync here, especially on "No Blues" and "If You Could See Me Now." --John Swenson
Album Description
Smokin' at the Half Note by Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly, originally released by Verve in 1965, shouldn't need a build-up for anyone whose ears have been open for the last 40 years. When you begin a live session with 13 minutes of "No Blues," a cornerstone of the Miles Davis Quintet with Hank Mobley, circa 1961, you'd better have your stuff together. Montgomery, one of a handful of truly great 20th century jazz guitarists, and Kelly, the ultimate piano accompanist, are backed by Miles' fabulous Kind of Blue rhythm section consisting of bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. This 1965 live set, is indeed smoking! From a churning "If You Could See Me Now," written by bebop piano great Tadd Dameron, to Wes' own tour de force, "Four On Six," Montgomery and Kelly are two Jazz giants cutting loose with the best they've got.
Album Description
Japanese reissue of 1956 album packaged in a miniature LPsleeve. Verve. 2004.
Album Details
Japanese Limited Edition Gold CD in an LP-STYLE Slipcase.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 Very good, though get "Full House" first March 17, 2008
This CD is a live set of Wes Montgomery with Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. It's truly a top-rank group. All Wes Montgomery jazz CD's are a delight, and this is no exception. If you've heard Wes before, this CD has his signature style. The playing ranges from sublime on "Four On Six" to a slightly unfocused on the ballads. I like "Full House" better. It has the same band plus Johnny Griffin on sax. This one is very good, and if you already have "Full House", or you're just hankering for another Wes Montgomery, I suggest you pick this up.
THE Quintessential Live Jazz Guitar Album October 1, 2004
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Wes Montgomery's "Smokin' at the Half Note- Live" album is one of the best live jazz guitar albums ever made! Wes Montgomery had a gift for his clear expression of intricate melodies, along with a blend of interesting chord voicings, creative soloing ideas, and innovative techniques (such as his soloing in octaves, picking with his thumb, and amazing accuracy and dexterity), that have not been heard before or since.
His stirring performances of "No Blues" and "Four on Six," in particular, stand out as amazing examples of his innovation, creativity and outstanding jazz guitar technique.
If you are interested in hearing some of Wes' best studio work, check out "The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery"- one of the best jazz guitar albums of all time!
Thank you, Wes, for inspiring countless jazz guitarists, and music-lovers everywhere!
Wes' Best Album July 24, 2004
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
I think this is the best thing Wes ever recording, and I think it's one of the best jazz CDs ever produced. You must have it. wes' solo on "All Blues" is one of the best ever. You must have it.
linc
www.learnjazzguitar.net
Guru of the Guitar June 1, 2004
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
Wes arrived late (he was 35) and checked out early (fewer than 10 years in the spotlight). Still, no guitarist has had a greater impact in the history of this music. By the time he had moved on from Riverside to this session for Verve, he had little to prove to musicians and was beginning to accept more accessible, popular assignments that would broaden his appeal to the general public. "Smokin'," despite lacking any tunes as challenging as "Airegin" ("The Incredible Guitar Artistry of"), can stand alongside his Riverside work as an example of creative, inspired playing. And the presence of Wyn Kelley along with Chambers and Cobb definitely raises the swing factor a notch.If you're new to Wes, don't expect to be blown away by just one recording. Guitar is such a popular if not universal instrument that to be designated "number one" often seems to over-inflate listeners' expectations, inviting subsequent doubt and dissent. What sets Wes apart from the field is not pyrotechnical legerdemain or bold innovation but every "little" thing that he does so well so effortlessly so much of the time. The sound he gets out of the instrument is of itself a marvel. It has a deep and meaty, utterly natural, resonance, almost as if the tone is doubling itself, reminding me less of other guitarists than of Bird and Clifford. Additionally, there's never a microsecond of doubt in his playing or solo constructions. Nothing is tentative--in terms of notes, phrases, or choruses. It's all so completely lyrical and logical that the listener's biggest challenge can be not to take it for granted. His solo on Sam Jones' "Unit 7" might serve as a touchstone to all of his playing. He starts with inventive single note melodic ideas, then moves to octaves without the faintest suggestion of slowing down to accommodate the extra note, then finally kicks it into high gear with a fully chorded "out" chorus that feels as forceful as a shout chorus by the whole Count Basie Band. I never caught Wes live, but I've heard that visually he was the mirror image of his music--efficient, composed, resourceful, economical--not the least hint of wasted motion, just like Bird and Tatum. Genius requires a level of concentration that the rest of us probably have little to no experience with. Wes Montgomery is one of those artists who can take the listener beyond the music, producing vibrations that are not merely satisfying at a sensual or emotional-intellectual level: his music is capable of leading to discoveries about the creative process itself.
HEADS-UP TO ALL WES FANS.... October 17, 2003
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Just wanted to say there's a new Live release of Wes in Paris, in 1965, that is killer, called "Complete Live In Paris 1965"
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