Complete Live in Paris 1965 [Import, Live, Original recording remastered]

Wes Montgomery | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 2004)
• Original Release Date: December 2, 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import, Live, Original recording remastered
• Label: Definitive Spain
• ASIN: B00008HAU8
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,093 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Four on Six [Live]

2. Twisted Blues

3. Impressions

4. To When

5. Jingles [Live]

Disc: 2

1. The Girl Next Door

2. Here's That Rainy Day

3. 'Round Midnight

4. Full House [Live]

5. Blue and Boogie/West Coast Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL BAILEY........, October 16, 2003

By 

"douglasnegley" (Pittsburgh, Pa. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Live in Paris 1965 (Audio CD)

Now I know what it feels like to discover an unknown Renoir work, although to be fair a friend from the West Coast turned me on to this. Released this year, Wes in Paris - Live - in 1965, is a treasure chest. Recorded right in the middle of his 'change-over' period, Wes is so appreciative of this Paris venue and audience that he gives them his best, ever. A 2 Disc set with outrageous sound, this one completes a trilogy of Live Wes that includes "Smokin' At The Half Note", "Full House", and now this INCREDIBLE performance. The personnel are: Harold Mabern, piano; Arthur Harper, bass; Jimmy Lovelace, drums...and a special treat - Johnny Griffin on 3 tracks, including the showstopping "Full House" track (listen to the audience and Wes' audible response to this kind of appreciation, whilst he was being skewered for 'selling out' in his own country) The groove laid down is a little more "classic" jazz, and maybe a bit less "groove-oriented" than Wynton Kelly's Trio, but it matters not one bit. It's more Wes, and Live no less! Wait until word gets around about this...

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On FIRE......, January 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Live in Paris 1965 (Audio CD)

Wes may have been "Smokin' At The Half Note" but he's ON FIRE at Paris' Theatre des Champs Elysees on March 27, 1965. Get this set anyway you can if you like Wes Montgomery. This is Wes with just piano, bass, drums and occasional saxophone. Pure jazz guitar bliss with long tasty solos that really show how amazing a guitarist he was (and I'm comparing this to his jazzier Riverside work, not his more pop oriented Verve work).

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for guitarists and Wes completists only., March 1, 2005

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Complete Live in Paris 1965 (Audio CD)

Wes is admittedly more "aggressive" in his playing on this occasion, partly due to his band mates and the nature and length of the program. Unlike the grooving, always "in the pocket," rhythm section of "Smokin' at the Half Note" (Kelly, Chambers, Cobb), the Harold Mabern-led rhythm section gives the music a forward edge, or emotive quality, suggestive of Coltrane and McCoy. The result is often music based on tension and release rather than melodic inventiveness--leading to some purely "physical" playing and grandstanding on the parts of Mabern and tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin (the two ballads opening the second disk are my favorite moments of the concert).

The audio is acceptable--and thankfully the balance favors Wes' guitar, which sounds as "fat" and consistent as ever. But I suspect this recording won't wear as well with me and other non-guitarists as his meetings with Wynton Kelley, Milt Jackson, and Jimmy Smith, not to mention the classic Riverside studio albums. If there were more of Wes on record, I'd give this one 4 stars. Pick it up only if you have "Smokin'," "Full House," and "The Incredible Artistry."