Customer Reviews

Complete Live in Paris 1965

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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...

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).

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."

I was skeptical at first. If the recording is so great, why hasn't it come out before now? But I bought the cd anyway and was pleasantly surprised. I don't know if it is better than "Live at the Half Note" or "Full House," but it is definitely on the same level as those two cd's. And if you consider that Wes' best playing seems to be what he does live, it is a must have for any jazz guitar fan.

this is as good as it gets for Wes Montgomery's live playing- a very uptempo night of playing with lotsa chops... i don't like the actual recorded sound of the recording as much as "Smokin' at the Half Note"- seems like there is more treble in Wes' amp settings than i am used to or maybe it was just the settings of the tape recorder 0r P.A. board... still, this is a ferocious night of Wes' playing with more of a Bebop feel than Swing in the style- GRRREAT JAZZ !!! a wonder-full compliment to "Smokin' at the Half Note" which has a warmer, softer vibe in that club concert... if you love Wes- you gotta hear this recording !!!

got to hear this whole set&was feeling it from start to end. Wes&His Band knocked it out.I was already diging His Live One Smoking at the Half Note but this One is even more tighter if you can beleive that.Wes with His Signature playing&Styling just moves you.strogn arrangements.some of His Albums back in the day didn't always Highlight him properly as this Set does so well.enjoy!!!

This particular recording (which was a rare bootleg for years, released partly a few years ago on some Wes compilations but here we get it in complete form) features Wes in top form, '65 was a very good year for him and his output in it is incredible. Supported by Harold Mabern on piano, Jimmy Lovelace on drums and bassist Arthur Harper, all in great shape and you can really here Wes stretching all their abilities to their limits. and sax giant Johnny Griffin, too! (Wes and Johnny had already a few sessions in the past together)

Wes plays some of his most complex tunes. You get the best version of Twisted Blues - a very interesting, slower than the original take on "So much guitar!" but again, Wes changed quite a bit over the years and you can here very interesting changes in his soloing form over those changes, from the original album in '61 to this one in '65.
To When (To Wane?) is another interesting composition and we get a very extended solo from Wes.
The highlights on this album for me are the definitive version of Wes' original "Jingles" - which starts with some of his most complex single note work ever, lightening fast, intense and continues to some very heavy chordal\octaves passage which lasts for about 4 minutes! the entire solo takes more than 6 minutes and it's filled with the cream de la cream of Wes Montgomery awesomeness! Harold Mabern manages to hold up to Wes with great comping patterns that are some of the best I've heard in any Wes recording. Not to mention Mabern's soloing abilities which, are great and very solidly built with hard bop vocabulary. Mabern is a truly great artist and isn't inferior to an established artist like Wynton Kelly.
You also get a great version to the modal "Impressions" which is taken similarly to the one on "Smokin'" and even longer.
on "Here's that rainy day" we get to hear him playing a complete, extended octave solo taken - instead with his thumb - using two finger fingerpicking. surprise indeed. That way you hear him playing some very different phrases, almost like a new side of Wes. The same track features the best solo I've ever heard from Harold Mabern - shows his deep and emotional side.

Recording quality is very good, on par with "Smokin'". Players are in top shapes and that session is VERY recommended.

If you're new to Wes' music or to jazz in general I'd suggest starting elsewhere though - "Movin' Wes" (1964), "Full House" (1962) and ofcourse "The Incredible Jazz Guitar" (1959)!

I thought I had the best live Wes Montgomery recordings with 'Smokin' at the Half Note' and 'Full House'- until I got 'Complete Live in Paris'. It absolutely sizzles from beginning to end- just amazing jazz guitar ! Don't be put off by date of 1965 and Wes' less 'jazz oriented' work from that time; this is 100% pure jazz. If you like jazz guitar, you need to get this CD- if you're not a Wes Montgomery fan (are there any jazz guitar fans who don't like Wes ?) you will be after listening to this album.

I'm a professional jazz guitar player and I have almost everything by Wes, as I should since he is the one and only toff player in jazz guitar. I don't have this one CD, but I don't even need to. I know that what Wes is doing here is astonishing, simple, real, honest and overwhelming, as is every single note he has ever played. The stars given by every one here shows I can't be wrong. As a study I have taken solos by Wes and the most impressive thing is not the technical complexities at all - Wes is rather simple - but how his mind must have worked, and this you can feel when playing along with him. His mind is always one or two bars ahead, so the "simple" becomes misteriously impossible and this is the trace of the genius; once you hear it you go "my god, this is so simple, how didn't I think of this before?" It's like Beethoven's 9th, so simple, so obvious and so beautiful. This man represents the spirit of jazz in the most loving way and this is why I arrogantly wrote this review of a CD I never heard.