Customer Reviews

Full View

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

 

 

The music on this CD makes you feel like life is worth the living. Beautifully recorded, the recording puts the bass very forward in one channel so that you almost feel Ron McClure may actually be in your living room. Jimmy Cobb is also enormously empathetic towards Wynton in a musical sense.
Wynton Kelly was Dinah Washington's accompanist early in his career and this is to be heard to great effect in "Backwater Blues", a Bessie Smith tune heard in Dinah Washington Complete Mercury Vol.5 in a vintage 50s Newport Jazz Festival recording, featuring other great musicians such as Frank Rosolino on trombone. "What A Difference" was a hit for Dinah and Wynton's playing of it on "Full View" reflects that wonderful blues-tinged vocabulary that never strains for effect in its melodic twists and turns.
From ballads such as "I Want A Little Girl", uptempo 3/4 "I Thought", the modal "Doncha Hear Me" (similar to Miles' "Milestones"), "Autumn Leaves" (a Wynton Kelly specialty!), to various pop and Broadway Hits, Wynton Kelly's lines really SING. In this respect his playing has a horn-like intensity not unlike a Bird or Dexter or Wes. Beyond that he, like Ahmad Jamal or a Monty Alexander, knows how to effectively "orchestrate" his piano improvisations so that tremolos, double-time passages, triplets, block-chording are all used to enhance the structure of a solo. The miracle is the spontaneity of it all- he makes it sound so easy that we tend to underappreciate the musical completeness and discipline he applied on a consistent level.
One may question his choice of repertoire but remember that the way jazz musicians develop their material becomes at least as important as the material itself. Coltrane and Keith Jarrett for example can be heard playing long stretches on one chord which will be called a "composition". Wynton Kelly's artistry can be appreciated on multiple levels- it communicates an authentic and positive jazz vibe that a non-musician will dig as well as fulfilling the desire of a musician wanting to broadenen his iii-vi-ii-v vocabulary.
This CD is great- check it out and enjoy part of the rich legacy left by the extremely influential and accessible Wynton Kelly.

Wynton Kelly-piano
Ron McClure-bass
Jimmy Cobb-drums

This is vintage material.Wynton Kelly,the leader of this session, really gets a chance to pour out his vast array of melodic and harmonic ideas on all the tunes.He has a very personal voice,one of a kind.The trio is crisp,resulting from top-shelf support from Ron McClure(bass) and Jimmy Cobb(drums). "What A Difference A Day Makes"(Stanley Adams-Maria Grever),and "Autumn Leaves"(Kosma-Mercer-Prevert) swing like hell."Born to Be Blue"(Mel Torme-Bob Wells) renders a great interpretation from Kelly on this age-old ballad,and during this whole session Wynton is provided ample space for some amazing solos.One of best trio recording,in my opinion,he ever made.Enjoy.
Health and Happiness.

I Heard a track of Wynton Kelly playing on Radio here in the U.K. and instantly fell in love with his playing. As one who loves jazz , especially piano jazz , he is a great new find for me . As For the review by "douglasnegley".. I am astounded that he can find any track Terrible . Clearly he has different taste to me ! I find them all so inventive and Wonderful . Cheers , Hugh

Wynton Kelly's Full View was an absolute joy to stumble across. Evidence of his exceptional style and session musician ability is sprinkled like star dust through so many fine recordings that to keep him associated with just the Miles Davis band amounts to a cardinal sin.

In Full View, Kelly is tripping the light fantastic with a couple of soul mates who have helped make this one of the most exemplary piano trio recordings of all time (I'd even put it ahead of Oscar Peterson's Night Train).

Kelly's style and outlook was moulded in the `fifties but this recording has an unmistakable `sixties joy de vivre about it, bolstered by the fattest bass sound you're ever likely to hear. While Jimmy Cobb on drums maintains a nimble sophistication, Ron McClure on bass rocks the joint with an updated way on how to boogie!

Superbly recorded in 1966, this has got to end up on Orrin Keepnews remastering hit list. Watch out for Rudy Stevenson's `Dontcha Hear Me Calling To Ya'', a swing merchants paradise.

I have to disagree with the prior review of this album. Yes, its late period Wynton not long before he died, BUT, the album contains some spirited swinging trio music that certainly agrees with my ears! Tunes like Scufflin' and Dontcha hear me callin to ya are are simple but infectious grooves equal to any of Wynton's earlier trio efforts. I will admit that Walk on By isnt exactly all that inspiring, but on the whole this is a decent performance from a cohesive group of star performers. Its not the greatest jazz trio disc around, but its sits nicely in my collection as one of only a handful of readily available CD's that Wynton made under his own name.

Having listened again to this one after reading the better review from Australia, I now wince a little at my first, flippant one below. Yes, perhaps Wynton was forced to compromise a bit on some of the material - yet his playing really does stand up on the other tracks. I still get goose bumps listening to "Autumn Leaves". For a full circle 'retrospective', check out "Piano Interpretations"...Wynton's very first date in the studio. It is under his own name and leadership. Hey, Jimmy Cobb plays on this one (along with a young Ron McClure I think) and that is worth another star alone.

By the time Wynton recorded this Trio gig, "flower power" was being established, and Burt Bacharach-Hal David tunes were a staple of almost every LP (don't misunderstand me - I like most Bacharach tunes, just not by heavyweight jazzmen). Believe it or not, THIS 1967 LP was my introduction to Wynton Kelly - and you know, I simply ignored every track except "I Want A Little Girl" and, in my opinion, the best version ever recorded of "Autumn Leaves". THAT was the cut that put Wynton on my map. Check out the sample below. That was quite a while ago - before I discovered Wynton with Wes, or Miles. Unfortunately, this CD sounds almost hopelessly dated, other than those two tunes. "What A Difference A Day Makes", and "On A Clear Day", and , of course, "Walk On By" are terrible. I so wish that Riverside or OJC or whatever it is now would really take the time to come up with a "Best Of The Wynton Kelly Trio". I'll bet it would smoke - just like this version of "Autumn Leaves". 2 stars for 2 great songs. The rest goes the way of "flower power" and my 1967 VW Beetle. Things which, by the way, hold a special place in my heart - like this LP...which I still have.