Smokin' at the Half Note [LIVE]

Wynton Kelly, Wes Montgomery & Wynton Kelly, Wes Montgomery

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 1989)
• Original Release Date: June 1965
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000470Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,399 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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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

Product 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. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guru of the Guitar, May 31, 2004

By	Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Wes' best - a must have, December 2, 2002

By	Ben (Columbia, MO) - See all my reviews

Put the greatest jazz guitarist ever with Miles Davis' rhythm section and you get this. Couple Wes' amazing improvisation and ceaseless ideas with Wynton Kelly's classy embellishments, Paul Chambers' continuous drive, and Jimmy Cobb's tireless swing and you get something very close to utopia. Everything that made Wes great is in this recording.

As far as the reviewer who said Wes was half the guitarist that Joe Pass was, he's right in a sense. Wes' thumb style limited his speed, so he couldn't play as fast as some other guitarists. However, Wes had something that Joe Pass, Johnny Smith, and Tal Farlow lacked: phrasing. Listening to Joe pick every note is enough to make a horn player faint. After listening to most jazz guitarists, I get the urge to say, "That's nice, but what's your point?" They can play fast, complex lines, but none of it seems to have any purpose other than showing off. Wes was a master at phrasing and the use of space. He skillfully used single lines, octaves, and chords to get his point across. He carefully constructed coherent solos that always seemed to say something. Listen to No Blues on this album. Though Wes plays a long solo, each chorus is more exciting than the one before it. When I listen to Joe Pass, each chorus does not build on the one before it, and it all gets boring very quickly.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moments to treasure, June 6, 2003

By	Jack Webb (Springfield, Va United States) - See all my reviews

One of the most memorable events of my youth was in 1967, the year before Wes Montgomery died. I and another guitar player friend sat just feet from Wes in Washington DC's Bohemian Caverns club as he tore into number after number, in total command of his fabulous L-5 Gibson guitar. I even recall the first tune of the night: "I Could Write a Book." If I could revisit any one time and place in my life, that would be it. The Half Note album is another session on that order. Oh, how I wish I could have been there..and at Tsubo in San Francisco to hear him with Wynton Kelly and sax man Johnnie Griffin. Moments like those are meant to live forever. Thank God someone recorded it. Get this CD and dream of being in the audience. These moments in history only happen once.