''Smokin' at the Half Note'' is an album by

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

and the

Wynton Kelly Wynton Charles Kelly (December 2, 1931 – April 12, 1971) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He is known for his lively, blues-based playing and as one of the finest accompanists in jazz. He began playing professionally at the age of 1 ...

Trio that was released in 1965. It was recorded live in June 1965 at the Half Note Club in New York City and September 22, 1965 at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The album combines guitarist Montgomery with the

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

rhythm section from 1959–1963 of

Paul Chambers Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop er ...

, and Jimmy Cobb. The album's versions of "Unit 7" and "Four on Six" have helped to establish these pieces as jazz standards.

History

Montgomery had performed numerous times previously with Kelly, and his trio with Chambers and Cobb had recorded earlier Montgomery albums for the Riverside label such as ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about the recently widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend ...

''. In the summer of 1965, the quartet toured the major jazz clubs in the US and also appeared at the

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

on the afternoon of Sunday, July 4. Drummer Jimmy Cobb had previously toured briefly with Montgomery in an organ trio with

Melvin Rhyne Melvin Rhyne (October 12, 1936 – March 5, 2013), was a jazz organist best known for his work with Wes Montgomery. Biography Melvin Rhyne was born in Indianapolis in 1936 and started playing the piano shortly after. At 19 years old, Rhyne s ...

in 1963. The performance was part of Alan Grant's "Portrait In Jazz" series, and Grant is heard as the announcer. Only two of the original LP's five tracks were recorded at the Half Note: "No Blues" and "If You Could See Me Now." At the behest of producer Creed Taylor, the other three were re-recorded three months later at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey. In 1998, Verve reissued the show on disc two of ''Impressions: The Verve Jazz Sides'' with a scrambled track order and some crucial cuts. The first five tracks are from the original Verve LP. Tracks six through eleven are from the posthumously released '' Willow Weep for Me'', without that album's string arrangements.

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

stated to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 2005 that the solo on "If You Could See Me Now" from this album was his favorite of all time. He called ''Smokin' at the Half Note'' "the absolute greatest jazz-guitar album ever made. It is also the record that taught me how to play."

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

jazz critic Jim Smith called the album "essential listening for anyone who wants to hear why Montgomery's dynamic live shows were considered the pinnacle of his brilliant and incredibly influential guitar playing." and wrote that "Montgomery never played with more drive and confidence, and he's supported every step of the way by a genuinely smokin' Wynton Kelly Trio." In his review for the Jazz Institute of Chicago, jazz writer Stuart Nicolson extensively reviewed each song. He praised the album in general, writing "it was in jazz where his impact was most powerfully felt. His style and sound became the role-model for subsequent generations of guitar players and can be heard echoed in the playing of George Benson, Emily Remler, Bruce Forman, Joe Diorio, Pat Metheny, Mark Whitfield, Kevin Eubanks, David Becker and a host of others. These recordings go some way to illustrate why Montgomery turned the jazz world on its collective ear, the effects of which are still with us today."

Track listing

Original LP (1965)

Side-A (live) # "No Blues" (

) – 13:00 # " If You Could See Me Now" (

Tadd Dameron Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swi ...

, Carl Sigman) – 6:45 Side-B (studio) # " Unit 7" ( Sam Jones) – 7:30 # "Four on Six" (Montgomery) – 6:45 # "

What's New? "What's New?" is a 1939 popular song composed by Bob Haggart, with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was originally an instrumental tune titled "I'm Free" by Haggart in 1938, when Haggart was a member of Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. The tune was writ ...

" (

Bob Haggart Robert Sherwood Haggart (March 13, 1914 – December 2, 1998) was an American dixieland jazz double bass player, composer, and arranger. Although he is associated with dixieland, he was one of the finest rhythm bassists of the Swing Era. Music ...

, Johnny Burke) – 6:00

CD release (1986– )

# "No Blues" (Miles Davis) – 12:57 # "If You Could See Me Now" (Tadd Dameron, Carl Sigman) – 8:21 # "Unit 7" (Sam Jones) – 6:45 # "Four on Six" (Montgomery) – 6:44 # "What's New?" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) – 6:11

Remastered CD (2005– )

# "No Blues" (Miles Davis) – 12:57 # "If You Could See Me Now" (Tadd Dameron, Carl Sigman) – 8:21 # "Unit 7" (Sam Jones) – 6:44 # "Four on Six" (Montgomery) – 6:43 # "What's New?" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) – 6:10 # " Willow Weep for Me" ( Ann Ronell) – 9:08 # "Portrait of Jennie" (Gordon Burdge, J. Russell Robinson) – 3:27 # " The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" (

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Award ...

) – 6:12 # " Oh, You Crazy Moon" (

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television, and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Award for Best Original Song, Academy Awards for ...

, Johnny Burke) – 5:29 # "

Misty In cryptography, MISTY1 (or MISTY-1) is a block cipher designed in 1995 by Mitsuru Matsui and others for Mitsubishi Electric. MISTY1 is one of the selected algorithms in the European NESSIE project, and has been among the cryptographic tech ...

" (

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...

) – 6:55 # " Impressions" (

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

) – 5:03

Personnel

Musicians * Wes Montgomery – guitar * Wynton Kelly – piano *

– double bass * Jimmy Cobb – drums Production *

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including Booker Ervin, John Coltrane, Mil ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

* Val Valentin – engineering director

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smokin' At The Half Note Wes Montgomery albums Wynton Kelly albums Albums produced by Creed Taylor 1965 live albums Verve Records live albums Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio