''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 an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

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 ...

Trio that was released in 1965. It was recorded live in June 1965 at the

Half Note Club The Half Note was a jazz club in New York City, New York that flourished in two Manhattan locations – from 1957 to 1972 in SoHo (then known as the Village) at 289 Hudson Street at Spring Street and from 1972 to 1974 in Midtown at 149 West 5 ...

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 trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

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 era. ...

, and

Jimmy Cobb Wilbur James "Jimmy" Cobb (January 20, 1929May 24, 2020) was an American jazz drummer. He was part of Miles Davis's First Great Sextet. At the time of his death, he had been the band's last surviving member for nearly thirty years. He was a ...

. 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 Situation comedy, sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best ...

''. 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 hir ...

on the afternoon of Sunday, July 4. Drummer

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 "Willow Weep for Me" is a popular song composed in 1932 by Ann Ronell, who also wrote the lyrics. The song form is AABA, written in time,Zimmers, Tighe, E. (2009). ''Tin Pan Alley Girl: A Biography of Ann Ronell''. McFarland. pp. 19-22. altho ...

'', without that album's string arrangements.

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

stated to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 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 music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

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 The Jazz Institute of Chicago is a non-profit arts presenting organization that produces jazz concerts and runs educational programs. It was founded in 1969 by a small band of jazz fans, writers, club owners, and musicians to preserve the historical ...

, 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, Pat Metheny, Mark Whitfield, Kevin Eubanks, 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 swin ...

, 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 writt ...

" ( Bob Haggart, 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 # "

" (

Ann Ronell Ann Ronell (née Rosenblatt; December 25, 1905 — December 25, 1993) was an American composer and lyricist. She was best known for the standards " Willow Weep for Me" (1932) and " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" (1933). Early life Ronell was b ...

) – 9:08 # "Portrait of Jennie" (Gordon Burdge,

J. Russell Robinson Joseph Russel Robinson (July 8, 1892 – September 30, 1963) was an American ragtime, dixieland, and blues pianist and composer who was a member of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. Career Robinson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his teen ...

) – 3:27 # "

The Surrey with the Fringe on Top "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" is a show tune from the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''Oklahoma!''. The piece was recorded in 1952 by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, which influenced trumpeter Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, ...

" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 6:12 # "Oh, You Crazy Moon" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) – 5:29 # "Misty" (Erroll Garner) – 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 history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

) – 5:03

Personnel

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

– double bass *

– 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 John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Theloni ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

Val Valentin Luis Pastor "Val" Valentin (January 6, 1920 – March 24, 1999) was an American recording engineer with six decades of work in the music industry. Much of his work was done for MGM Records and Verve Records. His large discography includes Jazz ...

– 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