Smokin' At The Half Note

There's no way of telling if the photo of Wes Montgomery reproduced on the rear of this LP's sleeve was taken at the Half Note, but he is undoubtedly smoking: a lit cigarette in his mouth as he plays his guitar. The photo of Wynton Kelly looks to have been taken in a recording studio if the out-of-focus reel of tape on his piano is anything to go by. He isn't smoking, but concentrating intently on the keys before him. Both men are wearing white shorts with skinny black ties: Montgomery also in a dark-coloured jacket; Kelly in a cardigan and a beanie-type hat.

Only half of Smokin' at the Half Note was recorded in June '65 at the Half Note Club on Hudson Street in New York. The intention must surely have been for it to be entirely a live album, but producer Creed Taylor, presumably dissatisfied, had insisted on some of it being done over a few months later in a studio setting. The two tracks on side A are the live ones; the three on side B those from Rudy Van Gelder's studio. Its hybrid and piecemeal origins don't detract in the least from what is an excellent LP. My copy is a 1966 German stereo pressing in middling condition. I bought it in Monmouth four or so years ago for about £10.

I've heard some of Wynton Kelly's recordings as leader and found them good but not remarkable. As a collaborator, sideman & accompanist, however, he was one of the best, and, while he may not have been an extraordinary virtuoso of Wes Montgomery's calibre, his contributions here are often exquisite, such as in the elegant opening to Tadd Dameron's ballad 'If You Could See Me Now'. Also playing at their considerable bests are Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Montgomery, however, is the star of this show, with his solos on 'Unit 7' and 'Four on Six' (the latter his own composition) some of the highest of the many highlights on this record.

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