About

If you ever doubted Wes Montgomery's powers as a live performer, Full House will set your ears straight. Recorded in 1962 in front of a lucky live audience, this is Wes unleashed — no studio tricks, no second takes, just raw, elegant fire. His solos aren't just extended — they breathe, they climb, they seduce. You can almost hear the guitar blushing.

But wait — Wes didn't just bring his A-game, he brought the A-team. Enter Johnny Griffin, aka "The Little Giant," who rips into his tenor sax with the ferocity of a caffeinated tornado. His solos on "Cariba" and "Blue ‘n' Boogie" aren't just impressive — they're straight-up volcanic. You don't listen to Griffin — you brace yourself for him.

And then there's the rhythm section. Oh, just your average trio of jazz legends: Jimmy Cobb (yes, that Jimmy Cobb from Kind of Blue) driving the drums, Paul Chambers holding it down on bass like the heartbeat of heaven, and Wynton Kelly on piano with a touch so smooth it should be illegal. This isn't just a rhythm section — it's a Rolls Royce of rhythm.

Full House captures a one-night-only jazz miracle. No overdubs, no fluff, just brilliance caught in the wild. If you're building a jazz collection and this one isn't in there, well... this is a gap needing to be filled. On Full House you have some truly sparkling live jazz from the classic era.

Buy it. Play it loud. Then play it again. — (via Label)

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Realising that there's gold in them thar Wes Montgomery vaults, EJC have come up with a bunch of outtakes and alternative versions from the Full House album taped at a Berkeley restaurant one summer night in 1962 when Wes was at the height of his powers. Together with six bonus tracks recorded by the Montgomery Brothers in a St Louis club the previous year, there's enough here to fill a double album, a worthy enterprise since Wes always took a completely fresh solo on every take. The ever-effusive guest tenorman Johnny Griffin is a bonus, and the all-star trio of Kelly, Chambers and Cobb were then Miles Davis' touring rhythm section. Some alternate takes of ‘Blue ‘n’ Boogie', ‘Cariba’ and ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’ sound even better than the versions originally used, as do two outtakes of the classic Mel Tormé ballad ‘Born to Be Blue’, one of which ends with a magnificent solo chordal cadenza. The St Louis session features Wes stretching out on ‘All of You’ and ‘Stella By Starlight’, two standards he rarely recorded, plus ‘Round Midnight’, ‘Bock to Bock’, Milt Jackson's slow ballad ‘Heartstrings’ and a breezy uptempo version of ‘Summertime’ with superb chordal choruses. Fascinating listening for anyone interested in the art of the barely possible. — (via JazzWise)

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The band is one of the finest the guitarist ever had—the Wynton Kelly Trio (pianist Wynton Kelly, double bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb, all veterans of the Miles Davis rhythm section) plus tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin. The first disc in the set is an LP-length program replicating the six tracks on the original release. The title tune opens the set with an upbeat, Latin-flavored waltz groove, and Montgomery turns in the first of many long virtuosic guitar solos, replete with his trademark octave runs. The original solo on the second disc is perfectly acceptable, but there are missed strokes and no octaves: it is Wes, but not quite the Wes we are accustomed to.

"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" follows with a ballad (an unusual sequencing choice). But it provides one of the most intimate pictures of Montgomery's playing on record, beginning unaccompanied before being joined by only bass and drums. The arrangement respects the song's beauty and restraint with no virtuosic grandstanding. "Blue N' Boogie" is an up-tempo Dizzy Gillespie bebop tune which features Montgomery and the band in full flight. Like many of the other tracks, it gives him the spotlight during the head and the first solo. "Cariba" is a Latin Montgomery original, which includes Griffin on the head, then gives bassist Chambers the first solo. The standard "Come Rain Or Come Shine" features Griffin on the first solo, followed by the leader's expansive turn. "S.O.S" concludes the original album with another Montgomery original, a fast bebop tune including the entire band. — (via All About Jazz)

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— 2LP, cut at 45 RPM
— Pressed on 180g black vinyl
— Housed in Stoughton Printing Old Style Tip-On gatefold jacket with scuff-resistant matte finish
— Mastering by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at Acoustech Mastering

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Label: Analogue Productions / Riverside Records
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, 45 RPM, Album, Numbered, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, 180g
Reissued: 2026 / Originally Released: 1962
Genre: Jazz
Style: Hard Bop

File under: Audiophile Jazz
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