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A TAV Curator’s Pick.

“Smokin' at the Half Note is the second collaboration jazz album recorded by Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio and released in 1965. It was recorded live in late June 1965 at the Half Note Club in New York City, and September 22, 1965 at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

The album combines guitarist Montgomery with the Miles Davis rhythm section from 1959-1963 of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. The album's versions of "Unit 7" and "Four on Six" have helped to establish these songs as jazz standards, and remain important references for their interpretation. This is also the second live album by Wes Montgomery.” - Wiki

“What sets Montgomery 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, suggestive less of other guitarists than of Bird and Clifford Brown. 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.” - All About Jazz

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