View source for Smokin' at the Half Note

{{About|Wes Montgomery's and Wynton Kelly's jazz album|other jazz albums recorded at the Half Note Club|Half note (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Smokin' at the Half Note
| type       = live
| longtype   = / [[studio album]]
| artist     = <br />The [[Wynton Kelly]] Trio and <br />[[Wes Montgomery]]
| cover      = Smokin half note.jpg
| released   = November 1965<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NykEAAAAMBAJ&dq=wes+montgomery+wynton+kelly&pg=PA58|title=Billboard|date=November 27, 1965}}</ref>
| recorded   = June 1965 and September 22, 1965
| venue      = The [[Half Note Club]] (recording in June)
| genre      = [[Jazz]]
| length     = 40:58
| label      = [[Verve Records|Verve]]
| producer   = [[Creed Taylor]]
| chronology = [[Wes Montgomery]]
| prev_title = [[Bumpin' (Wes Montgomery album)|Bumpin']]
| prev_year  = 1965
| next_title = Smokin' Guitar
| next_year  = 1965
| misc       = {{Extra chronology
 | artist     = [[Wynton Kelly]]
 | type       = live
 | prev_title = [[Undiluted]]
 | prev_year  = 1965
 | title      = Smokin' at the Half Note
 | year       = 1965
 | next_title = [[Blues on Purpose]]
 | next_year  = 1965
}}
}}

'''''Smokin' at the Half Note''''' is an album by [[Wes Montgomery]] and the [[Wynton Kelly]] 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]] 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 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 Records|Riverside]] label such as ''[[Full House (Wes Montgomery album)|Full House]]''. In the summer of 1965, the quartet toured the major jazz clubs in the US and also appeared at the [[Newport Jazz Festival]] on the afternoon of Sunday, July 4. Drummer [[Jimmy Cobb]] had previously toured briefly with Montgomery in an organ trio with [[Melvin Rhyne]] in 1963.<ref name="JIC" /> 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.<ref name="JT">{{cite journal |last=Woodard |first=Josef |title=Wes Montgomery: The Softer Side of Genius' |journal=[[JazzTimes]] |url= http://jazztimes.com/articles/15844-wes-montgomery-the-softer-side-of-genius |date=July–August 2005 }}</ref>

In 1998, [[Verve Records|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 (album)|Willow Weep for Me]]'', without that album's string arrangements.

[[Pat Metheny]] stated to ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 2005 that the solo on "If You Could See Me Now" from this album was his favorite of all time.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news | last = Stewart| first = Zan| title = Pat Metheny: An Idealist Reconnects With His Mentors | newspaper = New York Times| date = February 25, 2005| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/25/arts/music/25meth.html?pagewanted=4 | accessdate = December 20, 2010 }}</ref> 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 ==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="AM">{{cite web |first=Jim |last= Smith |title= ''Smokin' at the Half Note'' > Review  |url= {{AllMusic|class=album|id= r144229 |pure_url=yes}} |publisher=[[Allmusic]] |accessdate= December 20, 2010}}</ref>
| rev2 = Jazz Institute of Chicago
| rev2Score = (no rating)<ref name="JIC">{{cite web |first=Stuart | last= Nicholson |title= ''Classic Recordings—Wes Montgomery'' > Review  |url= http://www.jazzinchicago.org/educates/journal/reviews/classic-recordings-wes-montgomery |publisher=Jazz Institute of Chicago |accessdate= December 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304005318/http://www.jazzinchicago.org/educates/journal/reviews/classic-recordings-wes-montgomery |archive-date= March 4, 2012}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz]]''
|rev3score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref name="Penguin">{{cite book|last1=Cook|first1=Richard|author-link1=Richard Cook (journalist)|last2=Morton|first2=Brian|author-link2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer)|year=2008|title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings|edition=9th|publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]]|page=1028|isbn=978-0-141-03401-0}}</ref>

}}
[[Allmusic]] 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."<ref name="AM" />

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."<ref name="JIC" />

== Track listing ==
=== Original LP (1965) ===
Side-A (live)
# "No Blues" ([[Miles Davis]]) – 13:00
# "[[If You Could See Me Now (1946 song)|If You Could See Me Now]]" ([[Tadd Dameron]], [[Carl Sigman]]) – 6:45

Side-B (studio)
# "[[Unit 7 (jazz composition)|Unit 7]]" ([[Samuel Jones (musician)|Sam Jones]]) – 7:30
# "Four on Six" (Montgomery) – 6:45
# "[[What's New?]]" ([[Bob Haggart]], [[Johnny Burke (lyricist)|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]], [[Oscar Hammerstein II]]) – 6:12
# "[[Oh, You Crazy Moon]]" ([[Jimmy Van Heusen]], [[Johnny Burke (lyricist)|Johnny Burke]]) – 5:29
# "[[Misty (song)|Misty]]" ([[Erroll Garner]]) – 6:55
# "[[Impressions (instrumental)|Impressions]]" ([[John Coltrane]]) – 5:03

== Personnel ==
'''Musicians'''
* Wes Montgomery – guitar
* Wynton Kelly – piano
* [[Paul Chambers]] – double bass
* [[Jimmy Cobb]] – drums

'''Production'''
* [[Rudy Van Gelder]] – [[audio engineer|engineer]]
* [[Val Valentin]] – engineering director

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Montgomery Brothers|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

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