WES MONTGOMERY & WINTON KELLY TRIO: Smokin´ at The Half Note

JIMMY COBB
Este episódio com o Jimmy foi um dos mais hilariantes que já presenciei na vida. Em 1972, Jimmy fazia parte do trio que acompanhou Sarah Vaughan em sua "tourné" pelo Brasil.  Como de hábito, levamos Sarah e o trio para Petrópolis, para passar um fim de semana, hospedados na casa do empresário José Carneiro Dias. A casa tinha um jardim imenso, no final do qual se situava a "fossa séptica" que recolhia o esgoto da casa. O que nenhum dos visitantes sabia era que a fossa estava aberta, sem tampa, para limpeza e manutenção. No meio da madrugada, música rolando solta na sala, Jimmy Cobb foi "apertar um", lá no final do jardim e sumiu pelo resto da noite. Já de manhã, Sarah deu por falta dele: fomos ao quarto e ele não estava. Iniciada a busca, encontramos o pobre Jimmy dentro da fossa, coberto de m(*) até o pescoço...Em sua "viagem", foi caminhando, caminhando e caiu na fossa. Depois ele contou que gritou por socorro a noite inteira, mas ninguém ouviu. Por sorte, era um cara muito alto e conseguiu manter a cabeça de fora, do contrário teria se afogado na m(*). Pra tirá-lo de lá, foi uma operação complicada: jogamos uma corda e puxamos, pois ninguém tinha coragem de chegar perto. Uma vez resgatado, Jimmy levou um banho completo, sob fortes jatos de água - com o auxílio de uma mangueira - e sua roupa foi devidamente incinerada. Mas já imaginaram a manchete dos jornais em New York? "O grande baterista Jimmy Cobb morreu no Brasil,  afogado na bosta!"
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WES MONTGOMEY
Wes Montgomery was born on March 6, 1923, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the middle of three brothers who all made a name in jazz. It was not until he was nineteen (on hearing Charlie Christian on the radio) that he purchased an electric guitar and taught himself to play all of Charlie Christian's recordings note by note. During his life, he was never able to read music. He began playing in local clubs, initially imitating Charlie Christian and joined Lionel Hampton's band in 1948. Returning to Indianapolis in 1950, he began playing locally and then formed a group with his brothers Monk and Buddy (on bass and vibes, respectively) that played on the West Coast and back in Indianapolis. He was discovered by Cannonball Adderley and introduced to Riverside Records from where his career took off, producing a string of impressive albums and receiving almost universal acclaim. Wes Montgomery's lifestyle was very different from that of the hard boppers like Grant Green or Hank Mobley. He was teetotal, afraid of flying, homespun, family orientated. And yet somehow the jazz life still took him away early; he died of a heart attack in his wife's arms in June 1968, aged 43. Nor had he suffered disillusionment and lack of success; by joining Verve records and consenting to string backings as he played pop tunes such as "Eleanor Rigby", "Prelude To A Kiss" or "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" he had enjoyed commercial success to the end.
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ALBUM REVIEW
The music on "Smoking At the Half Note" was recorded in 1965 for a radio show "Portraits In Jazz". The initial release provided only half of the set, the complete performance only being available on "Wes Montgomery— Impressions: The Verve Jazz Sides". This 2005 re-release puts that right by including all the Half Note material. The added material is not recorded to the same quality and still has the annoying compere introducing each number. But the music is of such importance that this can be forgiven. This is more than the case since the added material includes a blistering version of John Coltrane's "Impressions". The background to this is that three of the five tracks as released on the original "Smokin' At The Half Note" album were not recorded "live" at all: "Unit 7", "Four on Six" and "What's New?" were recorded some months later by Rudy Van Gelder at the request of producer Creed Taylor. Only the two openers "No Blues" and "If You Could See Me Now" were actually recorded "live". The remaining "live" tracks" - "Willow Weep for Me", "Portrait of Jenny", "Surrey With the Fringe on Top", "Oh, You Crazy Moon", "Misty", and "Impressions" – were eventually released after Wes Montgomery's death on the album "Willow Weep For Me" and were overdubbed with string accompaniments to attempt capitalize on Wes Montgomery's then success as a smooth jazz artist. The 2005 released version removes the strings and restores all the recorded material (together with the studio takes) on a single album for the first time. Though the album is often treated primarily as a Wes Montgomery date, it is very much a collaboration with the Wynton Kelly trio, the tight rhythm section that powered Miles Davis' band through 1961 – 1963, including "Kind Of Blue"(although Wynton Kelly was replaced by Bill Evans on that iconic album on all but "Freddie Freeloader") and the Blackhawk sessions with Hank Mobley. As the tightest rhythm section around at the time, they power Wes Montgomery's playing with expert drive and fluency. Wynton Kelly, as at the Blackhawk, is in tremendous form, delivering fleet footed, bluesy piano solos and comping brilliantly. The conjecture that great music in jazz always depends on a co-operation with other musicians on a point of greatness themselves is more than borne out here. Wes Montgomery is provided with the ideal vehicle in which to excel. The disc opens with a version Miles Davis' "No Blues" which with suitable (but restrained live background noise) sets the scene for the 'live' date. Wes Montgomery struggles with the early solos but within a few bars is playing on octaves and lifting the whole performance. Pat Metheny is right; the guitar work on the next track, Tadd Dameron's "If You Could See Me Now," is simply remarkable in its simplicity and its intensity.The three studio recorded tracks follow. Hank Jones's "Unit Seven" is latin-like with sweeping solos from Wynton Kelly; Wes Montgomery's own "Four on Six" is upfront, upbeat blues and the Bob Haggart / Johnny Burke composition “What's New” is lithe, slinky and very bluesy. The newly restored tracks, all standards, have a different, late night club feel and show how Wes Montgomery's music could so easily move in the direction of smooth ballads. The final "Impressions" shows Wes Montgomery's technique to the full as he (almost casually) turns in the John Coltrane masterpiece in single note runs, in octaves and then in chords, a tour de force that you can witness in a 1965 performance in Belgium on the recently released DVD "Wes Montgomery Live in '65". This is a fitting finale to a remarkable album that highlights Wes Montgomery's place as a pioneer in the development of jazz guitar and perhaps its most fluent and inventive practitioner of all time.
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MINHA OPINIÃO
Esta é uma gravação que consegui (no formato MP3) de 8 faixas das sessões de Mongomery & Wynton Kelly Trio no Half Note. (A sessão completa é de 15 músicas mas o LP foi lançado com apenas 5 faixas). Vou resumir: é um álbum que não pode faltar na coleção de nenhum jazzófilo que se preze.

(*)Coloquei um link alternativo, com a sessão completa, no formato FLAC. Só que dá trabalho pra baixar, pois são 6 partes enormes.
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WES MONTGOMERY & WINTON KELLY TRIO: Smokin´ at The Half Note

PERSONNEL:
Wynton Kelly (piano),
Wes Montgomery (guitar),
Paul Chambers (bass),
Jimmy Cobb (drums).

TRACKS/FAIXAS:
No Blues
If You Could See Me Now
Unit 7
Four on Six
What's New?
Willow Weep for Me
Impressions
Portrait of Jenny

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(*)OPTIONAL:  THE COMPLETE SESSIONS

TRACKS/FAIXAS
CD-1
01. No Blues
02. If You Could See Me Now
03. Willow Weep for Me
04. Impressions
05. Portrait of Jenny
06. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
07. Oh You Crazy Moon
08. Four on Six
09. Misty

CD-2
01. Blues on Purpose
02. If You Could See Me Now
03. Somebody's Blues
04. Another Blues
05. Old Folks
06. Milestones