Wes Montgomery/Wynton Kelly - "Smokin' in Seattle" (Resonance Records)

[monkboughtlunch]

Wes Montgomery/Wynton Kelly - "Smokin' in Seattle" (Resonance Records)

 

 

 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

this does look extra-good

[mikeweil]

Resonance Records gives one a hard time keeping up with all those unearthed treasures - but this one is an immediate must buy!

Edited April 13, 2017 by mikeweil

[sgcim]

Wes only plays on six of the ten cuts, but any Wes is invaluable.

[Hardbopjazz]

Worth every penny for new Wes.  

[Gheorghe]

yes , that must be good.

Anyway, Wes with Kelly at the Halfnote was one of my favourite LPs , though it also didn´t have all tracks with Wes.

[mikeweil]

7 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

Anyway, Wes with Kelly at the Halfnote was one of my favourite LPs , though it also didn´t have all tracks with Wes.

That can easily be remedied with this double CD - in contrast to the Verve Wes box this also has some Kelly Trio tracks from the Half Note which were issued on various LPs. Only the three studio tracks are missing, but I suppose you have those.

[jlhoots]

pre-ordered

[sgcim]

I listened to the sound on the promo, and it has the same sound problem as "Smokin' at the Half Note".

Wes is way down in the mix, and he sounds kind of 'plinky'.

That's always been my one complaint with Wes' records, they don't record him with enough reverb.

There were some exceptions, but that thumb needed as much 'verb as possible without sounding like The Ventures.

[mikeweil]

Reverb makes the recorded sound less direct, which is not an option, IMO, with Wes' rather delicate sound. 

I, for one, want to hear the instrument, not a room simulation, which basically is what reverb was invented for. A question of personal aesthetic preferences, of course

[sgcim]

7 hours ago, mikeweil said:

Reverb makes the recorded sound less direct, which is not an option, IMO, with Wes' rather delicate sound. 

I, for one, want to hear the instrument, not a room simulation, which basically is what reverb was invented for. A question of personal aesthetic preferences, of course

Compare the sound on an LP like 'Down Here on the Ground' recorded by Creed Taylor, to these recordings. The decay on the attack is quicker when you use your thumb to strike a string than it is if you had used a pick, so you need reverb  to give the sound more sustain.

The titular track is Wes at his best, with Herbie Hancock playing tasteful things behind him.

Edited April 15, 2017 by sgcim

[mikeweil]

Will do!

[bluesoul]

Shipping today from Amazon.  

[medjuck]

So how good is this compared to other Wes records? 

[Clunky]

I think the sound is excellent. I was prepared to tolerate the trio tracks but in fact they swing hard. I'd say the album is on the same level as the Verve release but not quite as high as Full House which my personal favourite .

[bluesoul]

Slightly disappointed in how little Wes there is on this.   As noted above, he is on 6 of the 10 tracks, but 2 of those fade out after 2:10 and 2:47.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have it, the music is great, but I was hoping for a bit more Wes.

[kh1958]

It's enough new Wes Montgomery (about 24 minutes) for a ten inch LP.

[Jim R]

The penultimate track on this was mis-identified.  It's a Jobim tune, but it's not "O Morro Nao Tem Vez", it's "O Amor Em Paz" (aka "Once I Loved").  I wonder if someone at Resonance initiated the mistake, or whether it goes back to 1966.

[king ubu]

Finally got this ... nice enough for sure, but not earth-shattering.