Why Winton Kelly did not or could not take his solo on piano ?? This album might be very stressfull to listen to for that reason espetially for me myself is a pianist.
Some of the live Half Note sessions were spliced together using fragments of different reel-to-reel tapes running during the shows. The gaps in recordings, if my understanding is correct, arise in part from this fact, as well as from tape reels needing to be changed, and the like. Wynton Kelly and Wes sure had great chemistry together! Many - perhaps even most - jazz guitarists and pianists clash when they play in an ensemble - getting in one another's way since both instruments inhabit some of the same tonal territory, if you take my meaning. Wes and his pianists never clashed or combined in anything less than an utterly musical way, whether it was Kelly, Tommy Flanagan or Harold Mabern.
@ Emiko Washimi: Often when a pianist and guitar work together in a jazz group, they manage to step on one another's toes, musically-speaking, if they aren't careful. Even if both are good or even excellent musicians. The instruments simply share too much in the way of roles and sonic qualities for it not to happen once in a while. When guitars were unamplified, the dominance of the piano was assured, but when the guitar got electrified, it allowed the guitar to come forward out of the strictly rhythmic role, a la Freddie Greene. In modern jazz, the piano is usually dominant and in many groups no guitar is found since the piano handles the chordal and harmonic needs of the backing trio or other group. Or vibes, or organ, etc. However, in the case of Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly, two geniuses, they managed to play superlative swinging music without getting into one another's way at all. This was part because Wes was the front-man and leader most of the time when they performed together, but it was also simply due to their otherworldly "ears" and sense of the music. I'm a huge Wynton Kelly fan. I simply love his playing, and I consider him one of the finest accompanists ever to have graced the stage. He always knew what to play and when. Knowing Wes like he did, he'd sometimes lay out and just let Wes take things for a while. Other times, he'd rise to the musical challenge and play just as fiery as his front-man/leader. An example of the latter is the 1963 live recording "Full House," when Wynton has not just Wes to contend with but tenor sax legend Johnny Griffin. Kelly plays out of his mind on the recording; clearly, the quality of the band around him motivated him that day. The band also was intelligent about how they divided the set up. If Kelly was an accompanist on most of the songs, chances are there would be a piano showcase number somewhere in there. In the 1965 Half Note recordings, "If You Could See Me Now" is clearly one such number. It's a showcase for Kelly, who states the theme, and also solos quite a bit on it, whereas Wes doesn't come into the tune until partway through it. And Kelly again leads the tune out. The Wynton Kelly Trio were simple sublime as far as I am concerned. They are most-famous for their work behind Miles Davis, but in my humble opinion, they never sounded better than when they performed with Wes Montgomery. I also like the trio's work alone, especially later in Kelly's career when he was more-self-assured as a leader. You won't find a better bassist than Paul Chambers nor a drummer than Jimmy Cobb.
