Album Review: The Wynton Kelly Trio and Wes Montgomery, Smokin' in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (2017)

Smokin' in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse, by the Wynton Kelly Trio and Wes Montgomery, recorded in 1966, and released in 2017.

In 2017, Resonance Records released Smokin’ in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse which presents two radio broadcasts from April of 1966 by Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio. It’s an excellent recording and well worth the time of fans of Montgomery and Kelly. 

Wes Montgomery was one of the most exciting jazz guitarists of the 1960’s. Born in 1925, Montgomery toured with Lionel Hampton’s band from 1948 until 1950, but for the rest of the 1950’s he played only around his hometown of Indianapolis and recorded sporadically. The 1960 album The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery was an excellent title, and that album helped raise his profile across the country. Montgomery recorded for the tiny Riverside Records label, which was also the home of Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, and numerous other important jazz musicians of the era. 

After Riverside Records went bankrupt, Montgomery switched to Verve Records in 1964. The records he made for Verve featured him playing alongside strings and brass. The music was still jazz-flavored, but certainly closer to easy-listening jazz than the straight ahead hard bop he was playing on his Riverside records. Montgomery’s albums for Verve were very successful, and he started breaking through to mainstream pop record buyers. Montgomery made three very successful albums for Herb Alpert’s A&M records in 1967 and 1968, and these albums further raised Montgomery’s profile. Unfortunately, at the peak of his commercial success, Montgomery died of a heart attack on June 15, 1968, at age 45. 

There will always be a critical split on Montgomery, as jazz purists resented him for the pop success of his Verve and A&M recordings. However, it’s clear that in his live performances he was still playing straight ahead jazz. The big question is: where would Wes have gone and what would he have done had he lived longer? Of course, we don’t know. Perhaps Montgomery would have found a way to please both the jazz critics and his growing public. Personally, I will always have a soft spot for Montgomery’s 1967 album A Day in the Life, as it’s one of the first jazz albums of any kind that I listened to, and that really spoke to me. A Day in the Life, along with Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, was one of my gateways into jazz. The LP of A Day in the Life was in my Mom’s record collection, and the vivid gatefold sleeve grabbed my attention, with its dramatic photo of stubbed out cigarette butts. I also liked that the album was named after a great Beatles song. From there, I explored the rest of Montgomery’s discography, and I appreciate all of the different aspects of his career. For pure jazz, the Riverside records are the best, but I think his Verve and A&M records are great examples of 1960’s orchestral jazz-pop. The arrangements for the other instruments were always written after Montgomery had recorded the songs with a small rhythm section, and for this reason, the arrangements are sympathetic to what Wes was playing. Montgomery had such a gorgeous tone and sound, it’s no wonder that people wanted him to record pop songs. His playing still sounded great, even if he didn’t get to solo very much. 

Wynton Kelly already had a long and successful career by the time he recorded these concerts with Montgomery in 1966. Kelly had backed Dinah Washington, and had played with Miles Davis from 1959 to 1963. In Davis’ band, Kelly led one of the most swinging rhythm sections in jazz history, as he combined with bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. Although Kelly was a full member of Davis’ band by the time the group recorded Kind of Blue, he abdicated the piano chair to Bill Evans for the whole album, except for “Freddie Freeloader.” Kelly played on Davis’ next small group album, 1961’s Someday My Prince Will Come, which I reviewed here, and also the excellent 1961 live albums At the Blackhawk, which I reviewed here, and Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall, which I reviewed here. Kelly was a superb accompanist, and he had a sound that was firmly rooted in the blues. However, Kelly was versatile enough to shine on lyrical ballads as well. Kelly was in some ways the quintessential sideman, always complimenting the other players well. As drummer Philly Joe Jones said, Kelly “put down flowers behind a soloist.” 

Kelly and Montgomery previously played together on the superlative 1965 live album Smokin’ at the Half Note and also on the 1962 live album Full House. Their playing styles complimented each other very well, as they were both very lyrical players. One of the things that made Montgomery’s guitar sound so unique was the fact that he didn’t use a pick. Instead, he used the soft part of his thumb, giving his guitar a mellow, softer sound.

On Smokin’ in Seattle, Kelly and Montgomery are backed by Cobb on drums, and Ron McClure on bass. McClure faced the unenviable task of replacing Paul Chambers in the summer of 1965. Taking over for one of the dozen or so most significant bassists in the history of jazz must have been difficult, but McClure equips himself well on this recording.

Smokin’ in Seattle starts out with just the trio of Kelly, McClure, and Cobb, and they perform a nicely swinging version of “There is No Greater Love.” The song is an excellent example of Kelly’s soloing style—he was always smooth, swinging, and easy to listen to. When I was writing about Miles Davis’s 1961 recordings featuring tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, it became a challenge for me to find new and different ways to say, “Wynton Kelly sounds great,” and “Wynton Kelly really swings like hell on this song.” “There is No Greater Love” also gives the listener a great example of Jimmy Cobb’s drumming style, which always propels the music along without overshadowing the other players. The next song is the dramatic ballad “Not a Tear,” recorded by Kelly recorded on his 1964 album It’s All Right, which features a great, cheesy pop art album cover. Kelly shifts the dynamics as the song shifts tempos and turns into a swinger. 

Montgomery joins the group on his sprightly original tune “Jingles” and the ballad “What’s New?” Both tunes featured in his live repertoire at the time, as “Jingles” is also heard on his 1965 Paris concert, and “What’s New?” appears on Smokin’ at the Half Note. Listen for Wes’ quote from the “Habanera” from the opera Carmen during “Jingles.” On “What’s New?” Montgomery’s guitar is bathed in reverb, giving it a late-night feeling. The first radio broadcast ends with a brief tune called “Blues in F,” which unfortunately fades out after just two and a half minutes. You can hear how at home both Kelly and Montgomery are with the blues structure. There’s a brassy, bold exuberance to their playing on this brief song. 

The second broadcast opens with the trio playing “Sir John,” written by the trumpet player Blue Mitchell. “Sir John” is another lightly swinging groover, and it finds Kelly in his wheelhouse, sounding loose and easy as he effortlessly throws off tasty melodic runs for the entire eight minutes plus of the song. McClure also gets a nice bass solo in the second half of the song. “If You Could See Me Now” is a nice ballad that Kelly gives a sparkling introduction to. 

Montgomery joins the group again on “West Coast Blues,” another one of his originals, from the Incredible Jazz Guitar album. It’s a nice version, but fairly short at four minutes. More satisfying is the lovely version of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “O Morro Nao Tem Vez,” known in English as “Once I Loved.” It’s great fun to hear Wes stretch out on this bossa nova, playing his signature octaves. And then the broadcast comes to a close with a brief version of Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo,” which fades out after just two minutes, but shows the rhythmic dexterity of all the players. 

The packaging of Smokin’ in Seattle is excellent, and the booklet includes interviews with Ron McClure and Jimmy Cobb, along with other experts on the music of Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly. Both McClure and Cobb make the point that both Montgomery and Kelly were very nice guys, and how their music reflects their personalities. I hadn’t thought about that point before, but it’s true—there’s an effervescent exuberance about both their playing that shines through brightly on this recording. Both Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly died far too young—Montgomery was 45 when he died in 1968, and Kelly was just 39 when he died in 1971. So any new music by either Wynton Kelly or Wes Montgomery is to be welcomed, and Smokin’ in Seattle is a terrific find for fans of these talented jazz musicians.  

The Music of Miles Davis and Hank Mobley, Part 3: "Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall" (1961)

"Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall" album cover, 1961.

Hank Mobley and Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall, May 19, 1961.

In my last two posts I’ve examined the music that Miles Davis recorded in 1961, when tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was part of his group. The other posts covered the studio album “Someday My Prince Will Come,” and the live album “In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk.” This post will examine the two-disc live album “Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall,” which was recorded on May 19, 1961, and was Mobley’s last recording with Miles Davis. The Carnegie Hall concert also featured the Gil Evans Orchestra, and it was the first time that Davis had ever performed live with an orchestra. Just like on the previous two albums, Davis’s group was comprised of Mobley on tenor sax, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. 

The songs on “Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall” are:

“So What”: The opening song is the only song on which both the orchestra and the quintet play, albeit briefly, as the orchestra plays the intro to “So What” that Bill Evans and Paul Chambers played on “Kind of Blue.” Unfortunately the orchestra totally blows the last note they play as the quintet takes over the song. Miles jabs like a prizefighter on his exuberant solo, and he hits some very high notes. Mobley begins his solo off-mike, but he quickly steps into the spotlight. Mobley delivers a typical melodic solo, despite a couple of reed squeaks. Wynton Kelly’s solo is as smooth as glass. 

“Spring is Here”: I have a confession to make: I don’t really like Miles Davis’s albums with Gil Evans. The music is pleasant, but it doesn’t make a lasting impression on me. I know, I know, I’ll give back my “jazz fan” membership card. “Spring is Here,” by Rodgers and Hart, was a new chart that was written specially for this concert, and it doesn’t appear on any of Davis’s studio albums. Bob Blumenthal makes the point in his liner notes for the CD that Bill Evans had recorded “Spring is Here” on his 1960 album “Portrait in Jazz,” and that Gil Evans’s arrangement pays homage to Bill Evans’s version of the song. You can tell when Miles hits high notes on this song that the sound quality of these recordings is less than perfect, as the notes sound shrill.

“Teo”: This song, named after Davis’s Columbia Records producer Teo Macero, was introduced on the “Someday My Prince Will Come” album. When it was recorded live at the Blackhawk, the title changed to “Neo,” for unknown reasons, and now at Carnegie Hall it’s back to “Teo.” The song has a Latin feel to it, and Miles plays a wonderfully exciting solo. He hits the highest notes I’ve ever heard him hit around 2:30 into the song. An excellent version of an underrated song. 

“Walkin’”: Miles is once again aggressive on this tune, firing off flurries of notes during his solo. Mobley’s solo is very good, as the hard bop sound of the tune compliments his style well. Kelly’s solo swings like crazy, and we also get an arco bass solo from Paul Chambers. 

“The Meaning of the Blues/Lament”: Two songs from “Miles Ahead.” Miles’s playing is excellent on these songs; although once again his high notes sound shrill, thanks to either Carnegie Hall or Columbia’s recording equipment. Honestly, the sound quality of the albums recorded at the Blackhawk is much better than the Carnegie Hall concert. 

“New Rhumba”: Another song from “Miles Ahead,” “New Rhumba” was a song written and recorded by pianist Ahmad Jamal. Jamal was one of Davis’s key influences during the 1950’s. Davis once said, “I live until Ahmad Jamal makes another record.” Davis liked Jamal so much that he had Red Garland record trio versions of “Ahmad’s Blues,” which Jamal wrote, and “Billy Boy,” an old song that Jamal re-arranged, for Davis’s albums that Miles doesn’t even play on. “Ahmad’s Blues” is on the “Workin’” album and “Billy Boy” is on “Milestones.” “New Rhumba” is one of my favorite songs from “Miles Ahead” because I really like Ahmad Jamal’s style.

“Someday My Prince Will Come”: A very short version of the title song from Miles’s new album, which wouldn’t be released until December, 1961. For whatever reason, Miles didn’t keep the song in his playbook, and this is the last live version he recorded of it. Mobley doesn’t solo on this short version.

“Oleo”: As at the Blackhawk, this Sonny Rollins song is played at a much faster tempo than the original. This version features an excellent solo from Mobley.

“No Blues”: Known as “Pfrancing” on the “Someday My Prince Will Come” album, this song retains the new title it gained during the Blackhawk sessions. Miles plays a very bluesy solo. Wynton Kelly’s solo is sparkling and sprightly.

“I Thought About You”: One of my favorite Miles Davis ballads. Davis plays a hauntingly beautiful solo on this song, which was a concert favorite of his. 

“En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor” (adagio from “Concierto De Aranjuez”): The first song from “Sketches of Spain,” it was bold and gutsy for Miles to try playing this live, as the recording on “Sketches of Spain” had to be spliced together from many different sessions. It’s a beautiful piece of music, and performed very well by Davis and the orchestra. 

“Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall” is a fascinating look at a very historic night of music. It’s the last recording that Hank Mobley made as a part of Davis’s group. Mobley left the group later in 1961 and resumed his solo career, making more superb hard bop albums for Blue Note. As noted in the post about “Someday My Prince Will Come,” Davis didn’t really care for Mobley’s playing. For whatever reason, Miles didn’t think their styles fit together very well, although I would say that all of the music they made together is excellent. Miles Davis had a number of health problems in 1962 and his only recording sessions that year were for the unsatisfying “Quiet Nights” album that would be his last album-length collaboration with Gil Evans. In early 1963, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb left Davis to form their own group. They went on to record several albums together, and backed Wes Montgomery on an amazing 1965 live date released as “Smokin’ at the Half Note.” Davis wouldn’t record with a small group again until the sessions for “Seven Steps to Heaven” in April and May of 1963. By that time, his group featured all of his “Second Classic Quintet” except for tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who wouldn’t join the group until 1964.

The Music of Miles Davis and Hank Mobley, Part 2: "In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk" (1961)

Cover for the 4-CD box set of the complete concerts at the Blackhawk. That's Miles Davis's wife Frances on the left.

Amazing picture of the Blackhawk jazz club in April, 1961. It's a parking lot now.

The really cool cover for the 1988 CD reissue of "Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk."

Miles Davis at the Blackhawk, 1961.

In re-listening to some of my Miles Davis albums, I decided that I wanted to write about his 1961 group that included the great tenor sax player Hank Mobley. In my last post I reviewed Miles Davis’s only studio sessions with Hank Mobley, which resulted in Davis’s 1961 album “Someday My Prince Will Come.” In this post I’ll take a look at Davis’s second project with Hank Mobley, the live albums “In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk.” These were Davis’s first live albums to be released by Columbia. His 1958 sextet had also been recorded live, but those performances weren’t issued until 1963 and 1973. “In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk” was expanded in 2003 to a 4-CD set including all of the music that was taped by Columbia on April 21^st and 22^nd, 1961. It’s a terrific set and I would recommend it to any fan of Davis’s work. Davis’s rhythm section was one of the greatest in all of jazz history. Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb could cook, and there’s ample proof of that on these albums.

The Blackhawk was a famous jazz club in San Francisco, and although it was only open from 1949 to 1963, many of the most famous names in jazz played there in the 1950’s. California native Dave Brubeck was a Blackhawk regular, and Cal Tjader, Thelonious Monk, and Ahmad Jamal all recorded live albums there. Ralph J. Gleason’s wonderful liner notes to “At the Blackhawk” give us a good sense of what the scene at the Blackhawk was like. 

Rather than go through all of the songs the group played one by one, I’ll give an overview of each set.

Friday night, Set 1:

The band is exuberant, outgoing, expressive, hard-driving, and swinging. There’s great playing by all members, and this set shows what a tight band they were. This version of Sonny Rollins’s “Oleo” makes the original sound stately by comparison. There’s also a 17-minute version of “No Blues,” aka “Pfrancing,” which is the longest song the group played either night. Miles’s solo on “No Blues” is more punchy and extroverted than usual. There’s also a lovely bowed bass solo by Paul Chambers. 

Friday night, Set 2:

This was the longest set played either night. I love the way Miles plays on “Neo.” The Latin feel of the song seems to bring out different shades of his playing. He should have kept “Neo” in his concert repertoire. A lovely version of “I Thought About You” is the first ballad of the evening, and features an excellent Miles solo. “Walkin’” swings hard, and Mobley does great work on this tune, which also features another nice arco bass solo by Chambers. “Love, I’ve Found You” is performed by Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb as a trio. 

Friday night, Set 3:

A slightly more laid back set, featuring one of my favorite Miles Davis ballads, “Fran Dance.” On “If I Were a Bell” Kelly plays the same “Big Ben” intro from Davis’s 1956 version of the song with Red Garland on piano. Both “On Green Dolphin Street” and “If I Were a Bell” feature outstanding work from Wynton Kelly. Kelly was an excellent pianist who always sounded effortless and graceful no matter if he was creating beautiful solos or comping behind Miles or Mobley. 

Saturday night, Set 1:

A short set, but it features an excellent solo by Hank Mobley on “If I Were a Bell,” and a terrific version of “So What” that is played at a much faster tempo than the studio version. Miles’s solo on “So What” is blazing. 

Saturday night, Set 2:

As on Friday night, those lucky patrons who saw the second set got to hear a lot of music. There are excellent versions of “On Green Dolphin Street,” which has a great bass solo from Paul Chambers, and a terrific solo from Miles on “Walkin’” where he holds some really long notes. There’s also a slightly sloppy version of “Round Midnight.” 

Saturday night, Set 3:

The third set features a really nice version of “Autumn Leaves,” which is incomplete because the tapes weren’t rolling when Miles and the group took the stage, so the beginning of the song is missing. There’s another great version of “Neo,” featuring two solos from Miles, and some great Wynton Kelly piano playing on “Bye Bye (Theme)” and “Love, I’ve Found You.”

Saturday night, Set 4:

The evening comes to a close with the lovely ballad “I Thought About You,” a great version of “Someday My Prince Will Come,” and the trio of Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb playing “Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise.” “Prince” and “Softly” both feature excellent playing from Kelly.

“In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk” shows a great band at the peak of their powers. Even though Miles wasn’t digging what Hank Mobley was playing, you can’t tell from these recordings. Both Davis and Mobley offer excellent solos throughout the two nights captured on disc. And Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb display their tightness after two years of playing together. 

By 1961, Davis’s on stage behavior rankled some jazz purists. Miles was famous for playing with his back to the audience, for leaving the bandstand when his other musicians were soloing, and for never introducing songs or making small talk. He was there to play, and that’s all you were going to get. Davis tells a story in his autobiography about his mother talking to him around this time about his on stage behavior.

“My mother said to me, ‘Miles, you could at least smile for the audience when they’re clapping so hard for you. They’re clapping because they love you, love what you are playing because it’s beautiful.’ I said, ‘What do you want me to be, an Uncle Tom?’ She looked at me real hard for a minute and then she said, ‘If I ever hear about you tomming, I’ll come and kill you myself.’” (Miles, p.255) 

That anecdote shows where some of Miles’s pride came from. While now Miles’s behavior on stage wouldn’t be much remarked upon, at the time I think some people thought that he should be like Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie, two famously outgoing African-American jazz trumpeters. But that simply wasn’t Miles’s style. I don’t think that he ever thought he was being rude on stage, I think he was just being himself. 

Davis’s next album was recorded live at Carnegie Hall in May, just a month after the Blackhawk sets. The Carnegie Hall concert would pair him with the Gil Evans Orchestra, and would mark the first time he had ever recorded live with an orchestra. It would prove to be Mobley’s final recording with Davis, and I’ll take a closer look at the Carnegie Hall concert in my next post.

The Music of Miles Davis and Hank Mobley, Part 1: "Someday My Prince Will Come" (1961)

Miles Davis's lovely wife, Frances Taylor, on the cover of his "Someday My Prince Will Come" album, 1961.

Miles Davis, 1961.

Miles Davis playing with his Harmon mute, 1961.

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, circa 1960.

Miles Davis was a jazz player of supreme innovation throughout his long musical career. I’ve previously written a short essay about his landmark 1959 album “Kind of Blue,” and another essay that’s an overview of his music in the 1950’s and 1960’s. For a brief period of time in 1961 one of my favorite jazz artists, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, worked with Miles Davis. Mobley only recorded once with Davis in the studio, producing the excellent 1961 album “Someday My Prince Will Come,” but Mobley is also featured on Davis’s live albums “In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk,” and “Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall.” I decided to write about these albums because they tend to be overlooked in comparison with the more famous groups that Davis led before 1961, and from 1964-68. 

Hank Mobley is most well-known for the many classic hard bop albums he made for Blue Note Records from 1955-1970. While he didn’t get that much recognition during his lifetime, Mobley’s posthumous reputation has soared and he is now seen as one of the key hard bop players of his era. Mobley started out recording with Horace Silver and Art Blakey in the Jazz Messengers in the mid 1950’s. When he left the group to record on his own he made a number of excellent albums for Blue Note. Among his most famous albums are “Peckin’ Time,” “Soul Station,” “Roll Call,” “Workout,” “No Room For Squares,” and “The Turnaround!” Mobley’s playing had an open, clear tone, and he was described by jazz critic Leonard Feather as the “middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone,” which meant that his sound was not as heavy as that of Sonny Rollins or John Coltrane, but not as light as Stan Getz. Mobley’s sound was always very pretty and melodic. 

Mobley came to Davis during a transition period for the trumpeter. Davis had led a jazz sextet supergroup in 1958 with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb in his band. This was the group that would go on to record “Kind of Blue.” However, by the time of the “Kind of Blue” sessions in March and April of 1959, the group had already broken up, with Evans leaving the band in November, 1958. Wynton Kelly took Evans’s place and plays on “Freddie Freeloader” on “Kind of Blue.” Evans returned for the “Kind of Blue” sessions, but it was clear that he was not going to rejoin the group permanently. Evans, Adderley, and Coltrane all wanted to lead their own groups, and Adderley was the next to leave, in September, 1959. Coltrane stuck with Miles until April of 1960, after finishing a European tour with the group. It was on this tour that Davis bought Coltrane a soprano saxophone, which Coltrane would use to great effect on his recording of “My Favorite Things,” among other songs. According to Davis’s autobiography, Coltrane tried to quit the band before the European tour, and suggested Wayne Shorter as his replacement. But Davis prevailed upon Coltrane to finish the tour before he left. When the tour was over, Davis contacted Shorter about joining his group, but Shorter was already playing with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Shorter would eventually join Davis’s group in 1964, joining Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams to form Miles’s “Second Classic Quintet.” Sonny Stitt, who played both tenor and alto saxophones, took Coltrane's place. There are some bootleg live recordings of Stitt with Miles, but they never recorded in the studio together. Davis’s autobiography says that Stitt left the group in early 1961, but a timeline of Davis’s groups included in the liner notes of the “Miles Davis and John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings” box set says that Mobley joined the group on December 26, 1960. 

When Miles Davis entered Columbia’s studios in March, 1961 to record “Someday My Prince Will Come,” his small-group follow up to “Kind of Blue,” his band was Mobley on tenor saxophone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. The album was recorded over three days. On the first day of sessions, March 7^th, the songs “Pfrancing” and “Drad Dog” were recorded. Both tunes were written by Miles. At the next sessions, held on March 20^th and 21^st, John Coltrane sat in with the band and soloed on “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “Teo,” making these the final recordings in his collaboration with Miles Davis. Another Davis original titled “Blues No.2” was also recorded at these sessions, but it wasn’t released until 1979, when it appeared on the “Circle in the Round” compilation album. 

Here are my thoughts on the songs on “Someday My Prince Will Come”:

“Someday My Prince Will Come”: A popular song from the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, “Someday My Prince Will Come” became popular as a jazz tune after Dave Brubeck included it on his 1957 album “Dave Digs Disney,” which was entirely comprised of songs from Disney movies. Miles’s former pianist Bill Evans also included the song on his 1960 album “Portrait in Jazz.” The song begins with Chambers strumming a repeated note on his bass, and Cobb softly tapping a cymbal before Wynton Kelly starts playing some pretty chords. Then Miles comes in with the melody, playing with his Harmon mute, which gave his playing on ballads such a unique tone. Miles solos first, sticking fairly close to the melody line, and then giving way to Mobley. Once Mobley enters, Cobb switches from brushes to sticks, giving the music slightly more drive. Mobley’s solo is gentle and pretty, and Kelly takes the next solo. Then, at about 5:20 into the song, Miles comes back and states the melody again, which might make you think the song is winding down. But it isn’t, as John Coltrane’s unmistakable sound fills the speakers. At times during his solo Coltrane plays a lot of notes, similar to his earlier “sheets of sound” playing style. Coltrane’s solo takes the song to a different level. Miles then comes back and states the theme for a third time. Kelly then solos again briefly, and returns the song to the sound it had at the beginning, with Chambers playing the same repeated note and Cobb tapping a cymbal. Interestingly enough, later in 1961 Wynton Kelly would record his own album titled “Someday My Prince Will Come,” with Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb supporting him. According to Bob Blumenthal’s liner notes for the Miles and Coltrane box set, Coltrane had never played “Prince” before, and was reading the chord changes off a sheet of paper.

“Old Folks”: Not to be confused with the Stephen Foster song “Old Folks at Home,” this song dates from the late 1930’s. But while the lyric is a maudlin tale of an old man, Miles makes the song an expression of yearning through his gorgeous playing. Mobley’s solo is also lovely, as he caresses the ballad for all it’s worth. Kelly sprinkles some lovely trills into his brief solo. 

“Pfrancing”: Finger snaps start this tune off, as Kelly states the brief theme, which is then echoed in a different octave, as though Kelly is answering himself. Davis then plays the theme, and Mobley provides the response. Davis then holds the last note of the phrase for about 10 seconds and exits, allowing Kelly to take a brief bluesy solo. Miles re-enters for his solo, which is full of bluesy smears. Kelly then gets a longer solo, which is somewhat reminiscent of his work on “Freddie Freeloader.” Mobley is in familiar territory here, and he turns in a nice solo. Chambers then gets a bass solo which never bores, and shows why he was one of the greatest bass players of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Kelly then gets a chance to solo again before Miles and Mobley restate the theme. “Pfrancing” was written for Miles’s first wife, Frances Taylor, whose lovely picture adorns the cover of the album. When “Pfrancing” was performed live at the Blackhawk it was retitled “No Blues,” and it remained a constant in Davis’s concert repertoire until the end of the 1960’s. 

“Drad Dog”: I had no idea where the name for this song came from until I read an Ira Gitler piece where he wrote that it’s named after Columbia Records president Goddard Lieberson, as “Drad Dog” is Goddard backwards. Ah, it all makes sense now. It’s a slow ballad with Miles’s muted trumpet giving the song a late-night feel. “Drad Dog” is a pretty song, with lovely solos by Davis, Mobley, and Kelly. Wynton Kelly was just smooth as hell. 

“Teo”: This song is named after Davis’s longtime Columbia Records producer Teo Macero, who would later prove to be an important partner during Miles’s electric period as he and Davis edited long jam sessions into albums. I always love it when Davis’s albums featuring him talking after a take-he’s usually saying something to Teo. At the end of “Gingerbread Boy” on “Miles Smiles,” he says “Teo, play that. Teo, Teo, Teo, Teo play that.” I think Davis just really liked the name Teo. Oddly enough, when “Teo” was played live at the Blackhawk in April of 1961, it was retitled “Neo.” “Teo” starts off with only Chambers playing, and then Cobb and Kelly join in, giving the song its Latin feel. Miles comes in and gives the song a mysterious, haunting quality. Miles hits a really high note around the 2:35 mark, and his solo is excellent, changing character several times. Coltrane solos and Mobley lays out. “Teo” is right in Coltrane’s modal wheelhouse, and he unleashes a powerful and yearning solo. “Teo” is a highlight of the album, and a fitting close to the Davis and Coltrane partnership. The liner notes say that a version of “Teo” was attempted with Mobley on tenor, but a full take was never recorded. 

“I Thought About You”: This beautiful ballad was written by Johnny Mercer and Jimmy Van Heusen, and it has been recorded by many singers and jazz musicians. Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra both included it on their seminal 1956 albums “Lady Sings the Blues” and “Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!” Miles plays the tune with his Harmon mute, and the result is one of his most exquisite ballad performances ever. Mobley contributes a lovely, lightly swinging solo. 

Bonus tracks:

“Blues No. 2”: This song, a Davis original, sees Miles reunited with former drummer Philly Joe Jones, who played in his “First Classic Quintet” from 1955-58 and was replaced by Jimmy Cobb. It’s a straight ahead swinger, with Miles stating the theme right away. You can hear how the band plays a little differently as Jones adds little kickers during Davis’s solo. Jones was one of the hardest swinging drummers of the time, and he gets to play a couple of tasty little solo breaks as he and Miles engage in a back and forth dialogue. Mobley creates a groovy solo, repeating a little phrase several times near the end. Miles then comes back in, playing higher than usual, and Jones gets another little solo. This must have been a fun tune for everyone to jam on.

“Someday My Prince Will Come”: This is an alternate take with only Mobley on tenor sax. The song starts much the same way as the master take, with Chambers repeating a single note before Kelly and Cobb come in. Davis’s solo has some similar ideas as the master take, so it seems clear that he knew what he wanted to do with the song. Like the master take, Cobb switches from brushes to sticks as Mobley takes his solo. The length of this alternate take is about the same length as the master before Coltrane comes in, about 5:30. It’s interesting to hear this alternate take, as it doesn’t quite lift off the same way as the take with Coltrane does. 

 “Someday My Prince Will Come” is an excellent album, full of great playing from all of the contributors, but I feel like it’s one of the few Miles Davis albums that kind of slips through the cracks. It’s one of only two pre-1981 Miles Davis Columbia albums not included in full on a box set. The two Coltrane tracks are on the Miles and Coltrane box set, but the full album isn’t. The other album that doesn’t appear in full on a box set is 1968’s “Filles de Kilimanjaro,” whose tracks are split between the “Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968” set and “The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions.” That means that you could buy all of the box sets of Davis’s work that Columbia has issued and you would thus own all of the studio albums he recorded for the label from 1955-1975, except for “Someday My Prince Will Come.” It’s something of a neglected stepchild. 

Two of the songs on “Someday My Prince Will Come” entered Davis’s concert repertoire. “Pfrancing,” which became “No Blues,” was played regularly by Davis until at least 1967. “No Blues” is played three times on the “Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Volume 1” 3-CD set, and it even appears once on the “Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Volume 2” concerts from 1969. “I Thought About You” also entered Miles’s songbook, and there are several live versions of the song from 1963-65. “Teo,” also known as “Neo,” doesn’t appear on any live albums after 1961, and neither does “Someday My Prince Will Come.” “Old Folks” and “Drad Dog” never seem to have made it to the concert stage-there aren’t any live recordings of these songs, at least nothing that’s been released officially. 

The cover of “Someday My Prince Will Come” is very striking, as it features a picture of the beautiful Frances Taylor, Miles’s wife at the time. It’s a very sexy album cover, as you can see just a little bit of her strapless dress. Davis had been upset about the original cover of his 1957 album “Miles Ahead,” which featured a white model on a boat. Davis supposedly said to Columbia record producer George Avakian, “Why’d you put that white bitch on there?” Davis writes in his autobiography, “It was on ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’ that I started demanding that Columbia use black women on my album covers…I mean, it was my album and I was Frances’s prince, and ‘Pfrancing’ on that album was written for her. Next I got rid of all them stupid liner notes, which I had been trying to do for a long time. See, I never thought there was nothing nobody could say about an album of mine. I just want everyone to listen to the music, and make up their own minds. I never did like no one writing about what I played on an album, trying to explain what I was trying to do. The music speaks for itself.” (Miles: The Autobiography, by Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, p.252) So I realize that Miles Davis probably wouldn’t like my essay which is all about his music, but oh well. Such are the perils of being a critic. 

Hank Mobley had a heavy burden to carry on the album, as to the record-buying public he wasn’t replacing Sonny Stitt, he was replacing John Coltrane. Those are pretty big shoes to fill. While Mobley was a great player, he wasn’t the innovator that Coltrane was. It’s not really fair to compare Mobley to Coltrane, as Coltrane was one of the most influential players in the history of jazz music. Mobley's style was not as radical as Coltrane's. Mobley was a smooth player. I don’t mean that in a bad way, he just didn't have the rough edges that Coltrane did. If Miles wanted another Coltrane in his band, then he would inevitably be disappointed with Mobley. So why did Davis have Coltrane sit in on two of the songs on “Someday”? Was it a kind gesture to an old colleague, or was he already less than satisfied with Mobley’s playing?

Davis makes it clear that he wasn’t working well with Mobley in his autobiography. Davis writes about driving out to San Francisco for the dates at the Blackhawk in April 1961: “…the music was starting to bore me because I didn’t like what Hank Mobley was playing in the band…Playing with Hank just wasn’t fun for me; he didn’t stimulate my imagination.” (Miles: The Autobiography, p.252) This begs the question: why did Miles Davis hire Hank Mobley? Mobley was a part of some important projects with Davis, the first small group album after “Kind of Blue,” Miles's first live recordings to be issued by Columbia, and the Carnegie Hall concert. There must have been a reason Miles hired him, but he doesn't say what it is in his autobiography. To my ears, Mobley’s playing with Davis is not that different from his playing on his own albums of the time. So the question is, if Miles liked Mobley’s solo work, why didn’t he like what Hank was playing in his group? Or, if Miles didn’t care for Mobley’s solo work, why did he hire him? I wonder if Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers recommended Mobley to Davis, as they had worked with Mobley on his two classic 1960 Blue Note albums, “Soul Station” and “Roll Call.” That’s my guess, that Davis needed a tenor saxophone, Kelly and Chambers recommended Mobley, and Mobley was available and said yes. 

In the next post, I’ll take a look at the “In Person: Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk” 4-CD box set.