Meet RED

After 35 years of a cats only house hold we now have a dog. Three weeks ago ,on our way to go swimming, we passed an abandoned car with this dog lying next to it. Returning home an hour later, it was still there so we stopped to check it out . The car had been vandalized and no one was around so we decided to take the poor hungry dog home with us. We later learned from friends that he had been there three days before we happened by. Since then we have had him neutered , received a clean bill of health for him and proceeded to fall in love! I turns out that although a little over exuberant (now that he has regained his strength)he is a real smart sweetheart . In three weeks he has gone from being abandoned to totally spoiled! Although I have learned very quickly that dogs are a lot more work than cats I think he has found a new home!

From the Verve website

Smokin' At The Half Note Catalog #8295782
compact disc
reissue release date 11/21/1989
original releasing label Verve Records

This album is the live equivalent of the INCREDIBLE GUITAR album--Wes Montgomery cooking with a seasoned and communicative piano trio on a set of jazz compositions, standards, and original material. INCREDIBLE GUITAR has Tommy Flanagan, Percy Heath, and Albert Heath; SMOKIN' has the Wynton Kelly trio, with Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Not only had the same trio served as one of Miles Davis' great rhythm sections, but Kelly was considered by many to be the most gifted accompanist of his time.

Miles Davis's "No Blues" is in fact an utterly relentless blues, with Montgomery nailing each single-note, octave, or block-chord phrase with passionate conviction. Bassist Sam Jones's "Unit 7" is another uptempo blues. "Four on Six," which debuted on INCREDIBLE GUITAR, gets an edited version of the head and a slightly faster treatment overall. Kelly takes the lead on the first ballad, "If You Could See Me Now," Montgomery on the second, framing the melody to "What's New" in octaves over Cobb's late-night brushes. The excellent sound quality and almost complete lack of audience noise throughout makes SMOKIN' feel like eavesdropping of the best kind.

Producer: Creed Taylor
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder; Val Valentin

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


Recorded live at the Half Note, New York, New York and Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in June and September 1965.

This re release was originally recorded in July of 1961 and combines the Duke Ellington and Count Basie bands. This is not a battle of bands but a wonderful 30 piece orchestra! Not a contest but friends getting together for a“visit “according to the Duke . These great musicians really appreciated each other and the finished product reflects it . All with no rehearsal! This has got that swing!!

A surprise dinner guest! (happens a lot here in Hawaii)

Still more Portmeirion !