John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a distinctive sound.
James Oscar Smith was an American jazz musician who helped popularize the Hammond B-3 organ, creating a link between jazz and 1960s soul music.
Rhythm Is My Business is a 1962 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. The album was recorded with a big band and arranged and conducted by the American R&B organist Bill Doggett.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs from the Soundtrack of "Let No Man Write My Epitaph" is a 1960 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the pianist Paul Smith. Let No Man Write My Epitaph was a 1960 Hollywood crime drama film featuring Fitzgerald.
What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! is a tenth studio album by Dinah Washington, arranged by Belford Hendricks, featuring her hit single of the same name.
Sun Ship is a posthumously released jazz album by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane recorded on August 26, 1965. Along with First Meditations, recorded a week later, it was one of the last recording dates for Coltrane's "Classic Quartet" with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. The recording occurred shortly after a notable performance by the quartet, with Archie Shepp added as a second tenor player, at the DownBeat Jazz Festival at Soldier Field in Chicago, which was described by Ben Ratliff as "a famous breaking point — a Dylan-at-Newport, or a Rite of Spring," with music that he described as "jagged and vociferous... It aggravated a great part of the crowd, prompting, according to some witnesses, a large exodus."
Smokin' at the Half Note is an album by Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio that was released in 1965. It was recorded live in June 1965 at the Half Note Club in New York City and September 22, 1965 at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The album combines guitarist Montgomery with the Miles Davis rhythm section from 1959–1963 of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. The album's versions of "Unit 7" and "Four on Six" have helped to establish these pieces as jazz standards.
Back at the Chicken Shack is an album by Jimmy Smith. It was recorded in 1960 and released in 1963 on the Blue Note label. Smith recorded the album in the same session as his previous album Midnight Special. It was cited in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
The Cat is a 1964 album by Jimmy Smith. It features Smith on Hammond B-3 organ with big band arrangements by composer Lalo Schifrin. The album reached number 12 on the Billboard 200 chart. Its title track peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the weeks of September 26 and October 3, 1964.
Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson is a 1959 studio album by Louis Armstrong, accompanied by Oscar Peterson.
Alone is a solo piano album by jazz musician Bill Evans, recorded in the fall of 1968 for Verve Records, featuring a particularly notable 14+-minute performance of the jazz standard "Never Let Me Go". Evans contributed notes to the album, including the following statement:
Perhaps the hours of greatest pleasure in my life have come about as a result of the capacity of the piano to be in itself a complete expressive musical medium. In retrospect, I think that these countless hours of aloneness with music unified the directive energy of my life. At those times when I have achieved this sense of oneness while playing alone, the many technical or analytic aspects of the music happened of themselves with positive rightness which always served to remind me that to understand music most profoundly one only has to be listening well. Perhaps it is a peculiarity of mine that despite the fact that I am a professional performer, it is true that I have always preferred playing without an audience. This has nothing to do with my desire to communicate or not, but rather I think just a problem of personal self-consciousness which had to be conquered through discipline and concentration. Yet, to know one is truly alone with one’s instrument and music has always been an attractive and conducive situation for me to find my best playing level. Therefore, what I desired to present in a solo piano recording was especially this unique feeling.
Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith is a 1962 studio album by the American jazz organist Jimmy Smith, accompanied by a big band arranged and conducted by Oliver Nelson. It was Smith's first album for Verve Records. The first four tracks feature an ensemble that included future Tonight Show band members Doc Severinsen and Ed Shaughnessy.
Midnight Special is an album by the American jazz organist Jimmy Smith, recorded in 1960 and released on the Blue Note label. The album was recorded at the same session that produced Back at the Chicken Shack (1960).
Rockin' the Boat is an album by the American jazz organist Jimmy Smith, recorded in 1963 and released on the Blue Note label.
Peter & the Wolf is a 1966 studio album by Jimmy Smith, with Oliver Nelson's big band. It is based on Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.
Blue Bash! is an album by the guitarist Kenny Burrell with organist Jimmy Smith, recorded in 1963 and released on the Verve label.
After the Rain is a jazz album by John McLaughlin, released in 1995 on Verve Records. The album reached number 9 in the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart 1995. It features organist Joey DeFrancesco and veteran drummer Elvin Jones.
The Promise is an album by the English musician John McLaughlin, released in 1995 on Verve Records. It peaked at number 4 in the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart.
Remember Shakti is a live album by the world fusion band Remember Shakti recorded in England over four nights, and released in 1999 on the Verve label. The reformed group features original members John McLaughlin (guitar), Zakir Hussain (tabla) and Vikku Vinayakram (ghatam), who are joined by Hariprasad Chaurasia on the bansuri. The album reached number 14 in the Billboard Top Jazz albums chart.
Damn! is a 1996 album by the American jazz organist Jimmy Smith. The album was Smith's first album for Verve Records for over twenty years.
