{|Creed Taylor|} matched two of his most famous artists, {|Wes Montgomery|} and {|Jimmy Smith|}, on this session ({|Montgomery|}'s last for {|Verve|}), and the results are incendiary -- a near-ideal meeting of yin and yang. {|Smith|} comes at your th... Read more

{|Creed Taylor|} matched two of his most famous artists, {|Wes Montgomery|} and {|Jimmy Smith|}, on this session ({|Montgomery|}'s last for {|Verve|}), and the results are incendiary -- a near-ideal meeting of yin and yang. {|Smith|} comes at your throat with his big attacks and {|blues|} runs while {|Montgomery|} responds with rounder, smoother octaves and single notes that still convey much heat. They are an amazing pair, complementing each other, driving each other, using their {|bop|} and {|blues|} taproots to fuse together a sound. The romping, aggressive {|big band|} charts -- {|Oliver Nelson|} at his best -- on {|Down by the Riverside|} and {|Night Train,|} and the pungently haunting chart for {|Gary McFarland|}'s {|13 (Death March)|} still leave plenty of room for the soloists to stretch out. {|James and Wes|} and {|Baby, It's Cold Outside|} include drummer {|Grady Tate|} and conguero {|Ray Barretto|}, with {|Smith|}'s own feet working the organ pedals. The {|Verve|} {|Master Edition|} reissue also includes an alternate take of {|O.G.D.|} with {|Tate|} and {|Barretto|}, a track previously surfacing on a long-gone {|Encyclopedia of Jazz|} anthology LP from the '60s -- a neat bonus that makes this the preferred version. ~ Richard S. Ginell Less