Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes picks up where
Dynamic Duo left off, digging a little further into the one-time-only
Wes Montgomery/
Jimmy Smith sessions and coming up with more fine music -- mellower in general than
Dynamic Duo but first-class nonetheless. Unlike most of the studio sessions from this time,
Montgomery gets plenty of room for his single-string work as well as his famous octaves, and both techniques find him in full, mature bloom, needing fewer notes in which to say more (
Smith, of course, is precisely the opposite). All but one of the tracks on the original LP find
Smith and
Montgomery interacting only with themselves, the drums of
Grady Tate, and the congas of
Ray Barretto;
Roger Miller's "King of the Road" (not often covered by jazzers) and
Montgomery's "O.G.D." (later known as "Road Song") come off best.
Oliver Nelson's big band makes a sole appearance with a swaggering chart of "Milestones." Though
Dynamic Duo is probably the priority purchase by a hairsbreadth margin, you'll need to have both that album and
Further Adventures eventually. ~ Richard S. Ginell