Great Jazz Albums (IMO) #44

Wynton Kelly.  Kelly at Midnight (1960).  Another great yet unsung piano player who was a prolific sideman.  Best known for his work with Miles Davis, Kelly played on the iconic album, Kind of Blue.  He also recorded some great albums as a leader, often bringing together the rest of Miles' rhythm section, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums, to form a formidable trio. Kelly was a "distinctive soloist," described as having "a rhythmically infectious solo style in which he combined boppish lines with a great feeling for the blues."  (See, e.g., this recently posted a video Green Dolphin Street featuring John Coltrane which includes a typically great solo from Kelly.)  I am particularly fond of Kelly at Midnight, which one critic calls a"first-rate trio outing with Kelly given the space to demonstrate subtlety and flair, harmonic precision, melodic brilliance and rhythmic diversity."  This trio includes Chambers on bass and the great Philly Joe Jones on drums.

[Related posts:  Great Jazz Albums  #1 (Hank Mobley), #2 (Horace Silver), #3 (Sonny Rollins), #4 (Sonny Clark), #5 (Dexter Gordon), #6 (Cannonball Adderley); #7 (Bill Evans), #8 (McCoy Tyner), #9 (Clifford Brown), #10 (Sinatra), #11 (Monk), #12 (Kenny Dorham), #13 (Coltrane), #14 (Duke Ellington), #15 (Miles Davis), #16 (Wayne Shorter), #17 (Dinah Washington); #18 (Sarah Vaughan); #19 (Stan Getz); #20 (Blue Mitchell); #21 (Gene Ammons); #22 (Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers); #23 (Red Garland); #24 (Ella Fitzgerald); #25 (Charlie Parker); #26 (Art Pepper); #27 (Bud Powell); #28 (John Hicks); #29 (Kenny Barron); #30 (Coleman Hawkins); #31 (Count Basie);  #32 (Benny Carter w/ Ben Webster and Barney Bigard); #33 (Chet Baker); #34 (Thad  Jones); #35 (The Great Jazz Trio); #36 (Ahmad Jamal); #37 (Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond); #38 (Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis); #39 (Charles McPherson);
 #40 (Harold Land); #41 Booker Little); #42 (Elis Regina & Antonio Carlos Jobim); #43 (Art Farmer & Benny Golson)]