At the time these recordings were made (1959-1960), Wynton Kelly was at the peak of his fruitful collaboration with Miles Davis. He was a member of the trumpeter’s celebrated quintet that also featured Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb and the inimitable John Coltrane. Known primarily as a sideman, it is interesting to hear Kelly as the main performer, displaying his own personality and even playing some of his own compositions. Kelly at Midnite (for which no known alternate takes seem to have survived) was the fi rst of the two albums recorded by Kelly for the Vee Jay label (the second was Wynton Kelly!, from which multiple alternate takes exist). These sessions were issued by Vee-Jay in a variety of ways. Some editions combined tunes from different sessions and even included the trio tracks with a string section added, conducted and recorded by Bill Marx on a later date (according to discographies, in 1962). Our bonus track, “Dear Annâ€, comes from a Paul Chambers LP titled Go and was the only trio recording from that album, which otherwise included Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and “Cannonball†Adderley on alto sax.
