Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Montgomery and Smith’s version)

Wes Montgomery (electric guitar), Jimmy Smith (Hammond B-3 organ), Grady Tate (drums) and Ray Barretto (conga). From the album Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo (1966).

Creed Taylor is an American record producer who with his CTI label recovered the reputation and popularity of jazz. His albums are both visual and sound art. On his covers he presents striking photographs and his records have a high quality. After earning a degree in psychology in 1951, Taylor played the trumpet in Virginia Beach clubs. He then moved to New York in 1954 and became the director of A&R at Bethlehem Records. In 1956 he switched to ABC-Paramount and in 1960 founded his subsidiary Impulse!, and although he hired John Coltrane, he left the record company the following year to sign with Verve Records, where he worked for six years. There he introduced bossa nova in the United States.

In 1967 he worked with the A&M label for two years and his productions were quite commercial, with the use of string ensembles and pop melodies. In 1970 he founded CTI, having a great success balancing the artistic and commercial sides of his music. Among the artists who recorded for him are Paul Desmond, George Benson, Ron Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, Stanley Turrentine, Gerry Mulligan, Herbie Hancock and Chet Baker. He also formed the subsidiary Kudu to record funky music and soul jazz, whose main exponent was Grover Washington Jr. However, in 1974 the company went bankrupt and was acquired by Columbia Records. In 1990 he refounded CTI, but without the success he had in the 1970s.

The theme is exposed by Montgomery and Smith alternating phrases between them. The melody is charming and pleasant, and jingle bells give it the feel of a Christmas song. The first one to make his solo is Montgomery with exquisite taste introducing more bolder phrases once in a while. Then he goes on to use octaves while maintaining a kind and lighthearted discourse. Next Smith enters with a more impetuous and energetic melodic line juggling. After that the two play together interlacing their improvisations in a wonderful blending. To conclude, the group re-exposes the theme.