Wes Montgomery • Verve Jazz Masters 14

Artist Biography

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States (where he also died of a heart attack in 1968), Montgomery came from a musical family, in which his brothers, Monk (string bass and electric bass) and Buddy (vibraphone, and piano), were jazz performers. Although Wes was not skilled at reading music, he could learn complex melodies and riffs by ear. Montgomery started learning guitar in his late teens, listening to and learning recordings of his idol, the guitarist Charlie Christian.

Along with the use of octaves (playing the same note on two strings one octave apart) for which he is widely known, Montgomery was also an excellent “single-line” or “single-note” player, and was very influential in the use of block chords in his solos. His playing on the jazz standard “Lover Man” is an example of his single-note, octave and block chord soloing. (”Lover Man” appears on the Fantasy album THE MONTGOMERY BROTHERS.)

Instead of using a guitar pick, Montgomery plucked the strings with the fleshy part of his thumb, using downstrokes for single notes and a combination of upstrokes and downstrokes for chords and octaves. This technique enabled him to get a mellow, expressive tone from his guitar. George Benson, in the liner notes of the Ultimate Wes Montgomery album, wrote that “Wes had a corn on his thumb, which gave his sound that point. He would get one sound for the soft parts, and then that point by using the corn. That's why no one will ever match Wes. And his thumb was double- jointed. He could bend it all the way back to touch his wrist, which he would do to shock people.”

He generally played a Gibson L-5CES guitar. In his later years he played one of two guitars that Gibson custom made for him. In his early years, Montgomery had a tube amp, often a Fender. In his later years he played a Standel.

Montgomery toured with vibraphonist Lionel Hampton's orchestra from July 1948 to January 1950, and can be heard on recordings from this period. Montgomery then returned to Indianapolis and did not record again until December 1957 (save for one session in 1955), when he took part in a session that included his brothers Monk and Buddy, as well as trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who made his recording debut with Montgomery. Most of the recordings made by Montgomery and his brothers from 1957-1959 were released on the Pacific Jazz label.

From 1959 Montgomery was signed to the Riverside Records label, and remained there until late 1963, just before the company went bankrupt. The recordings made during this period are widely considered by fans and jazz historians to be Montgomery's best and most influential. Two sessions in January 1960 yielded The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, which was recorded as a quartet with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath. The album featured one of Montgomery's most well-known compositions, “Four on Six.”

Almost all of Montgomery's output on Riverside featured the guitarist in a small group setting, usually a quartet or quintet, playing a mixture of hard- swinging uptempo jazz numbers and quiet ballads. In 1964 Montgomery moved to Verve Records for two years. His stay at Verve yielded a number of albums where he was featured with an orchestra, and during this period Montgomery's music started to shift in to the territory of pop music. One notable exception is 1965's Smokin' at the Half Note, which showcased two memorable appearances at the famous New York City club with the Wynton Kelly Trio. Wes continued to play outstanding live jazz guitar, as evidenced by surviving audio and video recordings from his 1965 tour of Europe.

As a considered founder of the Smooth Jazz school the album “Bumpin'” (1965) represents a model from which many modern recording are derived. In it, a full orchestral type of scoring goes beyond the artist's own ability to riff creating a wholistic concept of music and of Jazz. Longer clips from all of the tracks tracks on “Bumpin'” and other Wes Montgomery albums are found on Verve Records website.

By the time Montgomery released his first album for A&M Records, he had seemingly totally abandoned the straightforward jazz of his earlier career for the more lucrative pop market. The three albums released during his A&M period (1967-68) feature orchestral renditions of famous pop songs (”Scarborough Fair,” “I Say a Little Prayer for You,” “Eleanor Rigby,” etc.) with Montgomery reciting the melody with his guitar. While these records were the most commercially successful of his career, they are now poorly regarded by some fans and critics.

Montgomery's home town of Indianapolis has named a park in his honor.

Many jazz and rock guitarists today list Montgomery among their influences including: Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Martino, Lee Ritenour, Pat Metheny, George Benson, Pete Smyser, Chris Standring, Eric Johnson, Yoshiaki Miyanoue and Joe Satriani.

By some accounts, Montgomery has been the most influential jazz guitarist of all time, whose style has transcended into other forms of music, including Rock 'n' Roll, Soul, and Rhythm and Blues.[citation needed] Many songwriters and composers have written musical tributes to him, including Stevie Wonder and Eric Johnson.

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Biografía del artista

Nacido en Indianápolis, Indiana (Estados Unidos) (donde también murió de un ataque cardíaco en 1968), Montgomery provenía de una familia musical, en la que sus hermanos, Monk (contrabajo de cuerda y bajo eléctrico) y Buddy (vibráfono y piano), eran intérpretes de jazz. Aunque Wes no era hábil en la lectura de música, podía aprender melodías complejas y riffs de oído. Montgomery comenzó a aprender guitarra en su adolescencia, escuchando y aprendiendo grabaciones de su ídolo, el guitarrista Charlie Christian.

Además del uso de las octavas (tocar la misma nota en dos cuerdas con una octava de separación) por el que es ampliamente conocido, Montgomery también fue un excelente intérprete de "una sola línea" o "una sola nota", y fue muy influyente en el uso de acordes de bloque en sus solos. Su interpretación en el estándar de jazz "Lover Man" es un ejemplo de su solista de una sola nota, octava y bloque de acordes. ("Lover Man" aparece en el álbum de fantasía THE MONTGOMERY BROTHERS.)

En lugar de usar una púa de guitarra, Montgomery pulsó las cuerdas con la parte carnosa de su pulgar, usando golpes bajos para las notas simples y una combinación de golpes ascendentes y descendentes para los acordes y las octavas. Esta técnica le permitió obtener un tono suave y expresivo de su guitarra. George Benson, en las notas del disco Ultimate Wes Montgomery, escribió que "Wes tenía un grano en el pulgar, lo que le daba ese punto de sonido. Obtenía un sonido para las partes suaves, y luego ese punto usando el maíz. Es por eso que nadie nunca igualará a Wes. Y su pulgar tenía doble articulación. Podía doblarlo completamente hacia atrás para tocar su muñeca, lo que hacía para sorprender a la gente."

Generalmente tocaba una guitarra Gibson L-5CES. En sus últimos años tocó una de las dos guitarras que Gibson hizo para él. En sus primeros años, Montgomery tenía un amplificador de tubo, a menudo un Fender. En sus últimos años tocaba una Standel.

Montgomery hizo una gira con la orquesta del vibrafonista Lionel Hampton desde julio de 1948 hasta enero de 1950, y se puede escuchar en las grabaciones de este período. Posteriormente, Montgomery regresó a Indianápolis y no volvió a grabar hasta diciembre de 1957 (salvo una sesión en 1955), cuando participó en una sesión que incluía a sus hermanos Monk y Buddy, así como al trompetista Freddie Hubbard, que hizo su debut discográfico con Montgomery. La mayoría de las grabaciones realizadas por Montgomery y sus hermanos de 1957 a 1959 fueron publicadas en el sello Pacific Jazz.

A partir de 1959 Montgomery firmó con el sello Riverside Records, y permaneció allí hasta finales de 1963, justo antes de que la compañía quebrara. Las grabaciones realizadas durante este período son consideradas por los aficionados e historiadores del jazz como las mejores y más influyentes de Montgomery. Dos sesiones en enero de 1960 dieron como resultado The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, que fue grabado como cuarteto con el pianista Tommy Flanagan, el bajista Percy Heath y el baterista Albert "Tootie" Heath. El álbum presentaba una de las composiciones más conocidas de Montgomery, "Four on Six".

Casi toda la producción de Montgomery en Riverside presentaba al guitarrista en un pequeño grupo, normalmente un cuarteto o quinteto, tocando una mezcla de números de jazz uptempo hard swing y baladas tranquilas. En 1964 Montgomery se mudó a Verve Records por dos años. Su estancia en Verve dio lugar a una serie de álbumes en los que se presentó con una orquesta, y durante este período la música de Montgomery comenzó a moverse en el territorio de la música pop. Una excepción notable es Smokin' at the Half Note de 1965, que mostró dos memorables apariciones en el famoso club de la ciudad de Nueva York con el Wynton Kelly Trio. Wes siguió tocando una excelente guitarra de jazz en vivo, como lo demuestran las grabaciones de audio y video de su gira por Europa en 1965.

Como considerado fundador de la escuela de Smooth Jazz, el álbum "Bumpin'" (1965) representa un modelo del que se derivan muchas grabaciones modernas. En él, un tipo de partitura orquestal completa va más allá de la propia capacidad del artista para hacer riffs creando un concepto integral de la música y del Jazz. Los clips más largos de todas las pistas de "Bumpin'" y otros álbumes de Wes Montgomery se encuentran en el sitio web de Verve Records.

Cuando Montgomery lanzó su primer álbum para A&M Records, parecía haber abandonado por completo el jazz sencillo de su carrera anterior para dedicarse al mercado del pop más lucrativo. Los tres álbumes publicados durante su período A&M (1967-68) presentan interpretaciones orquestales de famosas canciones pop ("Scarborough Fair", "I Say a Little Prayer for You", "Eleanor Rigby", etc.) con Montgomery recitando la melodía con su guitarra. Aunque estos discos fueron los más exitosos comercialmente de su carrera, ahora son mal vistos por algunos fans y críticos.

La ciudad natal de Montgomery, Indianápolis, ha nombrado un parque en su honor.

Muchos guitarristas de jazz y rock hoy en día incluyen a Montgomery entre sus influencias: Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Martino, Lee Ritenour, Pat Metheny, George Benson, Pete Smyser, Chris Standring, Eric Johnson, Yoshiaki Miyanoue y Joe Satriani.

Según algunos relatos, Montgomery ha sido el guitarrista de jazz más influyente de todos los tiempos, cuyo estilo ha trascendido a otras formas de música, incluyendo el Rock 'n' Roll, Soul y Rhythm and Blues. Muchos compositores y compositores le han escrito homenajes musicales, incluyendo Stevie Wonder y Eric Johnson.

 

Tracklist:
1 - Goin' Out Of My Head - 02:12
2 - Impressions - 05:03
3 - My One And Only Love - 04:05
4 - Tequila - 03:20
5 - Bumpin' -  6:44
6 - What The World Needs Now Is Love - 04:58
7 - No Blues - 12:54
8 - The Shadow Of Your Smile - 02:17
9 - Caravan - 02:36
10 - Bumpin' On Sunset - 04:49
11 - Twisted Blues - 04:13
12 - Oh! You Crazy Moon - 03:41
13 - Con Alma - 03:20
14 - The Thumb - 04:49


Credits
Art Direction – Sheryl Lutz-Brown
Compiled By, Liner Notes [June 1993] – Kenny Washington
Coordinator [Design Coordinated By] – Suzanne Bender
Design [Art] – Christina Lage, Étsuko Iseki
Liner Notes [Edited] – Peter Pullman
Mastered By – Tom Ruff
Photography By – Chuck Stewart
Producer [Additional Assistant] – Aric Lach Morrison, Matt Brown
Producer [Original] – Creed Taylor
Research, Remastered By [Restored And Remastered] – Phil Schaap
Supervised By [Compilation] – Michael Lang

Label: Verve Records - 314 519 826-2
Series: Verve Jazz Masters – 14
Format: CD, Compilation, Remastered
Country: Canada
Released: 1993
Genre: Jazz
Style: Easy Listening, Smooth Jazz

 

 

 

 

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