Wes Montgomery (1923-1968) was een Amerikaans jazzgitarist. Velen beschouwen hem als een van de belangrijkste jazzgitaristen uit de geschiedenis. Montgomery beïnvloedde talrijke andere virtuoze gitaristen waaronder Pat Martino, Pat Metheny en Jimmy Moliere. Gitarist George Benson maakte voor deze cd een selectie van repertoire van Wes Montgomery uit de periode 1964-66.
Samenvoeging uit 2006, op één CD, van albums die oorspronkelijk in 1967 en 1968 verschenen. De albums vallen op door de talrijke bewerkingen van toen actuele pophits die erop te vinden zijn. Montgomery speelt de melodieën in de meeste gevallen vrij straight, zij het in zijn herkenbare jazzgitaarspelstijl. Begeleid wordt hij enerzijds door vooraanstaande jazzcats als Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (contrabas) en latinpercussionist Ray Barretto - anderzijds door een orkest. Vooral op "A Day In The Life" zijn die orkestpartijen soms iets te prominent én te zoetig gearrangeerd. Op "Down Here On The Ground" wordt de rol van zijn jazzcollega's, zeker die van Hancock, beter uitgebuit. We horen o.a. de Beatles-nummers "Eleanor Rigby" en "A Day In The Life", Dionne Warwicks hit "I Say A Little Prayer For You", Ray Charles' "Georgia On My Mind" en Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves A Woman".
5 uit 5 sterren op allmusic: "A near-ideal meeting of yin and yang. Organ player Smith comes at your throat with his big attacks and blues runs while guitarist Montgomery responds with rounder, smoother octaves and single notes that still convey much heat. They are an amazing pair, complementing each other, driving each other, using their bop and blues taproots to fuse together a sound. The romping, aggressive big band charts - Oliver Nelson at his best - on "Down by the Riverside" and "Night Train," and the pungently haunting chart for Gary McFarland's "13" (Death March)" still leave plenty of room for the soloists to stretch out. "James and Wes" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" include drummer Grady Tate and conguero Ray Barretto, with Smith's own feet working the organ pedals. This reissue also includes an alternate take of "O.G.D." with Tate and Barretto - a neat bonus." (Richar S. Ginell)
"Wes Montgomery was one of the great jazz guitarists, a natural extension of Charlie Christian, whose appealing use of octaves became influential and his trademark. He achieved great commercial success during his last few years, only to die prematurely. "So Much Guitar!" is one of his finest recordings, a Riverside date that showcases the influential guitarist in a quintet with pianist Hank Jones, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Lex Humphries, and the congas of Ray Barretto. All eight performances are memorable in their own way, with "Cottontail," "I'm Just a Lucky So and So," and a brief unaccompanied "While We're Young" being high points." (Scott Yanow, Allmusic) Wes ging vaak op tournee met zijn getalenteerde broers Buddy (vibrafonist) en Monk (bassist). In 1961 was het trio op tournee met drummer Paul Humphrey. Live-opnamen verschenen indertijd op LP en zijn als een soort bonus aan deze CD toegevoegd, wat dit dus in feite ene '2 LP's op 1 CD-release' maakt.
"The two-CD set Impressions: The Verve Jazz Sessions salvages Wes Montgomery's straight jazz sessions for Verve, leaving the pop-oriented covers and orchestral sessions to the original albums. There are selected numbers from albums like Movin' Wes, Goin' Out of My Head and California Dreaming, illustrating that those albums were hardly worthless -- each track proves that Montgomery's touch remained elegant and supremely tasteful. The second disc is devoted to the complete sessions for Smokin' at the Half Note, the legendary recording Montgomery made at Van Gelder Studios in 1965 with bassist Paul Chambers, pianist Wynton Kelly and drummer Jimmy Cobb. The music on the record is easily among Montgomery's finest, and this is the first time that all the music from the sessions has been collected in one place". (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic).
"Milt Jackson was 38 when, in December 1961, he co-led this superb hard-bop date with the distinctive guitarist Wes Montgomery. A jazzman who was as opinionated as he was gifted, Jackson wouldn't hesitate to tell you exactly what he thought of a musician -- so when he praised Montgomery, you knew his praise was genuine. Not surprisingly, the boppers prove to be quite compatible on Bags Meets Wes, which finds them co-leading an all star-quintet that also includes pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. (...) Although Jackson and Montgomery prove what lyrical ballad players they could be on the standard "Stairway to the Stars," ballads aren't a high priority on this album. Instead, the improvisers put more of their energy into the blues -- and the 12-bar format serves them well on "Sam Sack," "Blue Roz," and "S.K.J." Equally strong are hard-swinging versions of Montgomery's "Jingles" and Benny Golson's "Stablemates." (Alex Henderson, Allmusic).
Twee van de vroegste albums van de jazzgitarist als dubbelaar. "Montgomeryland" is ook bekend onder de titel "Far Wes". Allmusic daarover: "Wes Montgomery was one of the great jazz guitarists, a natural extension of Charlie Christian, whose appealing use of octaves became influential and his trademark. This historical CD contains some of his first recordings; in fact only 3 small-group songs predate these. The then-obscure guitarist is heard in two different quintets, both of which include his brothers Buddy (on piano) and Monk (playing electric bass). The earlier set has Harold Land's tenor as a lead voice while altoist Pony Poindexter takes his place on the later date, Wes's sound was already quite recognizable and he contributes 6 originals which alternate with Harold Land's "Hymn for Carl" and 4 standards." (Scott Yanow) Op "The Montgomery Brother & Five Others", opgenomen in dezelfde tijd, spelen naast de 3 broers liefst 7 anderen, waaronder het toen 19-jarige trompettalent Freddie Hubbard.
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