Wes Montgomery Here’s That Rainy Day Live London 1965

Stan Tracey (piano) Wes Montgomery (guitar) Rick Laird (bass) Jackie Dougan (drums)
Television broadcast, “Tempo”, ABC TV, London, England, May 7, 1965

Wes Montgomery (1923-1968)

John Leslie “Wes” Montgomery is the most influential bebop guitarist of past and present times. Basically, he’s the one that changed both the mentality of players that followed AND the way the instrument is played. It’s hard to hear anything “Jazz Guitar” and not associate with a hint of Wes Montgomery behind it! He came right after Charlie Christian and he’s considered by many to be the logical sequel in jazz guitar history.

Wes was in fact very much inspired and influenced by Christian’s playing. It is said that early on, Wes was actually hired to play Christian’s solos during live concerts! He learned them all (by ear… Wes was not a reader) to the point that the vinyls started to disintegrate. That’s the spirit! (-:

In the end, both Montgomery and Christian contributed to the then new bebop language with great tones, rhythms, dexterity and soulfulness. Wes always had fresh, surprising melodic ideas as well a great chops. He never read a single note on paper but his ears and heart guided him dearly. Watch him on video, you’ll understand!

Wes Montgomery is now part of this great tradition and still has an influence on young jazz guitarists. His music is worth studying carefully. Most (if not all) jazz guitarists that came after cite Wes as an influence. It’s hard not to…

The great Pat Metheny goes further and says: “Wes and Miles, […] the two guys who have left a sonic residue that has pervaded all of music, not just jazz.” It’s true. When listening to both of these masters, we almost hear the conscious “edition” that is going on in their musical minds: they leave out all the extra notes and keep only the essential… We know that Wes was a HUGE perfectionist, perpetually disatisfied with his solos… keeping only “the good stuff in” take after the take in the studio.

My favorite recordings of Wes are on the Riverside label. They are small group performances that are very much in the bebop (and post-bop) idioms. I love Wes’ playing in quartets and organ trios. Such groovy stuff!

Playing Style and Gear

Wes used a Gibson L-5 throughout his career. It is a hollow-body carved-top (spruce top, maple back and sides) guitar and it was plugged into very clean sounding amplifiers. Gibson still produces a replica of the guitar Wes used to play. (-:

Wes’ sound is totally unique and original. He never liked the “noise” of the pick striking the strings. That is why he started plucking strictly with the fleshy part of his right thumb. That is perhaps, one of the most imitated sound in the jazz guitar world. If you’ve never tried it, take 10 minutes and experiment with just the thumb, it’s addictive!

Another technique that gave Wes his personal sound is the use of octaves. He would play in and out of octave playing in most of his solos. That too is a sound that’s always imitated. However, in its first experimentation with octaves, Wes was discouraged by his colleages. They said it was “piano stuff” … go figure! (-:

In summary, his signature sound opened the way for future generations. The use of the thumb and octave playing was revolutionary at the time. It is now in widespread use! Wes Montgomery was (probably) the greatest jazz guitar innovator of the 20th century.

Discography

As leader

Release date	Album	Label	Source
1959	The Wes Montgomery Trio	Riverside	[1][2]
1960	The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery	Riverside	[1][2]
1960	Movin’ Along	Riverside	[1][2]
1961	So Much Guitar	Riverside	[1][2]
1962	Full House	Riverside	[1][2]
1963	Fusion! Wes Montgomery with Strings	Riverside	[1][2]
1963	Boss Guitar	Riverside	[1][2]
1963	Portrait of Wes	Riverside	[1][2]
1963	Guitar on the Go	Riverside	[1][2]
1964	Movin’ Wes	Verve	[1][2]
1965	Bumpin’	Verve	[1][2]
1965	Smokin’ at the Half Note	Verve	[1][2]
1966	Goin’ Out of My Head	Verve	[1][2]
1966	Tequila	Verve	[1][2]
1966	California Dreaming	Verve	[1][2]
1967	A Day in the Life	A&M	[1][2]
1968	Down Here on the Ground	A&M	[1][2]
1968	Road Song	A&M	[1][2]
1969	Willow Weep for Me	Verve	[1][2]
1982	The Alternative Wes Montgomery	Milestone	[1][2]
1990	Far Wes	Capitol	[1][2]
1996	Fingerpickin’	Capitol	[1][2]
2012	Echoes of Indiana Avenue	Resonance	[3]
2015	In the Beginning	Resonance	[3]
2016	One Night in Indy	Resonance	[3]
2017	Smokin’ in Seattle	Resonance	[3]
2017	In Paris: The Definitive ORTF Recording	Resonance	[3]

With The Montgomery Brothers

Year	Album	Label
1957	The Montgomery Brothers Plus Five Others	World Pacific
1958	Montgomeryland	Pacific Jazz
1961	Groove Yard	Riverside
George Shearing and the Montgomery Brothers	Fantasy
The Montgomery Brothers
The Montgomery Brothers in Canada
Love Walked In	Jazzland
Wes, Buddy and Monk Montgomery	Pacific Jazz
1969	It’s Never Too Late	Chisa

Collaborations

• Bags Meets Wes! with Milt Jackson (Riverside, 1962)
• Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo with Jimmy Smith (Verve, 1966)
• Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes with Jimmy Smith (Verve, 1969)

As sideman

• Kismet, The Mastersounds (World Pacific, 1958)
• A Good Git-Together, Jon Hendricks (World Pacific, 1959)
• Work Song, Nat Adderley (Riverside, 1960)
• West Coast Blues!, Harold Land (Jazzland, 1960)
• Cannonball Adderley and the Poll Winners, Cannonball Adderley (Riverside, 1960)
• Complete Recordings with Lionel Hampton (Definitive, 2002)

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