Wes Montgomery | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Photo of Montgomery during a recording session in the mid-1960s | |
| Background information | |
| Born | John Leslie Montgomery (1923-03-06)March 6, 1923 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | June 15, 1968(1968-06-15) (aged 45) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1947–1968 |
| Labels | Pacific Jazz,Riverside,Verve,A&M |
| Website | wesmontgomery |
John Leslie "Wes"Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an Americanjazz guitarist.[1] Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use ofoctaves, which gave him a distinctive sound.
Montgomery often worked with his brothersBuddy (Charles F.) andMonk (William H.), as well as organistMelvin Rhyne. His recordings up to 1965 were oriented towardhard bop,soul jazz, andpost bop, but around 1965 he began recording more pop-oriented instrumental albums that found mainstream success. His later guitar style influencedjazz fusion andsmooth jazz.
Montgomery was born inIndianapolis, Indiana.[2] According toNPR, the nickname "Wes" was a child's mispronunciation of his middle name, Leslie.[3] His family was large, and his parents split up early in his childhood. Montgomery and his brothers moved toColumbus, Ohio, with their father and attendedChampion High School. His older brotherMonk dropped out of school to sell coal and ice, gradually saving enough money to buy Wes a four-stringtenor guitar from a pawn shop in 1935. Although Montgomery spent many hours playing that guitar, he dismissed its usefulness, saying he had to start over when he got his first six-string several years later.[4]
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He and his brothers returned to Indianapolis. By 1943, Montgomery was working as awelder and had gotten married. While at a dance with his wife, he heard aCharlie Christian record for the first time. This experience inspired him to pick up the guitar at the age of 19, and he spent the next year teaching himself to play by imitating Christian's recordings. Although he had not planned on becoming a professional musician, he felt obligated to learn after purchasing the guitar. Montgomery did not receive any formal instruction and could not read music. By the age of twenty, he was performing in clubs in Indianapolis at night, copying Christian's solos, while working during the day at a milk company. In 1948, whenLionel Hampton was on tour in Indianapolis, he was looking for a guitarist, and after hearing Montgomery play like Christian he hired him.[4]
Montgomery spent two years with the Hampton band. Fear kept him from flying with the rest of the band, so he drove from city to city, town to town, while fellow musicians marveled at his stamina. When arriving at a club, the first thing he did was call home to his wife and family. He was given the opportunity to play withCharles Mingus,Milt Buckner, andFats Navarro, but not the opportunity he hoped for[specify], and he returned to Indianapolis a better player, though tired and discouraged. He resumed performing at local clubs, this time with the Eddie Higgins Trio and the Roger Jones Quintet, playing withEddie Higgins,Walter Perkins, andLeroy Vinnegar. He joined his brothersBuddy and Monk and saxophonist Alonzo "Pookie" Johnson in the Johnson/Montgomery Quintet, somewhat in the style ofGeorge Shearing. The band auditioned forArthur Godfrey and recorded sessions withQuincy Jones. After a residency at a club from 1955 to 1957, Montgomery and his brothers went west.[4]
Buddy and Monk Montgomery formed The Mastersounds and signed a contract with Dick Bock atPacific Jazz. Montgomery joined them for a recording session in 1957 that includedFreddie Hubbard. Some of the songs were released by Pacific Jazz on the albumThe Montgomery Brothers and Five Others, while others were issued onFingerpickin' (Pacific Jazz, 1958). The Mastersounds remained in California when Montgomery returned to Indianapolis to work in his trio with organistMelvin Rhyne.[4]
He worked as a welder during the day to support his wife and seven children, then performed at two clubs at night until well into the morning. He was a smoker who had blackouts while trying to maintain this busy schedule. During one performance, the audience includedCannonball Adderley, George Shearing, andLennie Tristano. Adderley was so impressed by Montgomery's guitar playing that he persuadedOrrin Keepnews to sign him toRiverside. Keepnews was also persuaded by a gushing review written byGunther Schuller. In New York City Montgomery recordedA Dynamic New Sound, the Wes Montgomery Trio, his first album as a leader after twenty years as a musician. In 1960, he recordedThe Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery withTommy Flanagan,Percy Heath, andAlbert Heath.[4]
He joined his brothers in California to perform as the Montgomery Brothers for theMonterey Jazz Festival. The Mastersounds had broken up, and Buddy and Monk had signed withFantasy and recorded (with Wes)The Montgomery Brothers, followed byGroove Yard. Montgomery recorded another album as a leader,So Much Guitar, then while visiting his brothers had a chance to perform withJohn Coltrane's group in San Francisco. In 1961, work was getting harder to find. A tour in Canada led to the albumThe Montgomery Brothers in Canada, then the band broke up. Montgomery returned to Indianapolis to work in his trio with Rhyne. Keepnews sent him back to California to record a live album withJohnny Griffin,Wynton Kelly,Paul Chambers, andJimmy Cobb. Their performance became the albumFull House. This was followed byFusion! (1963), his firstinstrumental pop album.[4]
After two more organ trio jazz sessions for Riverside Records in 1963 (Boss Guitar andPortrait of Wes), Montgomery left the label forVerve Records. At Verve, Montgomery began working with producerCreed Taylor, who produced Montgomery for the rest of the guitarist's life. His first Verve release,Movin' Wes (1964), was an instrumental pop album arranged byJohnny Pate. It quickly sold more than 100,000 copies and repositioned Montgomery within the recording industry as acrossover artist capable of significant LP sales. At Verve, Montgomery released his last two small-group jazz albums (a 1965 collaboration withWynton Kelly, and a 1966 collaboration with organistJimmy Smith), but his main focus was recording contemporary pop hits as instrumentals. Montgomery had notable success with his versions of "California Dreamin'", "Tequila", and "Goin' Out of My Head". After moving toA&M, Montgomery had his biggest radio hit, a version of "Windy", a pop song originally recorded byThe Association. Of the ten Wes Montgomery albums that Taylor produced while Montgomery was alive (all recorded for Verve andA&M Records), eight were aimed at the pop market. The success of these albums led to invitations for Montgomery to perform on major U.S. television shows includingThe Hollywood Palace andThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[citation needed]
Montgomery died of a heart attack on June 15, 1968, while at home in Indianapolis. He was 45 years old.[5]
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According to jazz guitar educator Wolf Marshall, Montgomery often approached solos in a three-tiered manner: he would begin the progression with single note lines, derived from scales or modes; after a fitting number of sequences, he would play octaves for a few more sequences, finally culminating with block chords. He used mostly superimposed triads and arpeggios as the main source for his soloing ideas and sounds.[1]
Instead of using a guitar pick, Montgomery plucked the strings with the fleshy part of his thumb, using down strokes for single notes and a combination of up strokes and down strokes for chords and octaves.[2] He developed this technique not for technical reasons but for the benefit of his neighbors and not waking his children. He worked long hours as a machinist before his music career began and practised late at night. To keep everyone happy, he played quietly by using his thumb. This actually worked out well, as he used an amplifier when performing, which allowed him to really exploit his thumb-picking style.[6] His style smoothly incorporated the guitar into jazz and was studied by many.[specify]
Montgomery was also known for his use ofoctaves in his playing. In an interview with music criticRalph J. Gleason, Montgomery was quoted saying: "Playing octaves was just a coincidence. And it's still such a challenge. I used to have headaches every time I played octaves, because it was extra strain, but the minute I'd quit I'd be alright. I don't know why, but it was my way, and my way just backfired on me. But now I don't have headaches when I play octaves. I'm just showing you how a strain can capture a cat and almost choke him, but after a while it starts to ease up because you get used to it."[7]
Jazz guitaristBobby Broom said that onA Dynamic New Sound in 1959, Montgomery "introduced a brand new approach to playing the guitar... The octave technique... and his chord melody and chord soloing playing still is today unmatched".[11] Broom modeled his guitar-organ trio after Montgomery's.[12]
Stevie Wonder wrote two tributes to Montgomery: "Bye Bye World", which appeared on his 1968 albumEivets Rednow, and "We All Remember Wes", whichGeorge Benson recorded for his 1978 live albumWeekend in L.A.[13]
In 1982,Bob James andEarl Klugh collaborated on a duet album and recorded the song "Wes" as a tribute to Montgomery on the albumTwo of a Kind.[14]
GuitaristEmily Remler released a tribute album to Montgomery in 1988, titledEast to Wes.[15]
Pat Martino releasedRemember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery in 2006.[16]
Eric Johnson paid tribute to Montgomery on his 1990 albumAh Via Musicom in a song titled "East Wes".[17]
GuitaristDavid Becker paid tribute to Montgomery on the 1991 albumIn Motion with the song "Westward Ho".[18]
Lee Ritenour recorded a tribute album in 1993,Wes Bound, that contained Montgomery covers and some originals by Ritenour.[19] While the production and arrangements are typical for the time, he performed the entire album in Montgomery's style on aGibson L-5 model.[according to whom?]
GuitaristJoe Diorio released a tribute album in 1998,I Remember You: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery.[20]
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Posthumous
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