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06-29-2022 04:39 PM
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2B you are a tease! L-5 WESMO or L-5C ?
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It’s a convincing tease?
Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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New set of strings?! Congrats! They looks great!!
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Oh wait a sec. You thought this was from Gibson?
Oh, no, sorry.
I guess you missed the binding of the lower section.
It’s from Verve’s limited edition Wes Montgomery collection. A very nice hard bound book though!
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Didn't fool me as I know you're kinda out of the guitar flipping phase of your life at this point.
Now if it was a pic of the keys on a Steinway.....
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Is that the 5-CD box (or rather “book”) set?
I just looked it up as I was not aware of it.
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A friend gave me the complete Wes on Riverside for Christmas years ago, 12 cds
If it was vinyl they'd be worn out 10 times over by now.
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Ditto. I have that box set and love it. The Riverside Wes Box is even better. Originally Posted by wintermoon
Wes Montgomery. Jazz guitar does not get any better and IMO, never will.
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Cheeky.
Happy NGD!
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Yes sir! The book is sealed in an outer sleeve with Wes on it. I was simply shocked when I removed the sleeve to reveal the L5 Wes. $23 on eBay. Originally Posted by Steve Z
What a nice tribute to Wes.
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Absolutely correct. I play a Mason Hamlin. Another old school vibe. Originally Posted by wintermoon
Didn't fool me as I know you're kinda out of the guitar flipping phase of your life at this point.
Now if it was a pic of the keys on a Steinway.....
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But did you know that Wes didn’t like traveling. So playing the Verve, Creed Taylor, stuff allowed him to provide for his family. And no one estimated that the Verve, CT, recordings would be such a big hit. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands knew Wes. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
I don’t blame the man for feeding his family.
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Wes had a fear of flying, but he did make it to Europe once. I am a fan of the Verve and A&M recordings. But the Pacific Jazz and Riverside stuff is mind blowing. Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
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Maybe he took a boat? Originally Posted by Stringswinger
I didn't realize that most transatlantic flights were jet back then--probably Boeing 707's.
The service and amenities were certainly much nicer, but I don't know if the flight itself was more pleasant due to turbulence and other factors that might be ameliorated with modern technology.
Of course after a half a pack of cigs and a couple of martinis, I guess even that wouldn't worry a lot of passengers.
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He flew. And it was reportedly very traumatic for him. I think you can clearly hear it in his playing on the album Live at Ronnie Scott’s, made in 1965. I don’t know how many days elapsed between the flight and his club appearance, but I recall reading that it was only 1 or 2. When I got that album and put it on, my first thought was to wonder what was wrong with him because his playing sounded off. Wes fans should get this one - it’s worth having because of this fascinating twist, although it’s far from a great WM album. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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That poor man! Phobias are real, at least in the mind of the person suffering. I just can't imagine the misery he must have went through while in Europe, knowing that another traumatic plane ride was waiting for him.
I have a cousin who is claustrophobic and fears flying. She said getting on a plane, and being put back in row 24 was like getting put deep inside a tomb. All she could do was huddle up and endure it.
My God!
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Interesting f-hole treatment in the photo.
Not a stock L-5WES.
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I was curious about this, so looked into it, and I’m not sure the chronology bears this out. Wes went to London in March 1965 with his own group and first made the TV ‘Jazz 625’ recording (you can usually find it on youtube) then went to Paris 2 days later with his group, and did the live concert recently reissued as the ‘ORTF recordings’. Nothing much wrong with his playing on either of these. (He is burning on the Paris gig!) Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Then he returned to London and appeared at Ronnie Scotts in April and May, when the Live at Ronnies recordings were made. But these were with the house band rather than his own group. Maybe that could be why the performances are not on the same level?
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I’m relying on my memory for these recollections, Graham. My son has my copy of that album stored away somewhere (I ripped it to a FLAC) so I can’t check the liner notes. I did just run a Google search, as I assume you did - and it does say that the album was recorded in April & May. If you got your chronology from the album jacket, I stand corrected. I knew about the March 25, ‘65 BBC film and always assumed it was made the same week as the RS Club dates. But Wikipedia contains a lot of factual errors, most being erroneous dates and attributions. Originally Posted by grahambop
You may be right about the effect of the backing band. They’re not bad, but they’re not at his level. Still, his playing on the Scott album just sounds uninspired to me, as though he’s bothered by or preoccupied with something - he was too good to let an average rhythm section throw off his playing. If he were playing at his usual level, it’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t have inspired them to their own new heights. And I do recall reading reviews that agreed with me and attributed his lackluster playing on that album to having to fly.
We know that he took trains across the country to make dates with his brothers’ bands and that it was at least one reason he didn’t stay with them. But I suspect the details are either long buried or only able to emerge from the addled old minds of geezers like me
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Yeah I got the dates from the CDs (I have both the Ronnies one and the ORTF) and the discographies in a couple of books I have. I don’t trust wikipedia either!
Funny thing is there are lots of accounts by British jazzers of being knocked out by Wes’ playing on the Ronnies gigs. But of course they may not be the same days he was recorded on.
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Interestingly there is some footage of Wes playing with the Ronnie Scott house band, they were filmed in a TV studio during his visit. The film is included on the ‘Jazz Icons’ Wes Montgomery DVD. Someone has put a ‘colorised’ version on youtube. The date on youtube looks wrong though, on the 27th March he was doing the gig in Paris!
The DVD says this was filmed in May 1965. Includes some great shots of the thumb in action!
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And they may have been used to a lesser level of playing. We were truly spoiled on this side of the pond - native jazz in the UK & Europe through the 1970s and maybe even the ‘80s was generally not at the same level as ours in the US. There were some great players around the world, but only in the US was it possible to hear at least a few top players in many cities every night. Hearing Wes play anything was undoubtedly a highlight of their lives. Originally Posted by grahambop
I was a guest at a family wedding in Florence years ago, and we had a local jazz trio (p,b,g) playing the rehearsal dinner party. The bride had told them I’d be there and introduced me to them as “an American jazz guitarist”. They were all over me about what we played and how we played it. They had learned a lot of standards, bop heads, etc and played well - but it was obvious that they’d not heard a lot of the music played live by experienced people and didn’t get the feel quite right. They’d brought a second guitar because they wanted me to play with them, so I ended up playing for about 3 hours. I’m no Wes, but just from my playing with them, they were a different band even after the first hour.
I’ve had the same experience in a few places around the world, including London (where our older son lived for about 5 years after he was married). Even our best were astounded by Wes’ originality and style, and just being in the room while he played anything was an amazing experience. Courtesy of my girlfriend, I spent the entire evening of my 21st birthday sitting a few feet from him at Boston’s Jazz Workshop in 1967, and I was so into the whole experience that he could have been semiconscious and played scales and I would have clapped my hands red. So it’s not hard to see how those British jazzers were knocked out by anything Wes played.
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Even on his worst night, Wes must have been fantastic!
Was it Tommy Flanagan the pianist who played with him and didn't even solo, because he enjoyed listening to Wes so much?
Last edited by Alter; 07-02-2022 at 02:02 AM.
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i have everything from wes that has ever been issued and a few unissued items. i think the ronnie scott's date is fantastic. the band was not sub-par at all. ronnie stephenson (who was also used on the hamburg date) is a much better fit that e.g. han bennik who is clearly over his head on the holland recordings. tracey is no slouch either. and as a bonus we get different tunes that the usual fare of 4 on 6, twisted blues, rainy day, etc. it's a more relaxed and casual wes than on those tv recordings. the live version of d-natural blues is so much fun. Originally Posted by grahambop
btw the recording is from may 7. wes had an earlier stint in april. allegedly private tapes exist. i'd pay good money to hear those...
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUfRsAclUnc" target="_blank">
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