Wes Montgomery

**aPAULo** · 04-12-2007, 07:42 PM

Wes is my favorite guitarist by far and is what brought me into jazz a few months ago. Could somebody recommend me some artists and songs by Wes or people similar to Wes?

**mstevenson** · 04-13-2007, 02:52 PM

aPAULo:

Wes was one of the greatest Jazz guitarist, no doubt. I'm not near my album/CD collection at the moment, but I'll list a couple of what I feel are important Wes cuts:

Bumpin' on Sunset
Going to Detroit
Little Child

You may have to dig to find 'Little Child' but it will be worth the effort! In this song you have Wes starting in his Octave style thru the verses. The solo is done in single notes and the closing is stated in chorded melodie.

Some other guitarists would include

George Benson
Larry Carlton
Lee Ritenour

**TeleCaster** · 04-16-2007, 02:35 AM

Beside of the "old ones" you could try to listen to the Dutch "Jesse van Ruller"

**aPAULo** · 04-16-2007, 05:17 PM

Ok thanks. I have around 10 Wes Montgomery songs right now. Im looking to find some more. My favorite song right now is Unit 7.

**mr. beaumont** · 04-16-2007, 06:00 PM

well, i'd go after albums, if that's a possibility...

smokin' at the half note
the incredible jazz guitar of...
full house
boss guitar
and another album just crdited to "wes montgomery trio" that has a killer "round midnight"

then, to expand, yes, george benson is a wes disciple, but a lot of his stuff after the mid '70's gets a little "smooth."

if you like that classic, soulful sound, check out grant green, kenny burrell, early pat martino (especially the album "el hombre")

then check out the cats that influenced wes, like jimmy raney, barney kessel, and of course, the original, charlie christian...

dang, there's soooooooooo much good stuff out there!

**aPAULo** · 04-17-2007, 05:47 PM

Yes I am a Charlie Christian fan too. He was the master.

I also like Tal Farlows stuff. He has some outstanding speed.

**MrPelicano** · 04-17-2007, 07:10 PM

I've got 17 Montgomery albums and all of them have loads of great playing. "Smokin' at the Half Note" is often cited by other guitarists (like Pat Metheny) as a major inspiration to them, and I'd have to agree. "Smokin'" is the only way to describe the playing of everyone on that album.

Let me also recommend the various Wes Montgomery song books, which contain incredibly helpful transcriptions of both his chord and single-note soloing. I own:

"The Best of Wes Montgomery" (Hal Leonard w/ CD)
"Jazz Guitar Artistry: Wes Montgomery" (Mel Bay)
"Guitar Method: Play Along with Wes Montgomery" (Jamey Abersold w/ CD)

Besides helping learn the songs, seeing Wes' work transcribed really underscores how complex his playing is, even when it sounds like he's just throwing down some blues licks. Of course, when you see videos of him playing, he makes it look so easy it makes you want to cry.

**seanlowe** · 04-17-2007, 08:23 PM

an album of wes and milt jackson is around (i have it, but i dont know from where) called "wes and bags" and this shows his lyricism to an extreme depth. Try and get a bit from each stage of his life, start with bopping and get to the underrated string orchestra stuff

**aPAULo** · 04-17-2007, 08:30 PM

Ok thanks sean and Peli for the advice. But do you think its better for me to try(and i mean try) to transcribe these songs by ear? I mean I would love to have transcriptions but ive been told to try to learn songs by ear.

**MrPelicano** · 04-17-2007, 08:55 PM

aPaulo - There is no single "right way" to learn songs. I started out learning to play by ear but when the material gets complicated it is very helpful to have the sheet music / transcriptions in front of you. While Wes, himself, was not a sight reader, most of the great jazz guitarists were / are, and professional session guitarists almost always learn new material from the sheet music.

So I encourage you to use every available resource, as well as repeated listenings to recordings, to build your skills. One thing that you don't get from the sheet music that you can ONLY get from listening is the "feel" for how a guitarist "swings" - his timing, phrasing, voicings, etc. That's where each artist displays his/her unique genius, even playing the same song on different occasions.

Best of luck!

**aPAULo** · 04-18-2007, 05:26 PM

Hmmmm. Ok, I guess I gotta learn how to read music first!

I was unaware that Wes didnt know how to sight-read.

**jonasfixe** · 04-20-2007, 03:05 PM

Hi aPAULo

Pat Martino has a new album (2006) only with wes Montgomery songs.
By the way, if you like speed, you will like Pat Martino!

I just found out today the first guitarist that seems to master the art of octaves just ALMOST as well as Wes did it: George Benson.

**Mudtussell** · 04-20-2007, 03:24 PM

Just wanted to thank aPaulo for starting this Thread and also to thank everyone else for all the great info. I have just started to really get into Jazz and this one thread has given me so much great music to check out.

Thanks again!

**MrPelicano** · 04-20-2007, 03:24 PM

I had the great good fortune to catch Pat Martino live last April, 2006, at Jazz Alley in Seattle, touring on the Wes Mongtomery tribute album. I've been a huge fan of Pat's for quite a few years, and had seen him in San Francisco in the late 1990's.

In my opinion, I think Pat is a bit too deferential in his treatment of Wes' material and I would have preferred to hear him interpret the material along the lines of his own musical style. And, in fact, the highlight of the Seattle show, for me, was Pat's radical re-working of the John Coltrane masterpiece "Impressions", with which he closed the show. That was a revelation.

As good as his recent work has been, I encourage everyone to go back and look at his work from the 1970's, which establishes his much deserved reputation as a major talent.

**MrPelicano** · 04-20-2007, 03:31 PM

And while I'm at it, let me call attention to the work of another great Philly-based hard-bop player, Jimmy Bruno. Jimmy built his reputation touring with legendary drummer Buddy Rich's band, and has incredible speed and chops. Not all his work is equally fine, IMO, but his best work is outstanding.

"Polarity" is my personal favorite, but if you want to hear Bruno tackle Wes' superb "Unit 7" then be sure to check out the 1995 "Like That" album.

**aPAULo** · 04-20-2007, 08:18 PM

Peli(i hope you dont mind me calling you that), have you heard the song Eggplant Pizza by Jimmy Bruno? One of my former guitar teachers told me about him and showed me the song. Very fast paced.

**priscilo** · 07-20-2007, 10:59 AM

I think the most surprising thing about Wes is his right hand technique. He played just with his thumb. IT'S UNBLIEVABLE!!!

**aPAULo** · 07-20-2007, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by priscilo

I think the most surprising thing about Wes is his right hand technique. He played just with his thumb. IT'S UNBLIEVABLE!!!

Was he double-jointed? Cause when I see him live on youtube, his thumb looks bent in an odd way...

**Lynton** · 08-13-2007, 11:13 PM

Wes is a treasure to be revisited time after time. Lee Ritenour does a very credible copy of Wes' guitar style on a CD titled "Wes Bound." He also does a great version of "Girl Talk" with Brother Jack McDuff (very Wes influenced playing)...very bluesy in a jazz sort of way.

**Lynton** · 08-13-2007, 11:17 PM

In an interview with George Benson, George stated Wes had a corn on his thumb...and that gave him a very unique sound...

Jazzarian · 12-01-2007, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by aPAULo

Wes is my favorite guitarist by far and is what brought me into jazz a few months ago. Could somebody recommend me some artists and songs by Wes or people similar to Wes?

I highly recommend Russell Malone, old George Benson (obviously), Kurt Rosenwinkel, old Pat Martino, Jimmy Bruno, Kenny Burrell, Peter Bernstein, Steve Laury (world's foremost octave player?). That should get you started.

**symodiezel** · 06-06-2008, 04:46 AM

Yes Wes Montgomery had a double jointed thumb, it was said he would bend it back to his wrist to freak people out.

**P_Jay** · 08-17-2008, 12:24 PM

'Four on Six' clinched it for me, the version on 'The Incredible Jazz Guitar...' especially. But 'Freddie Freeloader' is the one I want to play. On the first listening Wes' tone choice is so wonderfully unexpected. The great thing about his phrasing is that slow coaches like me can still play Wes tunes (or bits of them) because his phrases and motives are so strong. And I think you have to look to Charlie Parker to see where he got that from;Transcribing as he did by ear from the likes of The Savoy sessions. Get the 'Charlie Parker Omni Book', pick a tune like Donna Lee and play at half the speed and you'll see what I mean. Other books to recommend, Hal Leonard's 'Best of Wes Montgomery' by Wolf Marshall is an excellent set of tunes to work on and comes with a cd. The Mel Bay book (C.Christiansen) has a really nice collection of Wes' chords.

**symodiezel** · 08-17-2008, 06:51 PM

I can recommend the Hal Leonard book, 'Best of Wes Montgomery' by Wolf Marshall, I purchased it and it is an excellent book with a great selection of tunes, I am currently working on 'Yestedays' and 'Sundown' and with both the CD that comes with the book and which Album the tune is from, it gives you a good point of reference if needed, and Wolf Marshall does a great job playing also, the recording is in stereo so you can isolate the backing track to play with or the guitar to really hear the way its played, and it sounds very accurate to the original, great book.

**jpakfar** · 08-26-2008, 02:20 PM

Paulo, check out the album "the poll winners" by Barney Kessel. Its with Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. A great guitar album.

Cheers,
Jonny

(a little grittier than wes, but you'll love it)