Wes Montgomery | Hard Bop
Montgomery started learning guitar at the age of 19, listening to and learning recordings of his idol, the guitarist C. Christian. He was known for his skill to play Charlie Christian solos note for note and was hired by Lionel Hampton for this ability.
Montgomery is often considered the greatest of modern jazz guitarists. Following the early work of swing guitarist Charlie Christian and gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Wes arguably put guitar on the map as a bebop or post-bop instrument. Although Johnny Smith was the guitarist in the original New York Bebop scene, and both T. Farlow and J. Raney made amazing contributions in the 1950’s to bebop guitar, each of these men curtailed their own output in the 1960s, creating a vacuum that Montgomery naturally filled with virtuous playing. While many Jazz players are regarded as virtuosos, Montgomery was unique in his wide influence on other virtuosos who followed him, and in the respect he earned from his contemporaries. To many, Montgomery’s playing defines jazz guitar and the sound that many try to emulate.
Wes Montgomery video
An Oliver Nelson’s arrangement of Wes Montgomery’s Naptown Blues.
Jazz guitar : Wes Montgomery
Montgomery toured with L. Hampton early in his career, however the combined stress of touring and being away from family brought him back home to Indianapolis. To sustain his family of eight, Wes Montgomery worked in a factory from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm, then performed in local clubs from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am. Cannonball Adderley heard Montgomery in an Indianapolis club and was floored. He helped sign Montgomery to a recording contract and recorded with him on his Pollwinners album. Wes Montgomery recorded with his brothers and various other group members, including the W. Kelly Trio which before backed up M. Davis.
Coltrane asked Montgomery to join his band after a Jam session, but Wes Montgomery continued to lead his own band. Boss Guitar seems to refer to his status as a guitar-playing bandleader. He also made contributions to recordings by Jimmy Smith. Jazz purists relish Wes Montgomery’s recordings up through 1965, and sometimes complain that he abandoned hard-bop for pop jazz towards the end of his career, although it is arguable that he gained a wider audience for his earlier work with his soft jazz from 1965-1968. During this late period he would occasionally turn out original material alongside jazzy orchestral arrangements of pop songs. In sum, this late period earned him considerable wealth and created a platform for a new listeners to hear his earlier recordings.
Wes Montgomery’s influence in jazz
It’s impossible to speak of jazz guitar without remembering the great Wes Montgomery. The guitarist picked up where Charlie Christian left off, in developing the electric guitar as a jazz instrument. From 1958 until a decade later, Montgomery was the expert Hard Bop guitar player. He blended the lightning-quick runs of Bop with an earthy, bluesy tone. His playing featured a folksy thumb-picking style, and he would often solo in octaves, both effects making his tone rounder and fuller. Wes Montgomery composed two jazz standards, ?Four on Six and ?West Coast Blues,? and recorded many Bop albums. In the middle of ’60s, Wes Montgomery began playing more commercial jazz, recording instrumental versions of pop hits and enjoying great financial success. In his commercial period, he also began laying the groundwork for Fusion; unfortunately, he died in 1968, before Fusion ever hit its stride. Wes Montgomery’s influence is still felt in many styles of jazz.
(Noah Enelow)
