Wes Montgomery

• Artist:
  Wes Montgomery
• Album:
  Goin' Out of My Head
• Track:
  Chim Chim Cherree

Critics tend to dismiss this recording because it was recorded with popular appeal in mind. The string arrangements and melodic statements made it ideal for AM radio at the time it was released. But you should download the song "Chim Chim Cherree" to hear a masterful Wes solo. While he blows the band is basically a quartet, and Wes sounds like an entire big band, something no other guitarist...

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• Artist:
  Wes Montgomery
• Album:
  Verve Jazz Masters 14
• Track:
  • PLAY
  • QUEUE
  Bumpin' on Sunset

"Bumpin' on Sunset" is the follow-up work to the previous year's "Bumpin'" with an added menace to the street. The harshness is reflected in blues that is very harsh sounding yet couched in the softness of the night. Claus Ogerman expertly paints the after hours feel with a very lean arrangement, letting Montgomery be the focus of this work. Ron Carter is on bass, Ray Barretto is on congas and ...

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• Artist:
  Wes Montgomery
• Album:
  Verve Jazz Masters 14
• Track:
  • PLAY
  • QUEUE
  Goin' out of My Head

"Goin' Out of My Head" by far represents the song writing talents of the 1960's at their peak. The lyrics are double-edged, so that what can sound like a highly descriptive love song could also be a song about getting dumped very hard. For Wes Montgomery, "Goin' Out of My Head" became his greatest hit recording. With a sensuous rhythmic walking riff, the chart by the great Oliver Nelson turns t...

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• Artist:
  Wes Montgomery
• Album:
  Verve Jazz Masters 14
• Track:
  • PLAY
  • QUEUE
  The Shadow of Your Smile

When Johnny Mandel was called in to write the score for "The Sandpiper," he turned in an expertly written score that reflected the beauty of the Big Sur country in California with the tensions rising and falling between two oddly paired people. Don Sebesky writes a very hip chart for the accompanying orchestra with little fillers for Margaret Ross' harp. Montgomery plays a complex series of mel...

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• Artist:
  Wes Montgomery
• Album:
  Verve Jazz Masters 14
• Track:
  • PLAY
  • QUEUE
  Bumpin'

When "Bumpin'" was first recorded in May of 1965, the word "bumpin'" meant investigating the night life in all of its bleary-eyed, half awake glory. Guitarist Wes Montgomery (1924 - 1968) certainly knew of this world for many years. He was the most important jazz guitarist since Charlie Christian and had evolved by trial and error his own method of playing his instrument. With his thumb playing...

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