Wes Montgomery Archives - Renaissance Granddad

Posts tagged "Wes Montgomery"

Wes Montgomery- A Playlist from the First Wes Albums I Bought!

Wes Montgomery – The First of My Jazz Guitar Heroes I go way back with Wes Montgomery. I discovered Wes Montgomery in the late 1960s around the time he was crossing over to “mainstream” music: Actually, I don’t know if seeing him on the Hollywood Palace had anything to do with my discovering Wes. Most likely I already already about him because of “Windy”. Either way I know I went out and bought the three albums Wes recorded on the A&M label. A Day in the Life (1967), Down Here on the Ground (1968) and Road Song (1968). By the time A Day in the Life was released in Wes performs “Windy” on Hollywood Palace…… 1967, Wes had already released 24 remarkable jazz albums. He was well known in jazz circles. I think that these three albums weren’t accepted by jazz aficionados because of the strings that were added to the songs. Anyway, the arrangements and Wes’s talent was enough for me to go out and buy the albums and several of earlier albums. Particularly, Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic recorded with the Incredible Jimmy Smith. I also purchased two compilation albums released in 1968 after Wes passed away,He passed on June 15,1968. He was only 45 years old. (1968 was a sucky year!) One was the best of Wes Montgomery – Verve Records. The other was simply titled Wes Montgomery March 6, 1925- June 15, 1968on Riverside. The final tw0 albums I bought in those years were Willow…

Wes Montgomery and Robben Ford Provide a Day of Blues and Jazz

So yesterday’s random numbers were 3 and 5. Those numbers led me to one blues album from Robben Ford and the Blue Line and a jazz album from Wes Montgomery. The Robben Ford album is his 1995 release Handful of Blues. The Wes Montgomery album was Movin’ Wes, released in 1964 on the Verve label. Robben Ford -Handful of Blues Robben Ford is one of the artists I like when I hear his music but I tend not to search out his music. Part of the reason is I really didnt care for a few of his more recent albums. Therefore, I probably haven’t given his current albums a good listen. Bottom line , I just havent been listening to his music much anymore. Although, after listening to Handful of Blues I may need to listen to his more recent albums again. Rignt now I am listening to Lost in Paris Blues Band. It sounds pretty good to me. Anyway let’s get back to Handful of Blues. Listening to the album I thought it sounded more bluesy than some of the albums I remember. Then I read this at All Music from Stephen Thomas Erlewine…. On Handful of Blues, Robben Ford strips his sound back to the basics, recording a set of blues with only a bassist and a drummer. The group runs through a handful of standards, including “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” and a number of made-to-order origin So the bottmline is listening…

From the Archives – A Morning of Jazz – Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly – Smokin’ at the Blue Note!

Last night when I was sifting through my vinyl collection I came across the Wes Montgomery album Willow Weep For Me, Finding that album reminded me of this post I had written a while ago. I read the liner notes for the album which has always been a favorite and discovered that in the summer of 1968 Verve Records discovered previously unreleased tracks and the seven that are included on Willow Weep for Me were recorded at the same booking at The Half Note in Greenwich Village! In the notes Richard Lamb writes: The Half Note is one of the last remaining landmarks of a legendary era. A real “jazz joint” a room where come to hear jazz and actually listened. For a buck, you can have a beer at the bar while you listen to Zoot and Al. Gary McFarland is probably sitting on the next stool with Blossom and Mingus and maybe even Mathis scattered at the tables.On any evening several “names” will stop by….. The point is , when Wes and Wynton sat down and dug in, they knew they were playing for their people. And they played -perhaps heavier than you ever heard them Which is probably why these two albums are so great. Here is my original post about the album….. So this morning was as jazzy kind of morning as I was out and about doing some errands I had Smokin’ at the Half Note by Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly playing on the…