Chicago Jazz Orchestra: More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery

When the Chicago Jazz Orchestra decided to record a tribute to Wes Montgomery, the choice of who would sit in for the legendary guitarist was obvious: Bobby Broom, a stellar guitarist in his own right who has called Chicago home for more than forty years and had performed a concert version of the album at Chicago's Harold Washington Library in 2004. Once Broom agreed to accept the assignment, the sailing was relatively smooth, as CJO music director Jeff Lindberg assembled the orchestra, added a seventeen-piece string section to be used on five tracks and enlisted a trio of first-class arrangers to write the charts.

Montgomery composed half of the album's ten numbers, starting with Charlie Harrison's solid arrangement of the groovy "Road Song." Harrison also scored the standards "What the World Needs Now" and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads." Montgomery's sturdy "Four on Six," swinging "West Coast Blues" and tasteful "Fried Pies" were arranged by Tom Garling, Leonard Bernstein's reassuring "Somewhere" and Henry Mancini's ethereal "Dreamsville" by Alex Brown. Lindberg transcribed Oliver Nelson's arrangement of Montgomery's rugged "Boss City," which closes the album, and Don Sebesky's chart for Sol Lake's easygoing "More, More, Amor." The CJO goes it alone on "Four on Six," "West Coast Blues," "More, More, Amore," "Fried Pies" and "Boss City," and welcomes the strings elsewhere.

Broom, of course, solos on every number, and he proves to be an astute choice, technically as well as aesthetically, invoking Montgomery's uncommon mastery and effusive spirit at almost every turn. As for the CJO, its soloists are consistently sharp and engaging. They include trumpeters Pharez Whitted on "Road Song" and Victor Garcia on "Boss City," altos Rajiv Halim on "West Coast Blues" and John Wojciechowski on "More, More, Amor," tenor Scott Burns on "What the World Needs Now" and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," and pianist Dan Trudell on "Fried Pies." The orchestra's trim and attentive rhythm section is firmly anchored by bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Kobie Watkins.

Sonic balance is at times challenging (Broom is somewhat over-recorded), arrangements no more than adequate—and the strings add little to the merger. Still, a better-than-average big-band session whose heart is in the right place, one that encompasses a number of bright and pleasurable moments.