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Musician

Wes Montgomery

Born:

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States (where he also died of a heart attack in 1968), Montgomery came from a musical family, in which his brothers, Monk (string bass and electric bass) and Buddy (vibraphone, and piano), were jazz performers. Although Wes was not skilled at reading music, he could learn complex melodies and riffs by ear. Montgomery started learning guitar in his late teens, listening to and learning recordings of his idol, the guitarist Charlie Christian.

Along with the use of octaves (playing the same note on two strings one octave apart) for which he is widely known, Montgomery was also an excellent "single-line" or "single-note" player, and was very influential in the use of block chords in his solos. His playing on the jazz standard "Lover Man" is an example of his single-note, octave and block chord soloing. ("Lover Man" appears on the Fantasy album THE MONTGOMERY BROTHERS.) Instead of using a guitar pick, Montgomery plucked the strings with the fleshy part of his thumb, using downstrokes for single notes and a combination of upstrokes and downstrokes for chords and octaves. This technique enabled him to get a mellow, expressive tone from his guitar. George Benson, in the liner notes of the Ultimate Wes Montgomery album, wrote that "Wes had a corn on his thumb, which gave his sound that point. He would get one sound for the soft parts, and then that point by using the corn. That's why no one will ever match Wes. And his thumb was double- jointed. He could bend it all the way back to touch his wrist, which he would do to shock people."

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Article: Album Review

Vin Venezia: The Venetian

Read "The Venetian" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Vin Venezia won't blow your mind or even knock your socks off--that's simply not his style. The New Jersey-based guitarist will, however, lure you into his orbit with the sort of smooth and mellow sounds and precisely articulated phrases often associated such masters as Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and others who blazed a trail ...

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Article: Radio & Podcasts

Interview With Al Chesis Of The Delta Sonics

Read "Interview With Al Chesis Of The Delta Sonics" reviewed by Steven Roby


This episode features an interview with Al Chesis from The Delta Sonics. Chesis has played in Colorado since the mid-1980s after moving to Denver from Washington, D.C. He played in the Mojo-Matics for five years, opening shows for Albert Collins, Elvin Bishop, Taj Mahal, Canned Heat, and others.The Delta Sonics music takes a Chicago ...

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Article: Multiple Reviews

Anest, Kendrick, & McKinney: Live at the Blue LLama, Volume 1 & 2

Read "Anest, Kendrick, & McKinney: Live at the Blue LLama, Volume 1 & 2" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan


When it comes to talent, there's no shortage of gifted jazz artists that call Michigan their home. The Jones brothers long ago put Detroit on the map, but water-tight music programs at Michigan State and the University of Michigan have produced a thriving community of vital musicians. On any given evening, there's live jazz to be ...

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Article: From the Inside Out

Color Red Records: A Label, Sound, and Vision

Read "Color Red Records: A Label, Sound, and Vision" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


When Eddie Roberts, leader of The New Mastersounds, moved to Denver, Colorado, in 2015, he discovered a local music scene that contributed to his vision for a new type of music organization: a label that would be more than a label, producing and releasing music that would be more than (good) music--music that would establish a ...

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Article: Album Review

Dorothy Ashby: With Strings Attached, 1957-1965

Read "With Strings Attached, 1957-1965" reviewed by John Chacona


Imagine if Sidney Bechet, Charlie Christian and Jimmy Smith were barely remembered and recordings of their music were long unavailable and known only on the geekiest corners of Discogs. That is essentially the status of harpist Dorothy Ashby. Like the three figures cited above, Ashby essentially created a language for her chosen instrument, the harp, where ...

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Article: Live Review

Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival 2023

Read "Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival 2023" reviewed by R.J. DeLuke


Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Springs, New York June 25-26, 2023 It seems routine over more than four decades to say that “this year's" edition of Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival was a good one. Maybe you said it last year, maybe you'll say it next year.

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Article: Live Review

Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Experience 2023

Read "Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Experience 2023" reviewed by Geoff Anderson


Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Experience Downtown Aspen Aspen, Colorado June 22-24, 2023 Jazz Aspen Snowmass (JAS) has been around as a concept for a few decades now. The format and specific locations have changed over the years, but the basic idea remains the same: go to a beautiful mountain location and ...

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Article: Album Review

Mary Stallings: Songs Were Made to Sing

Read "Songs Were Made to Sing" reviewed by Dave Linn


One of eleven children, Mary Stallings was born in San Francisco in 1939. In her teens, she began singing in San Francisco night clubs and performed with Ben Webster, Earl Hines, Red Mitchell, Teddy Edwards, and Wes Montgomery. Before graduating from high school, she joined R&B singer Louis Jordan's Tympani Five. In the early '60s, she ...

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Article: Building a Jazz Library

Celebrating Don Sebesky, Part 1

Read "Celebrating Don Sebesky, Part 1" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


The passing of composer/arranger Don Sebesky in April 2023, invites a revisitation of his artistry. A Manhattan School of Music-trained trombonist, Sebesky played in the big bands of Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Dorsey and Maynard Ferguson. But by 1960, he found that his true passion was arranging and conducting. For this, he was nominated for ...


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