Wes Montgomery - Heres That Rainy Day https://youtube/watch?v=-iVgONy8kMY John Leslie Wes Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968)[1] was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Bobby Broom, Royce Campbell, Grant Green, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Howe, Russell Malone, Pat Martino, Pat Metheny, Lee Ritenour, Joe Diorio, Tuck Andress, David Becker, Randy Napoleon, and Emily Remler. Montgomery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. According to NPR Jazz Profiles The Life and Music Of Wes Montgomery, the nickname Wes was a childs abbreviation of his middle name, Leslie. He came from a musical family; his brothers, Monk (double bass and electric bass) and Buddy (vibraphone and piano), were jazz performers. The brothers released a number of albums together as the Montgomery Brothers. Although he was not skilled at reading music, he could learn complex melodies and riffs by ear. Montgomery started learning the six string guitar at the relatively late age of 20 by listening to and learning the recordings of his idol, guitarist Charlie Christian; however, he had played a four string tenor guitar since age twelve. He was known for his ability to play Christians solos note for note and was hired by Lionel Hampton for this ability. Following the early work of swing/pre-bop guitarist Charlie Christian and gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Wes joined Tal Farlow, Johnny Smith, Jimmy Raney, and Barney Kessell to put guitar on the map as a bebop / post-bop instrument. While these men generally curtailed their own output in the 1960s, Montgomery recorded prolifically during this period, lending guitar to the same tunes contemporaries like John Coltrane and Miles Davis were recording. To many, Montgomerys playing defines jazz guitar and the sound that students try to emulate. Jazz Guitarist Bobby Broom, in a video history of Montgomerys impact on musicians and guitarists in Jazz, notes: Much has been made of the year 1959 in the history of Jazz music. Its been called its most prolific year. Its been called the year Jazz died... One figure that is grossly ignored... is the iconic Wes Montgomery, the Jazz guitarist from Indianapolis who emerged in 1959 with his first trio record... The name of the record was A Dynamic New Sound. It ushered in a figure that became one of the most celebrated, if not the most celebrated, on the instrument in Jazz music. Wes introduced a brand new approach to playing the guitar. Techniques that were really unexplored before him. The octave technique... and his chord melody and chord soloing playing still is today unmatched, and definitely a revelation to Jazz guitar playing. On the morning of June 15, 1968, while at home in Indianapolis, Indiana, Montgomery awoke and remarked to his wife that he didnt feel very well. He soon collapsed, dying of a heart attack within minutes. Only 45 years old at the time of his death, Montgomery had just returned from a tour with his quintet and was at the height of his fame, having attained a degree of popular acceptance that few jazz artists in that era achieved.[9] Montgomerys home town of Indianapolis later named a park in his honor.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 01:52:33 +0000
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