In July 1948, Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra was on tour throughout America. Touring with them was a younger 25-year-old guitarist who was starting to make a reputation for himself. The guitarist’s title was John Leslie Montgomery, who was identified to everybody as Wes. (There was additionally one other jazz musician of be aware within the band’s rhythm part. A bass participant named Charles Mingus.) The Hampton Orchestra was heard frequently on radio on the time, on stations as far aside as Denver, Colorado; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Geneva, New York.
For the subsequent few years, Montgomery stayed with Hampton, till the guitarist returned residence to Indianapolis to assist his younger, rising, household. He and his two brothers, Buddy, a pianist, and Monk, who performed Fender Jazz Bass, started performing collectively because the Montgomery Brothers. On October 1, 1959, the three brothers recorded because the Wes Montgomery Quintet for Pacific Jazz. 4 days later, on October 5, Wes was at Reeves Sound Studios, New York, recording what can be his first album as a trio, together with Paul Parker on drums and Mel Rhyne on organ. Billed as The Wes Montgomery Trio, the session was launched by Riverside a number of months later.
Whereas some have questioned the accompaniment of Parker and Rhyne, there is no such thing as a questioning Wes’s wonderful virtuosity on the guitar. Singlehandedly, he reinvented the guitar solo. On Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight,” the LP’s opening quantity, his taking part in is kind of extraordinary; it sounds a lot later than a 1959 recording. Equally, his tackle Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll” presents one thing altogether contemporary and totally different, as he additionally does on Horace Silver’s “Ecaroh.” Different standouts embrace “Yesterdays” and Montgomery’s personal composition, “Jingles.”
Even when you’re a fan, The Wes Montgomery Trio could have handed you by. It’s worthy of your reconsideration, for that is the fountainhead from which every part follows .
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