Hislop Montgomery

'Wes's Best: The Best of Wes Montgomery on Resonance' explores five of the guitar legend Wes Montgomery's official releases of previously-unissued recordings on Resonance - Echoes of Indiana Avenue (2012), In the Beginning (2015), One Night in Indy (2016), Smokin' in Seattle (2017) and Back on Indiana Avenue (2019).

This live set is notable for teaming guitarist Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio (comprised of pianist Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb) with the fiery tenor of Johnny Griffin. Six selections (highlighted by "Blue 'n' Boogie" and Montgomery's "S.O.S.") are augmented by "Born to Be Blue" and a pair of alternate takes.

This live set is notable for teaming guitarist Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio (comprised of pianist Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb) with the fiery tenor of Johnny Griffin. As with the OJC release, six selections (highlighted by "Blue 'n' Boogie" and Montgomery's "S.O.S.") are augmented by "Born to Be Blue" and a pair of alternate takes.

Shortly after Wes Montgomery's shockingly early death, Verve rummaged around in the vaults and came up with some additional tapes from the live Smokin' at the Half Note sessions with the Kind of Blue rhythm section, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. And then after-the-fact producer Esmond Edwards did a controversial thing - he commissioned Claus Ogerman, the arranger on Tequila, to overdub wind and brass arrangements on four tracks: the title tune, "Portrait of Jennie," "Oh! You Crazy Moon," and "Misty." The critics promptly pounced on Verve, NARAS responded by giving the album a Grammy, and the whole issue became moot when subsequent reissues of the four tracks erased the new backing charts…

Creed Taylor matched two of his most famous artists, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith, on this session (Montgomery's last for Verve), and the results are incendiary - a near-ideal meeting of yin and yang. Smith comes at your throat with his big attacks and blues runs while Montgomery responds with rounder, smoother octaves and single notes that still convey much heat. They are an amazing pair, complementing each other, driving each other, using their bop and blues taproots to fuse together a sound. The romping, aggressive big band charts - Oliver Nelson at his best - on "Down by the Riverside" and "Night Train," and the pungently haunting chart for Gary McFarland's "13" (Death March)" still leave plenty of room for the soloists to stretch out. "James and Wes" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" include drummer Grady Tate and conguero Ray Barretto, with Smith's own feet working the organ pedals…

Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes picks up where Dynamic Duo left off, digging a little further into the one-time-only Wes Montgomery/Jimmy Smith sessions and coming up with more fine music – mellower in general than Dynamic Duo but first-class nonetheless…

Taking the listener on a smoother, rather than bumpier, ride down the moonlight highway of jazz is Wes Montgomery, a chief architect of the world's guitar virtuoso scene. Not only is his brilliant command of the six-string present here, so is the vivid color tones of notes and blue notes played between…

Guitarist Wes Montgomery had a hit with this version of "Goin' Out of My Head" but musically it is little more than a pleasant melody statement. Accompanied by a wasted all-star big band given dull arrangements by Oliver Nelson, Montgomery mostly sticks to playing themes, even those as dull as "Chim Chim Cheree" and "It Was a Very Good Year." Recordings like this one disheartened the jazz world but made him a household name and a staple on AM radio…

This fill-in-the-gaps compilation of early-'60s sessions includes six tracks (two of them alternate takes) that were previously only available on the box set The Complete Riverside Recordings, and three previously unissued alternate takes from the performance that yielded the 1961 live album The Montgomery Brothers in Canada. Even with just nine tracks, Montgomery is heard in a variety of contexts: the ballad "If I Should Lose You" performed by the Montgomery Brothers (an alternate take), the 1962 live version of "S.O.S." with Johnny Griffin and Miles Davis' 1959-62 rhythm section (another alternate take), four 1963 songs with organist Melvin Rhyne, and the three unreleased 1961 Montgomery Brothers cuts (two of which are different versions of "Stella By Starlight") with vibraphonist Buddy Montgomery…