A Portrait Of Wes Montgomery

 

Bock To Bock

A Portrait Of Wes Montgomery

With The Montgomery Brothers

Strings and Horns Arranged by Gerald Wilson

Arranger: Gerald Wilson

Producer: Richard Bock

Art Direction: Woody Woodward

Design: Gabor Halmos

Illustration: Jim Maxwell

Jazz Milestone Series 

World Pacific Jazz ST 20137

A Product of Liberty Records

1968

Summertime, Falling In Love

Wes Montgomery - Guitar

Monk Montgomery - Bass

Buddy Montgomery - Piano

Pony Poindexter - Alto

Louis Hayes - Drums

Montgomery Funk, Leila, Far Wes, Old Folks

Wes Montgomery - Guitar

Monk Montgomery - Bass

Buddy Montgomery - Piano

Harold Land - Tenor

Tony Bazley - Drums

A Good Get-Together

Wes Montgomery - Guitar

Monk Montgomery - Bass

Pony Poindexter - Alto

Guido Mahoney - Piano

Walter Bolden - Drums

Jon Hendricks - Vocal

Bock To Boc

Wes Montgomery - Guitar

Freddie Hubbard - Trumpet

Buddy Montgomery - Vibes

Monk Montgomery - Fender Bass

Paul Parker - Drums

Joe Bradley - Piano

Fingerpickin'

Wes Montgomery - Guitar

Buddy Montgomery - Vibes

Monk Montgomery - Fender Bass

Paul Parker - Drums

Joe Bradley - Piano

From the inside (gatefold) cover: The performances herein are some of the first that Wes ever put on record, and that fact tells the story that Wes came in acclaim already a mature jazz guitarist, who, like Phineas Newborn and a few others, happened to be born in a city not conveniently near the major recording studios. although the story often goes that many a legendary jazz player lives and dies with no recognition of his talents, with our growing efficiency of communication it is less and less true. Wes Montgomery would surely have made it to records and acclaim someway. The way it did come about is associated with the present recording. Wes' two brothers, Monk and Buddy, formed the nucleus of a group called the Mastersounds and went on the road westward from Indianapolis. Ending up on the coast, they came to the attention of Richard Bock of Pacific Jazz Records, who was instrumental in the Mastersounds' new found success. Shortly after the achieving their initial fame, the brothers began to sing the praises of Wes, still back home in Indiana. Stimulated by their raves concerning Wes, as well as a couple of other unknowns in Indianapolis, Bock invited Monk and Buddy to bring them out for recording date. So, along with Wes came little Freddie Hubbard for his first recording date, and Wayman Atkinson, Alonzo Johnson (tenors), Joe Bradley (pianist), and Paul Parker (drums). Wes, Freddie and Paul Parker have gone on to national and international recognition. But as Jon Hendricks sings in side 1, band 1, it was "A Good Get-Together" in these first recordings.

A family man, quite settled in Indianapolis, and a leader with fine guitar-organ-drum unit, Wes necessarily returned home for awhile before popularity descended on I'm and his star began to rise. But with these recordings, as you will hear, he had already lodged himself in the jazz history books as a distinctive, perhaps the most distinctive, jazz guitarist of all time.

In recent years the poignant sound of We Montgomery's guitar has been almost exclusively housed within the framework of a large orchestra. Thus, with this record, producer Dick Bock has seen fit to have Gerald Wilson create settings of brass and strings to enliven the proceedings. I'm particularly please with the was the brass writing of Wilson toughens the performances and in no way interferes with Wes's work. As a good example hear "Fingerpickin'" where Gerald's "down" precise brass ensemble really lifts thing another step upward. As for the strings, they quite properly lay down a soft undercoating to the quiet ballads, accentuating the sensitiveness of Wes's romanticism with great success.

If the elaboration of these performances by Wilson will assist the non-jazz listener to hear them, the whole thing's worth while. AM car radio listening has become a more pleasurable experience in the recent past with Wes Montgomery's fine sound during forth amid the brass and strings. The present performances are among the things he did best and deserve much attention and exposure. Wes speaks to people an makes them love and relax. If we don't get his frequent antidote to the crazy happenings of the present world as often as possible... no telling where thing will end top – John William Hardy

A Good Get-Together

Fingerpickin'

Old Folks

Bock To Bock

Far Wes

Montgomery Funk

Leila

Falling In Love With Love

Summertime