Wes Montgomery

Wes [John Leslie] Montgomery
(b Indianapolis, IN, 6 March 1923; d Indianapolis, 15 June 1968). American jazz guitarist.

He began to teach himself the guitar about 1943 and was soon playing in local bands. He toured and recorded with Lionel Hampton from 1948 until the beginning of 1950. In 1959 he organized his own trio with organ and drums, and its first recording, The Wes Montgomery Trio, initiated a series of albums for Riverside. These represent Montgomery at his peak, accompanied by the finest rhythm sections available, and brought him belated recognition.

Montgomery worked with John Coltrane in 1961–2. In 1964 his recordings began to make use of string orchestras and large jazz bands. Though unrepresentative of his talents, these considerably broadened his audience; his rendition of Goin’ out of my Head (1965, Verve) won a Grammy Award, and A Day in the Life (1967, A&M) was the best-selling jazz LP of 1967. In live performances, however, Montgomery continued to appear in small groups, notably with the Wynton Kelly Trio and in a quintet that included his brothers Monk (double bass) and Buddy (piano and vibraphone). He died unexpectedly at the height of his career.

Critics generally consider Montgomery the most important and influential jazz guitarist after Charlie Christian. Like Christian, whose recorded solos he memorized in his youth, Montgomery invented perfectly shaped phrases with tremendous rhythmic drive. But he also took advantage of contemporary developments in jazz harmony and melody, as well as improvements in the construction of electric guitars, to create an individual style. Instead of a plectrum he used his thumb for various kinds of strumming, achieving a softer attack and leaving his fingers free to pluck octaves and chordal passages. His mastery of technique created a sensation among younger guitarists, and the playing of octaves, in particular, became a trademark of the Montgomery style.

Montgomery tended to build his solos from melodies in single notes to octave passages and finally to chords. He had a highly original melodic imagination and, at his best, constantly produced refreshing ideas that broke off unexpectedly. Even when he paraphrased a melody he managed to invest it with rhythmic excitement. Montgomery’s playing abounded in subtle embellishments, deep blues sentiment and a highly expressive use of portamento, tremolo and other effects. In his sincere, unsensational way, he expanded the resources of the jazz guitar, and his influence has been acknowledged by many later guitarists. Two volumes containing transcriptions of Montgomery’s solos have been published.