Track Listing

1. Movin' Wes, Pt. 1
2. Movin' Wes, Pt. 2
3. Bumpin' on Sunset
4. Green Peppers
5. O.G.D. (aka Road Song)
6. In and Out
7. Impressions
8. 13 (Death March)
9. Thumb
10. Boss City
11. Sunny
12. Mr. Walker
13. Bumpin'
14. Willow Weep for Me
15. Tequila
16. Night Train

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48238 in Music
• Released on: 1996-01-30
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

Fantastic Stuff All around! Great for a jazz guitar newbie!
I always knew who Wes Montgomery was, but I've only VERY recently garnered an interest in jazz music.

So this, by pure random chance, was the first CD of his music that I've purchased. I admit it--the cover attracted me, that and I knew Verve was a reputable outfit.

The liner notes give a brief history of Mr. Montgomery and his style of playing, along with some quotes from people who played with him. For example, I learned that he played with his thumb, which many attribute as one of the reasons for his unique sound. Its a very warm, mellow tone. Great stuff.

The songs are all pretty much "groovin"--upbeat, uptempo, almost swinging stuff. The longer ones are the better ones in my opinion, as they show Mr. Montgomery's ablility to follow a great journey within one song--he takes you from point A to point Z and you love the whole trip.

In short, most of you looking for this kind of music already know what you want. But neophytes such as myself can truly enjoy such a fine album as this--and of course its made me want to buy more Verve CD's, and more of Wes M.

Wes is Wes, w/or w/o an orchestra
This cd borrows from a number of Wes Montgomery releases over the years, and yes, many of his contemporaries were annoyed that he hooked up with Creed taylor and Don Sebesky, his guitar is still all his own and well respected.
That said, there are a number of tracks here that do not have 'big band' or orchestral background accompaniments: "OGD", "In and Out", "The Thumb",
"Willow weep for me", but the best tracks have subtle string accompaniments: "Bumpin" is ultra-cool, signature Wes Montgomery. If for no ther reason, this track and "OGD" is worth buying the disc for. Buy a used copy for less and always have the 'full' musical content vs. d/loaded, lossy mp3s.

Just another collection
Yet another collection of Wes Montgomery. This one is oddly presented as a forerunner to acid jazz.

It is unfortunate that much of Wes Montgomery's recording was done at time when some record producers thought jazz had to be orchestrated in order to sell. What you get is an orchestra with a featured jazz soloist. That is unfortunate, because no matter how good the soloist is, the recording is about the orchestra, the orchestration or, in the case of Don Sebesky, the arranger.

This recording features Wes with orchestras headed by Sebesky and jazz man Oliver Nelson. Both groups include top-flight jazz talent. With Nelson you get a much better feel for the music. But it's still about the orchestration. There are a precious few cuts on this CD from Wes Montgomery in a small group.

Jazz in a large ensemble can be enjoyable, it can swing and groove. This CD is a fine example. But if you enjoy jazz and are interested in Wes Montgomery ignore the collections, check out "Smokin at the Half Note". It's a great recording, minor classic in it's way, and shows Montgomery at his best.