Wes Montgomery
Born: March 6, 1923
Died: June 15, 1968
in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Died: June 15, 1968
in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Montgomery often worked with his brothers Buddy (Charles F.) and Monk (William H.) and with organist Melvin Rhyne. His recordings up to 1965 were oriented towards hard bop, soul jazz, and post bop, but around 1965 he began recording more pop-oriented instrumental albums that found mainstream success. His later guitar style influenced jazz fusion and smooth jazz.
Montgomery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. According to NPR, the nickname "Wes" was a child's abbreviation of his middle name, Leslie. The family was large, and the parents split up early in the lives of the children. Montgomery and his brothers moved to Columbus, Ohio, with their father and attended Champion High School. His older brother Monk dropped out of school to sell coal and ice, gradually saving enough money to buy Wes a four-string tenor guitar from a pawn shop in 1935. Although Montgomery spent many hours playing that guitar, he dismissed its usefulness, saying he had to start over when he got his first six-string several years later.
He and his brothers returned to Indianapolis. By 1943, Montgomery found work as a welder and got married. At a dance with his wife, he heard a Charlie Christian record for the first time. This motivated him to buy a six-string guitar the next day. For nearly a year, night and day, he tried to imitate Christian and teach himself the guitar. Although he hadn't intended to become a musician, he felt obligated to learn after buying the guitar. He received no formal instruction and couldn't read music. By the age of twenty, he was performing in clubs in Indianapolis at night, copying Christian's solos, while working during the day at a milk company. In 1948, when Lionel Hampton was on tour in Indianapolis, he was looking for a guitarist, and after hearing Montgomery play like Christian he hired him.
He worked as a welder during the day to support his wife and seven children, then performed at two clubs at night until well into the morning. He was a smoker who had blackouts while trying to maintain this busy schedule. During one performance, the audience included Cannonball Adderley, George Shearing, and Lennie Tristano. Adderley was so impressed by Montgomery's guitar playing that he persuaded Orrin Keepnews to sign him to Riverside. Keepnews was also persuaded by a gushing review written by Gunther Schuller. In New York City Montgomery recorded A Dynamic New Sound, the Wes Montgomery Trio, his first album as a leader after twenty years as a musician. In 1960, he recorded The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery with Tommy Flanagan, Percy Heath, and Albert Heath.
Montgomery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. According to NPR, the nickname "Wes" was a child's abbreviation of his middle name, Leslie. The family was large, and the parents split up early in the lives of the children. Montgomery and his brothers moved to Columbus, Ohio, with their father and attended Champion High School. His older brother Monk dropped out of school to sell coal and ice, gradually saving enough money to buy Wes a four-string tenor guitar from a pawn shop in 1935. Although Montgomery spent many hours playing that guitar, he dismissed its usefulness, saying he had to start over when he got his first six-string several years later.
He and his brothers returned to Indianapolis. By 1943, Montgomery found work as a welder and got married. At a dance with his wife, he heard a Charlie Christian record for the first time. This motivated him to buy a six-string guitar the next day. For nearly a year, night and day, he tried to imitate Christian and teach himself the guitar. Although he hadn't intended to become a musician, he felt obligated to learn after buying the guitar. He received no formal instruction and couldn't read music. By the age of twenty, he was performing in clubs in Indianapolis at night, copying Christian's solos, while working during the day at a milk company. In 1948, when Lionel Hampton was on tour in Indianapolis, he was looking for a guitarist, and after hearing Montgomery play like Christian he hired him.
He worked as a welder during the day to support his wife and seven children, then performed at two clubs at night until well into the morning. He was a smoker who had blackouts while trying to maintain this busy schedule. During one performance, the audience included Cannonball Adderley, George Shearing, and Lennie Tristano. Adderley was so impressed by Montgomery's guitar playing that he persuaded Orrin Keepnews to sign him to Riverside. Keepnews was also persuaded by a gushing review written by Gunther Schuller. In New York City Montgomery recorded A Dynamic New Sound, the Wes Montgomery Trio, his first album as a leader after twenty years as a musician. In 1960, he recorded The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery with Tommy Flanagan, Percy Heath, and Albert Heath.
Movies for Wes Montgomery...
Title: Wes Bound: The Genius of Wes Montgomery
Character: Himself (archive footage)
Released: February 26, 2023
Type: Movie
Discover the story of a legendary jazz guitarist and composer from Indiana. Wes Montgomery was born in Indianapolis on March 6, 1923, and rose from humble beginnings to become one of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time. This first full-length documentary of Wes Montgomery is told through the eyes of his youngest child, Robert Montgomery.
Title: Wes Montgomery: The NDR Hamburg Studio Recordings
Released: March 19, 2021
Type: Movie
The Rehersal - Recorded April 28, 1965 at NDR Studio 10, Hamburg
01. Blue Grass
02. On Green Dolphin Street
03. Blue Monk
04. Last of the Wine
05. West Coast Blues
Title: Wes Montgomery - Twisted Blues
Character: : Guitar
Released: November 19, 2007
Type: Movie
Title: Jazz Icons: Wes Montgomery Live in '65
Character: guitar
Released: September 1, 2007
Type: Movie
Wes Montgomery shines a light on one of the most unique and influential guitarists in music history. These beautifully filmed programs from the spring of 1965 feature Wes, in intimate studio settings, leading three different lineups through some of his best-known tunes, including "Four On Six", "Jingles" and "West Coast Blues". This rare footage, complete with rehearsals, between-song banter and closeup camera angles, illuminates We's extraordinary musical vocabulary and unconventional picking technique. An in-depth, song-by-song analysis by legendary jazz guitarist Pat Metheny makes this DVD a guitar lover's dream.
Title: The Wes Montgomery Quartet - BBC "Jazz 625" + 5
Character: Himself
Released: March 25, 1965
Type: Movie
Title: The Mike Douglas Show
Character: Self
Released: December 11, 1961
Type: TV
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
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