Customer Reviews

Impressions: Verve Jazz Sides

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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First, I must say that this 2cd set is the absolute best introduction for anyone interested in traditional jazz guitar itself or Wes Montgomery, one of its greatest practitioners.

This 2cd set contains all of the album "Smokin' at the Half Note" (on disc #2) which is, in my opinion, the best live Wes Montgomery album. It also contains bonus tracks from that session, which are NOT available on the single cd, or anywhere else to my knowledge.

In addition, the first disc contains a varied sampling of Wes Montgomery's studio recordings on the Verve label. Some people contend that many of Wes' studio recordings went somewhat commercial during his Verve period and are therfore not quite as good as his earlier recordings.

I agree.

But, his studio recordings, even in this period, are not bad at all, and in fact, the ones offered in this set are quite good. The first disc offers a sampling of small group recordings and big band recordings, all of which are very good and offer some of the best from this period.

I belive Wes' earlier Riverside recordings are his best "straight ahead" jazz recordings overall, but the selections on the first disc of this set are really the best of his later studio recordings. They're definitely worth a listen, and I really feel it offers the very best selection of Wes' Verve studio recordings.

But, again, the jewel of this set is disc #2. On this disc you get ALL of Wes' best live album "Smokin' at the Half Note", AND you get quite a few great bonus cuts from this live session. Particularly great is the short but smokin' version of John Coltrane's "Impressions", not available on other releases.

I've been a fan of Wes for a few years now, and I can thoroughly recommend this 2cd set to anyone interested in checking out this great guitarist. I'm also a guitarist myself and have been influenced by Wes quite a bit. I have a webpage of my own where you can hear a ballad influenced by Wes Montgomery's version of "Polka Dots and Moonbeams", played in Wes' key.

Sorry for what probably seems like a shameless plug, but I hope it will help people realize that I know what I'm talking about and care what I'm talking about when I say, this is the set you want to get if you really want to hear some great Wes Montgomery.

If you wind up loving this set as I do, then you'd want to also try some of Wes Montgomery's Riverside recordings. Or, if you wind up REALLY loving it, you might want to make a commitment to the 12cd Riverside box set.

In any case, get this 2cd set and get into Wes. You will not regret it.

Josh

Despite Wes's extraordinary abilities, his recordings are somewhat inconsistent; in particular, his later albums were more pop than jazz, and largely obscured his genius. Wes recorded both jazz and pop records for Verve, and on this collection they wisely acknowledge the difference, assembling his best jazz work for them on on extremely well thought-out and organized collection, the best one I know of; this is the one I make all my students get. If you like this and want more, work backwards to his Riverside titles, such as Introducing Wes Montgomery, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of... (anything with organ on it smokes) and avoid the recordings with pop tunes and slick orchestras (later Verve, anything on A&M).

Wes Montgomery had one very good reason for letting Verve move him toward a more orchestral pop delivery of jazz beginning in 1964: he had a sizeable family to feed and, like it or not, pure jazz just didn't pay the bills any longer. That didn't prevent him from producing some incandescent music regardless, if only because his playing style was so complete, so personal, and so incapable of shunting emotion to the side, that he transcended the sometimes syrupy arrangements through which he had to navigate. In the end, he really didn't compromise too much of his soul, and if you consider just how sappy most of what came to be called MOR (middle of the road) in the mid-1960s had already been, Montgomery's odd union of MOR and jazz was really a refreshment.

Still, Verve didn't imprison him entirely - Montgomery got plentiful chances to blow, and blow he could and did. And here's the prime samplings of those blowings in the Verve/A & M years in one very powerful introduction. (You'll be tempted, once you've been hit between the eyes by the bristling lyricism with which he attacks "Caravan," to seek out the album from whence it came, the broodingly joyous "Movin' Wes".) The real treat: the complete recordings from the dates with the Wynton Kelly Trio that produced the remarkable "Smokin' At The Half Note". Montgomery and the Kelly unit play as though they were made for each other, the rhythm section almost galloping their way through the sets as Montgomery and Kelly play like a pair of long-lost soul brothers. If you're new to Wes Montgomery, here is a terrific place to begin. And once you do, don't be afraid to spend the money you're likely to spend on getting your hands on every one of his regulation albums. When Ralph J. Gleason said, memorably, "Make no mistake - Wes Montgomery is the best guitarist since Charlie Christian," he was proving himself the master of understatement. He wasn't just the best guitarist ever to hit jazz, he was the most pleasurable to listen to, not least of which reasons include the critical one: this man NEVER forgot the blues.

If you are new to the world of Wes Montgomery--or jazz guitar in general--then this is a good one to start with. This covers a broad range of his work, and clearly illustrates why he was arguably the single most influential jazz guitarist of the latter half of the 20th century.

...listen to Wes Montgomery."

Frank Zappa fans will recognize that famous quote, and he was right. I'd add Joe Pass, Les Paul, Chet Atkins and Kenny Burrell to the list, but if you want to learn how to play the guitar...or simply listen to it for enjoyment...this is an absolutely essential purchase.

Wes popularized the "octaves" playing style..."the harmonic combination of two tones an octave apart," if you'd like the short and sweet Merriam-Webster definition. It gave his playing a distinctive ring, a depth, that has been so widely imitated that if you've never heard his playing before, you might be shocked to realize how many players, both skilled and unskilled, took his pioneering approach and ran with it. In every genre of music, all roads eventually lead back to a handful of supremely gifted players...like Wes.

There were "traditional" periods in Montgomery's career, and there were "commercial" periods. The commercial stuff obviously sold well...that's why it could be called "commercial"...but jazz purists weren't that pleased. The flip side of that is that most consumers of music who are not jazz purists really don't care what jazz purists think...they just listen to music they like and don't fret over the labels. Look at the heat Miles Davis took for being a musical chameleon from 1955-1975, his peak Columbia years, which began with Round About Midnight and ended with Get Up With It...can you imagine what his music would have sounded like if he'd simply stood still for two decades? And don't even get me started with John Coltrane...

:-)

That said, this album features Wes in one of his peak and most popular periods, but it should not be the one and only Montgomery album you own.

The fact that this contains the full Smokin at the Half Note album as Disc 2...one of the single greatest live jazz albums released, period...plus a full first disc of prime Verve studio tracks, makes it a perfect gift for the Wes-less jazz lover on your list, as well as yourself. While there are ballads like "If You Could See Me Now," "Oh, You Crazy Moon" and the immortal, sublime "Misty," the music primarily swings, and in what seems like an effortless way at the hands of a master.

Few albums come close to perfect, but this is one of them. Five stars all the way. Music for late nights, rainy afternoons, or driving along the coast on a sunny day...let Wes be your soundtrack.

Pat Metheny calls this "the absolute greatest jazz guitar album ever made". And that's enough for me! Smokin' at the Half Note

i have a collection of 400 jazz albums and i listen to this one about three times per week-you will love it

If you are a jazz fan then you cannot go wrong here.
Most often, jazz cds have only a few good tracks,but there are no poor tracks on this CD.
This is Wes in a big band setting.
The whole band combination just gels.

If you already have " the incredible jazz guitar of Wes" then this is your next CD.

I take exception to those who say, "his later albums are more pop than jazz and therefore, not as good."

I take exception for 3 reasons: 1) these so called "pop" albums introduced Montgomery to a wider audience, many ignorant of anything resembling "jazz," 2) they demonstrate the resourcefulness and brilliance of Montgomery by showing what can be done with a mediocre tune, 3) there is no need to compare them with anything else, they are simply good in and of themselves.

Believe it or not, some of Montgomery's songs are a bit esoteric to the average listener. Take WEST COAST BLUES for example. It's not an easy song to whistle or hum or dance to. In other words, you have to get used to it before you can begin to appreciate it. In fact, that goes for anyone. Anyone that says he "loved WEST CLOAST BLUES the first time he heard it" is lying. So all you experts out there, get off your high horse and admit that at one time, you too, were not a Montgomery fan and you too, had to learn about this music, and that a little watering down is not necessarily a bad thing, because it might cause someone who is not currently a Montgomery fan to investigate further.