Customer Reviews

Movin Wes

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album contains some fine understated guitar work from Wes - He doesn't get the long extended solos of some of his more traditional jazz albums - nevertheless, one gets a magnified look at his approach as he sounds very relaxed against the Creed Taylor arrangements. Wes has the distinction of being one of the few instrumentalists who aren't ruined by this more commercial setting - Charlie Parker is one of the other immortals who strangeley benefitted from orchestration. I am blown away by Wes' octave and chordal work on this as well as some single line play on 'Caravan'. He is the envy of all guitarists!

Wes' playing is always great. The problem with this album is the songs and the arrangements.

Wes shines when he has a great composition to work from. The middle 5 or so cuts on this CD are not impressive compositions, and the brass-heavy big band arrangements border on the kind of camp we heard in Quincy Jones' Soul Bossa Nova for the Austin Powers movies -- but Movin' Wes is cheese without the wink and the nudge. I confess a weakness for Maynard Ferguson's 1970's work, which some might consider cheesy, but I still think it was classier than this stuff. Movin' Wes I and II, Matchmaker, Matchmaker -- I could do without those.

At the beginning and end of the CD, the arrangements (by Johnny Pate) are more appropriate, the songs are better -- it is four or five star material. Caravan really jumps with big band brass, and I defy anybody to stop their toes from tapping. It is only 2 1/2 minutes, but what a blast! Jule Styne's People is a beautiful slow cut, and Wes makes the most of it. The last four songs are a return to the quality of the first two. Making, as I said, a cheese sandwich.

I have nothing against a jazz artist doing a pop record. Is Getz/Gilberto less of a masterpiece simply because it is easy to take, and it sold a zillion copies? Of course not. Wes' later album Tequila is also an excellent easy listening jazz record, but the songs and arrangements are more consistent than Movin' Wes. (I believe Tequila was arranged by Claus Ogerman.)

Movin' Wes would have made a good Extended Play album. Skip the middle, and you've got a very nice, but very short record.

This is a good CD by the late Wes Montgomery. I fully expected it not to be his signature guitar Jazz that he had become famous for, so I was not dissapointed. The titles of the songs on this CD are "Pop" originated and so I knew this wouldn't be purely jazz. However, I was happily suprized by Wes Montgomery's renditions of the songs from "People" to "Born to Be Blue" are suprizingly well done. No, they may not be enjoyed by Jazz purists but as with all Wes Montgomery's work, they are enjoyable to listen to, and his renditions have great improvisation that is backed nicely with a small orchestra. All fans of Wes Montgomery will not be dissapointed with this CD, which was remastered very nicely. Recommended!

Lets face it. Wes was one unique guitarist/musician, maybe even a genius. On this venture he is featured with some wonderful brass backing creating a colorful palette of sound. His blistering solo in "Caravan", to the subtle chord melody of "People", and the fantastic interpretation of "West Coast Blues",this album provides some interesting and creative outlets. Sure people will argue and suggest his straight ahead jazz records, but this album has a special atmosphere to it. It was recorded well, has great moments on every track,and even has great packaging to.( I love the venetian cutaway Gibson L-5 he is carrying on the cover!) I recommend this to seasoned Wes fans, and for new fans as well.

I have to tell you, I prefer Wes without a whole lot of strings, and orchestration. Most people would consider this "Put you on hold" music or shopping mall muzak, and I realize its not for everyone. Alot of the songs I found on here, I liked, even with the orchestration. I very much feel that Wes' arrangements when strings or background orchestration are added have to be extremely well thought out and blended. On other albums, I noticed Don Sebesky had arranged them and its all up to the individual taste. "California Dreamin", "A Day in the Life", and "Road Song" had their own feel and it all depends on whether you like this feel. I prefer listening to the original LP over the CD of this because I like the original pressing. I feel alot of the sound gets lost but there is still alot to be desired from this recording. He has some good bossas, and other softer rhythms that are relaxing and melodic; "Born To Be Blue" and "Movin Wes", part 1 & 2 are some of my favorite pieces.

This recording is Wes Montgomery's first big band outing. This record was a milestone for Wes in many ways and showcases him in top form. The problem I have with some of these reviews on here is that as usual, they don't know what they're talking about and think because they have an opinion, which is not based on facts, or history, it should be considered valid. It's usually biased towards their own likes and dislikes, and lacks the experience to even know what they're listening to or for, which makes it totally about THEM and not about the artist and the music. The reviews often use blanket terms like "cheesy", "pop", and, "commercial" to make the recordings appear less valid than other recordings. What the heck does "cheesy" even mean? Not understanding what skills an artist and arranger has to have in order to make recordings such as this one, does a disservice to the artist, arranger, and the educated listeners who know the music, has seen the musicians, and understands the process. To suggest the compositions on this recording are inferior shows no knowledge of the composers, their works, or history, and that's just the first inaccurate bias. There are four songs written by Montgomery, one written by the great jazz pianist and jazz historian, Dr. Billy Taylor. "Caravan" and "Born To Be Blue" are old jazz standards, "Moca Flor" and "Senza Fine" are Brazilian standards, and "People" and "Matchmaker" are from two different famous theater plays. Jazz musicians have ALWAYS recorded songs from plays, not because of the play, but because of a song in it that they like. When people on the web write these reviews, they seem to think that they know as much about the music an artist chooses to record than the artists themselves. What arrogance; how something an artist considers to be beautiful, yet challenging can be so easily dismissed by these people with such disregard for the artist's own experience and musical expertise is just astonishing. If you like Wes Montgomery, wouldn't it be respectful to do some research on him before you go around trashing his recordings because they're not what YOU think they should be? How egotistical is that? Montgomery came up in the big band era, and his first traveling job was with Lionel Hampton. Wes' main influence, Charlie Christian, made major recordings with Benny Goodman's big band and Wes' love for big bands stems from those experiences. So it's only logical that he would devote many recordings to a big band setting because this is the style that helped to shape his concept of jazz guitar. What most people don't understand is that it takes a special skill to know how play with and fire up a big band. This is a skill that has been lost by jazz guitarists in the last 35 plus years. As far as the arranger Johhny Pate, this man's credentials far outweigh the uneducated opinion of one reviewer who accuses Mr. Pate's arrangements of being "cheesy", especially for 1965. If one were REALLY listening with experienced ears, they would hear the harmonically advanced band voicings being used throughout the recording. Another thing to pay attention to is the way Mr. Pate included the use of a tuba in his orchestrations. "Movin' Wes" was the first recording to showcase the many different sides of Wes' musical personality and his mastery of playing in a big band setting. It was Montgomery's big band experience that made this recording possible, and why you hear his familiar guitar sound soaring over the top of the band. People need to realize that to an artist, their recordings are like their children. You can't compare them to each other and say this one is better than that one. Being their parent, you know they are all different, and each have something unique to say, but you are still proud of them all. This is not to say that you as a listener have to like everything any artist does, but please have enough respect for that person's work to refrain from going online to criticize them as if you know more about their music than they do. THEY'RE the artist, not YOU. This is a landmark recording for Wes Montgomery, and like it or not, it is part of history. The people who know about him understands this, it's up to the uniformed listeners to find out what they are missing, and fill in the blanks.

The guitar playing is some of his most beautiful and mature. It's amazing. And the cheeziness? I actually like it now. It's totally worth it, but I can see where some wouldn't like the arrangements. The orchestra is very good though.

Together with Tequila, this is Wes's best Verve album and his Verve albums are loads better than the 'purist' stuff he released on Riverside! To me, talking of purism in jazz is a contradiction in itself - jazz has always been integrative. On this record, Wes presents a collection of perfectly played guitar sounds in a bigband context. Listen, for example, to the perfectly arranged 'Born to be blue' or to the Latin passion of Wovin' Wes parts I and II. An excellent introduction to the music of t h e classical jazz guitarist.

Recorded in late 1964 for Verve, this effort brought Wes Montgomery the backing of three trumpets, four trombones, two tubas, plus piano, bass, drums and percussion. Quite a bit different than his small-group work on the Riverside label. While I like the Riverside release "The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery" better than this CD, this one grew on me with each listen. Producer Creed Taylor deliberately tried for a sound that could make Wes and Verve some money, and largely succeeded. Wes made some later Verve recordings which sold even better than this one, but he died less than four years after these tracks were laid down. If jazz-flavored instrumental pop music is your bag, you will love this.

A superb Verve/Creed Taylor recording first produced in 1965.

Much has been said of the so-called 'selling out' of jazzists--Wes was a hard-bopper, originally--and this was to have been his white washing or sell out album. That whole labeling thing, of course, is a bunch of B.S. Even hip hoppers would not mind being accompanied by a full orchestra and rhythm section. This is Wes' first with Verve, accompanied by an orchestra arranged and conducted by the great Johnny Pate: the recording was engineered by Phil Ramone and Creed Taylor.

"Theodora" is pure heaven, and "Born to Be Blue" is simply perfect. But I'm quite sure you'll find favorites among the nice selection presented here....La Barb's "People", Wes' "Moving Wes". The CD is like I said. Excellent, per-i-od.

In the liner notes by Gene Lees, he tells how Wes developed his style of playing. It is said he had an epiphany one day after listening to a Charlie Christian record. So much so that he went out and purchased a guitar and amp post haste and proceeded to strum the darn thing. He solicited the aid of a buddy to show him some chords and he commenced to playing--loudly, clumsily--with the aid of a guitar pick. His wife, being the person that she was, did not share in the epiphany and did not want Wes to be making that noise in the living room. Can you imagine that? So she requested that he move elsewhere in the house. He finds a corner and He plays some more. Nope--still too loud for the lady of the house. So, he turns the amp down a little. Nope, still too loud. So, he turns the amp down a lil more, gets rid of the pick and finds that thumb strumming style we hear in all his recordings. Talk about epiphany!

His wife finally, FINALLY approves and the rest is, as they say, history.

Thank God for that because the next step for ol' Wes may have been out on the curb with nothing but a guitar, an amp and a guitar pick...and no electricity! And we probably would have missed out of his greatness...

So, the moral of the story is, always, always give your spouse one more chance, even if it is hard on the ears....