Customer Reviews

Wes Montgomery

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

 

 

I liked the bio of Wes Montgomery by Adrian Ingram. I have been listening to Wes since the age of 13, (1965), and he is definitely one of the reasons I've played guitar for the past 40+ years. Ingram's take on Wes fills in many spaces about his life and career. The format of the book is kind of mix and match... but it still delivers on quantity of info. The pictures are few and the quality sometimes lacking, but for sheer bang for your buck this book is a Wes lovefest! I already knew a lot about the music of Montgomery, Ingram shares info about his origins that you don't find in most sources. The discography, instrument/amp info, insider stuff on the recording sessions all give this book a unique view of Wes. I recommend this to anyone who wants tolearn more about the man and his music. I don't think the definitive book about him has been written yet. How about a bio-pic ala Ray?

Ingram made a very hard work to bring all Wes' fans a in-deep sight of wes' life and career. Here you can find the entire discography (very precise) of a great jazz guitarist.
This book gave me the opportunity to buy only the right cds, leaving out all commercial collections. Not many photos, but good ones.

There's simply not a lot of info out there about Wes. The book does a better job than any I've found at giving information about Wes's upbringing, his life, and especially his rig. I would say only get this book if you're a die-hard Wes fan. Otherwise, you'd be better off with a coffee table book or something with big pictures and the same information that you can find on Wikipedia.

Okay, mr. Ingram loves Wes and his music, that much is clear. And it is good to know how this guitar giant lived his (much to) short live. I like the kind way Ingram describes the period of Wes's life when he sold his soul to commerce. At least that is the way the 'real' jazz connoisseurs think of it. Ingram's story puts this perod in a different perspective. What I don't like is the flimsy looks of this book: poor type, poor print and very poor illustrations. Pitty, this could have been a good book.

This book was a let down for me. The print quality was poor and as biography books go this was the worst I have ever read. This book has no depth and leaves you unsatisfied after reading it. A very quick read. You
can read the whole book in less than two hours. A great guitarist like Wes Montgomery desires a decent biography on his life. Not this shallow attempt. A couple good pictures of Wes though.