Fear kept him from flying with the rest of the band, so he drove from city to city, town to town, while musicians marveled at his stamina. At a dance with his wife, he heard a Montgomery spent two years with the Hampton band. Wes Montgomery was born on March 6th, in 1923. He developed this technique not for technical reasons but for the benefit of his neighbors. Early Life. One of the most influential guitarists of the twentieth century, Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a distinctive sound. Typically in his solos, he outlined chords melodically, but the chords he outlined were often different chords than the rhythm section was playing—a kind of subtle chord substitution—which, in effect, extended the overall harmony in an idiosyncratic way that was unique, distinctive and immediately identifiable.
His stints with Verve (1964-1966) and A&M (1967-1968) — both under the direction of producer Creed Taylor — were commercially successful (he won a Best Instrumental Jazz Performance Grammy in 1967 for The guitar great had just returned home from a national tour when he suddenly died of a heart attack on June 15, 1968 at age 43. Montgomery often worked with his brothers Buddy and Monk and with organist Melvin Rhyne. The Official Wes Montgomery WebsiteHistorically, Wes Montgomery’s relatively short career arose in the era after Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt had established the prevailing standard for jazz guitar in the early and mid-twentieth century. Returning to his hometown, for a time, Wes had to make music a secondary part of his life, succumbing to the pressures of supporting a large family, which grew to encompass his wife and seven children. The way he approached the harmonic structures of tunes, reharmonizing them by implication in the course of his improvisations set the standard for virtually every guitarist who followed him. To keep neighbors from complaining, he played quietly by using his thumb. Historically, Wes Montgomery’s relatively short career arose in the era after Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt had established the prevailing standard for jazz guitar in the early and mid-twentieth century.
During one performance, the audience included He joined his brothers in California to perform as the Montgomery Brothers for the Montgomery died of a heart attack on June 15, 1968, while at home in Indianapolis.According to jazz guitar educator Wolf Marshall, Montgomery often approached solos in a three-tiered manner: he would begin the progression with single note lines, derived from scales or modes; after a fitting number of sequences, he would play octaves for a few more sequences, finally culminating with block chords. When arriving at a club, the first thing he did was call home to his wife and family. Wes’s compelling harmonic approach, his remarkably fluid single note facility along with his trademark octaves and use of sophisticated chord melodies influenced generations of players who followed in his wake.Montgomery was self-taught. Wes Montgomery was born on March 6th, in 1923. Wes Montgomery is the grandfather of actor Anthony Montgomery. Profile: American jazz guitarist. His birthplace was in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He used mostly superimposed triads and arpeggios as the main source for his soloing ideas and sounds.Instead of using a guitar pick, Montgomery plucked the strings with the fleshy part of his thumb, using down strokes for single notes and a combination of up strokes and down strokes for chords and octaves. But Wes changed the language of jazz guitar, harmonically, melodically and technically. Indeed, Wes was heavily influenced by Charlie Christian, in particular. Read Full Biography. His recordings up to 1965 were oriented towards hard bop, soul jazz, and post bop, but around 1965 he began recording
In 1943 Montgomery found work as a welder and got married. The Montgomery Brothers Plus Five Others: World Pacific: 1958 Montgomeryland: Pacific …