Wes Montgomery is considered to be one of the top innovators of modern jazz guitar by many of the key guitarists in all of music history. Even rock and blues greats like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Johnson have mentioned their admiration for Montgomery. I decided to depart from the more traditional blues guitarists this time around to feature one of the main guitar innovators in modern jazz and blues music, Wes Montgomery. I hope you enjoy the videos as much as I did!
The intro to this first video is one rare example of how we have been able to capture wonderful moments on stage and in the recording studio. Montgomery talks about how frustrating it can be to keep guitars in tune and plays a blues improvisation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6605Y1BMdY.
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One of Montgomery’s most famous jazz compositions is the song, “Four On Six.” Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRsMzCnQNpo&feature=related.
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Another one of Montgomery’s classic jazz compositions is the song called, “West Coast Blues.” I thought my wife, Laura, would especially enjoy this video since it features so many saxophones! Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbuRMYi2F6Q.
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Wes Montgomery has inspired so many guitarists in the last several decades and I imagine that will continue to be the case for years to come. If anything, it’s pretty amazing how he taught himself to play the guitar with just his thumb. I hope you enjoyed this post featuring Wes Montgomery; be sure to look out for more posts coming your way!
Thanks,
Griff
3 replies to "A Slight Departure From The Blues With Wes Montgomery"
Not only his thumb but only down strokes. WOW
Griff, I love Jazz almost as much as Blues. While I lean towards the sax players, Wes Montgomery is by far my most favorite Jazz guitar player. Thanks for this.
Wes is very much a testimony to the adage – Just Play. Using his thumb and all down strokes, he was able to make the guitar sing. In today’s day and age I think we sometimes get too caught up in the – Which pick should I use – Alternate picking or economy picking – etc. The solution it seems, according to Wes is – Just Play.