AOTW - September 23-29

[Big Al]

My experience with Wes Montgomery, as do a lot of my jazz experiences, begins with my dad. He had this record and GOIN' OUT OF MY HEAD in his collection. When I first started exploring his collection, I didn't really dig this album too much. I mean, how can a record that starts off sounding like an Andy Williams Christmas record be even remotely jazzy? A CD from the library of Wes' Verve recordings brought a little more understanding, but despite the technical brilliance of Wes' playing, the orchestrations proved too much.

So I filed it away. Years later, when I really started getting into jazz, I rediscovered Wes via his Riverside recordings. However, even then something felt amiss. Whereas I found the Verves to be overproduced, the Riversides seemed to be underproduced; a little too dry. I loved SO MUCH GUITAR and still do, but THE INCREDIBLE JAZZ GUITAR left me bored. So that was the end of trying to find the perfect Wes record.

At a library book sale, I found a mono copy of TEQUILA. I'd finally found the perfect Wes Montgomery record. Wes Montgomery, Ron Carter, Grady Tate, and Ray Barretto in a pianoless setting (save for the occasional tasteful vibes overdub). Carter and Barretto had already appeared on SO MUCH GUITAR, so the rapport was clearly established. This was the album I'd wished those Riverside efforts could've been: warm, inviting, sultry, intimate, sly, and above all swinging. The version of the title track is THE definitive one, IMHO. "Bumpin' on Sunset" became an instant favorite after I'd heard it on that library CD from years back.

So why didn't I pick this as my AOTW? Because even though it's my favorite, it's not the one I listen to the most. The parts are greater than the whole in this album. I find myself skipping over the last track of side one (can't remember the name, shows you how much I like that song). Sometimes it's a little too quiet. Which brings me right back to the present AOTW.

As I said, this is not my favorite Wes record, but for me it perfectly blends the raw technique of the Riverside days with the overflowing color of the Verve years. I can listen to this album from start to finish without ever wanting to skip a track. Unlike TEQUILA, the sum is greater than the parts. But there are some shining individual moments: the vamp at the end of "Movin' Wes Part 2" that Wes plays one of his fieriest solos; the orchestrations of "Matchmaker Matchmaker," especially during the fadeout; and perhaps my favorite version of "West Coast Blues." For me, somehow, it just works!

I'll be very interested to hear some comments on this album. I know for a lot of people it represents the beginning of the end, and that after he left Riverside he was never the same. Then there are those for whom the Verves are the pinnacle of his playing. I fall somewhere in between. But I can't listen to GOIN' OUT OF MY HEAD anymore. That one was waaaaaaaay overdone, IMO.

[shaft]

Yeah!

I just love everything about Wes Montgomery. I was first into his Verve catalogue on an old vinyl best of the verve years. Personally I don't mind some orchestration and strings. I'm very fond of the "Going out of my head" album. I was just a bit sorry to read (if it's true) that Wes did not like to record with the studio orchestra since he felt inferior by not being able to read notes....

/Shaft