Wes Montgomery 1955 Columbia session

[wes fan]

Mr. ghost of miles

Please let me know about the text which you quoted.

「We had free use of Chuck Bailey's Indianapolis rehearsal studio during the 50s,

providing that Chuck was allowed to keep the tapes rolling while we rehearsed.」

Q1　Who is Chuck Baileys? Is Chuck a musician, announcer, or a businessman?

Indianapolis 500 track announcer was also a name of Chuck Bailey.

Q2 Did he own the rehearsal studio by Indianapolis in the 50s?

[fasstrack]

I think Chris is right, based on a passage in Ingram's 1985 bio. Ingram doesn't list the session in his discography, and is apparently unaware of the then-recent (the book would have been going to press in 1984, I'm assuming) release of ALMOST FORGOTTEN. Here's the relevant passage from his book:

Slowly Wes began to gig again, firstly with the Eddie Higgins Trio, Higgins--piano, Walter Perkins--drums and Bobby Cranshaw--bass, and then with the Roger Jones Quintet, Jones--trumpet, Willie Baker--reeds, Leroy Vinegar--bass and Willis Kirk--drums.  He also did a lot of playing with the Montgomery/Johnson Quintet; Monk Montgomery--bass, Buddy Montgomery--piano and vibes, Alonzo Pookie Johnson--reeds and Sonny Johnson--drums.  This, by all accounts, very promising group, auditioned for Arthur Godfrey and made several excellent recordings under the direction of Quincy Jones.  Unfortunately these recordings cannot be traced today.  David Baker, jazz educator and long time associate of the Montgomery family remembers:

"Those recordings were particularly good, the group modelled themselves on the groups of George Shearing which were of course very popular at that time.  Wes and his brothers were perfectionists, particularly Wes.  We had free use of Chuck Bailey's Indianapolis rehearsal studio during the 50s, providing that Chuck was allowed to keep the tapes rolling while we rehearsed.  Wes was always in there rehearsing some band or another.  I remember some big band sessions he did for me and I remember him rehearsing with Mel Rhyne for his first solo record.  No one knows what happened to any of those recordings, but Wes was really playing."

Unfortunately, nothing came of either the Montgomery/Johnson quintet's audition for Arthur Godfrey or the recording session with Quincy Jones but the group did find itself regular work.

Ingram then goes on to describe a two-year residency at an Indianapolis club until the Montgomery Brothers, minus Wes, headed out to the West Coast and became the Mastersounds. So, apparently, there were two Montgomery Brothers recording sessions with Wes that preceded what I always thought of as their first studio appearance together. Pete C (if you're reading this) did Seth at Sony ever get back to you on anything that might be in the vaults? And under what label's auspices would the Quincy Jones session have fallen? Undoubtedly these sessions would primarily be of interest to Montgomery buffs--I doubt there's anything earthshattering about them--but it is an interesting chapter that I had no knowledge of until yesterday.

I'll also take another look at the liners for ALMOST FORGOTTEN, to see exactly what that writer had to say.

Who would Ingram be? Couldn't glean it from here, but I assume he was a Naptown denizen. How much of his bio is about the jazz scene there, and if it is how does one get it?

[robertoart]

My link

[wes fan]

Mr. Ingram

I want you to respond about Chuck Bailey.

I bought the biography book of WES even to the part 2.

However, the detailed information about Chuck Bailey is not written.

Would you reply to the question of wes fan?

[robertoart]

Does Adrian Ingram post here? If not he would probably be easy to reach. I think he is an academic.

I've always wanted to read that Wes book too. Was it his PHD thesis paper perhaps?

I've got his Wes DVD. It's very good. You can tell he's an experienced teacher. He even asks what OGD stands for.

I found out it's Organ Guitar Drums.

Edited June 18, 2012 by freelancer

[ghost of miles]

This session came out this past spring on the 10" LP The Montgomery-Johnson Quintet. It will also be on the 2-CD Montgomery set In The Beginning, which is supposedly coming out sometime in October.

[wes fan]

Although it discussed about "Wes Montgomery Columbia session" until now, the master tape was not found as a result.
However, the release was carried out from "Resonance Recors" in April.
From whom did "Resonance Recors" get the master tape?

《Wes Montgomery and The Montgomery-Johnson Quintet/EPIC HLT-8014》
Wes Montgomery / Wes Montgomery and The Montgomery-Johnson Quintet
Record Producer and Composer, Quincy Jones:
Wes Montgomery(g), Buddy Montgomery(p), Monk Montgomery(b), Alozo“Pookie”Johnson(ts),
Robert“Sonny”Johnson(ds)
Columbia 30th Street Studio, N.Y.C.; Jun.15,1955
Columbia FC38509 EPIC HLT-8014

Love for Sale [3:52]
Leila [2:56] -
Undecided [3:07] -
Blues [3:18] -
Far Wes [3:18] -

[marcello]

Zev Feldman is a wonderful person, and I'm sure he would be happy to answer your questions. Drop him a line at the Resonance website or, he's on Facebook also.

[wes fan]

There is no reply from Zev Feldman.