Wes Montgomery Research Paper

Wes Montgomery is an American jazz guitarist, who was born on March 6th 1923. During his career he was extremely influential throughout the jazz community.

Unlike many musicians, Montgomery started playing music at the late age of 19. He had no formal training, having to teach himself the craft of guitar. Because of this his technique was unconventional. He used his right thumb instead of using a pick, which is unusual however it enabled his guitar to get a more mellow tone. Many believed Montgomery developed this technique for technical reasons however he did not. He started playing this way to not wake his neighbors before becoming a professional musician he worked long hours as a machinist. By playing with his thumb instead of the pick it made the guitar more quiet and kept his neighbors happy.

He was inspired most by guitarist Charlie Christian, Montgomery improvised in broken phrases and with a bop harmonic imagination. Instead of using a plectrum or fingers, he played guitar with the soft part of his thumb, resulting in a soft attack especially appropriate to his lyrical lines. He organized his solos by playing single-note melodies in initial choruses, in octaves in middle choruses, and in chords in climactic choruses.

Buddy on the piano and Monk on the electric bass. During the early 1960s he recorded his most famous recordings, including “The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery”, “Movin’ Along”, and “Full House”. Wes and younger brother Buddy, along with Richard Crabtree and Benny Barth, formed "The Mastersounds" and recorded "Jazz Showcase Introducing The Mastersounds" and a jazz version of "The King and I", both released by World Pacific Records. They first played together at Seattle, particularly working up the set for "The King and I", the composers were so impressed by the jazz version of "The King & I" that they pre-released the score of "Flower Drum