Wes Montgomery (1923-1968)
(The videos listed here can be found on the Quia.com site. If you need your password again let me know)
One of the the most influential guitarist in the 20th century. Not just for jazz, but for all styles. Many fellow jazz guitarists consider Montgomery the greatest influence among modern jazz guitarists. Joe Pass said, "To me, there have been only three real innovators on the guitar--Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, and Django Reinhardt," In addition, George Benson attests, "Wes had a corn on his thumb, which gave his sound that point. He would get one sound for the soft parts, and then that point by using the corn. That's why no one will ever match Wes. And his thumb was double-jointed. He could bend it all the way back to touch his wrist, which he would do to shock people." Kenny Burrell states, "It was an honor that he called me as his second guitarist for a session." In addition, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, David Becker, Joe Diorio, Steve Lukather and Pat Martino have pointed to him numerous times as a great influence.
Please read his biography at Wikipedia.com. Here is the link; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Montgomery
Define:
1) Montgomery's solos were defined by a three tiered method. A) single line B) octaves C) Block Chords
Define what the playing style means:
a) single line
b) octaves
c)block chords
2) What was the reason for his distinctive sound? 3) Try playing any melody or song you know very well using this technique. How successful were you?
4) Try playing the same melody using octaves. How successful was that?
5) On the Blue Monk video (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=KLdcBqzjDVw&feature=related) (His solo starts at 2:15) Observe how he places his right hand and the size of his thumb. What observations can you make about this method? Would it work for you?
6) The other video on the Quia site is the of Emily Remler playing "Tenor Madness" with a pick and "D minor blues" -a Wes Montgomery composition, with her thumb. How is the sound different in the two videos? Do you hear much difference in the sound?