MONTGOMERY WES, THE EARLY YEARS. SHEET MUSIC BOOK WITH CD & GUITAR TABLATURE.
LIBRO DI MUSICA JAZZ CON CD.
LIBRO DI SPARTITI PER CHITARRA CON:
ACCORDI, PENTAGRAMMA E TABLATURE.
The artistry exhibited by Wes Montgomery ultimately led to a redefinition of jazz guitar. These transcriptions from Wes' landmark early recorded work capture him in contrasting settings and roles as a sideman, leader and with various group configurations. All solos were carefully transcribed in notation and tablature from Wes' original Riverside recordings. Selections include: Scrambled Eggs; Compulsion; Terrain; Ursula; Lolita; Tune Up; Says You; Delirium; and No Hard Feelings.
Compulsion by Harold Land
Delirium by Harold Land
Lolita by Barry Harris
No Hard Feelings by Buddy Montgomery
Says You by Sam Jones
Scrambled Eggs by Sam Jones
Terrain by Harold Land
Tune Up by Miles Davis
Ursula by Harold Land
Wes Montgomery
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana March 6, 1925
Died June 15, 1968
Wes Montgomery was a guitarist who developed an incredibly personal style.
He was influenced greatly in his early years by the driving single line jazz guitar solos
of Charlie Christian. Later, tenor saxophonist John Coltrane had tremendous influence
on him. Wes Montgomery possessed a great ear and got one of his first" gigs" playing
Charlie Christian solos by ear with a jazz combo. It was later said that his ear was good
enough to allow him to remember and embellish any piece, no matter how intricate,
after hearing it only once.
Wes Montgomery's style was so unique it can still be recognized by listening to
only a measure or two of one of his solos. Tobegin with, he played with his right hand
thumb. The story goes that he developed this technique trying to practice softly so as
not to disturb his neighbors. His thumb technique was unbelievably adept, amazing in
the words of some observers. This thumb technique gave his playing a warm, gentle
timbre. Thus, when listening to Wes, you would hear wonderfully bluesy, "be-bop"
phrases laid out in a warm, lyrically intimate manner.
Perhaps the most identifiable aspect of his style, however, was his "funky",
virtuosic use of octaves. Many great jazz guitarists have since emulated this stylistic
technique but it was pioneered by Wes Montgomery. He proved that rapid and extended
solos in octaves could be executed technically and musically. While many
others have copied this technique, few seem to obtain Wes' warm, earthy, tone.
Wes' career took a big jump when famed alto saxophonist ,Cannonball Adderly
heard him at an after-hours jazz club in Indianapolis called the Missile Room. A phone
call from Adderly set things in motion and not long after, Wes was signed to a record
contract with Riverside. He later recorded on the Verve and A & M labels. His was the
dominant voice in jazz guitar in the 1960s. His plaudits included winning the Downbeat,
Billboard and Playboy jazz guitar polls. He was awarded a Grammy for his solo
rendition of the song, "Gain' Out Of My Head." Time and Newsweek ran stories on him.
He played with many if not most of the great jazz sidemen of his era.
We are honored to present this collection of some of Wes Montgomery's early
recorded solos from the Riverside collection. We highly recommend the companion
cassette. Also available is an additional printed collection of some of his finest recorded
solos titled Wes Montgomery/Jazz Guitar Artistry.
Notes From the Transcriber
This collection of transcribed performances is a sampling from the early recorded
work of Wes Montgomery on the Riverside label. Wes signed on with Riverside in the
autumn of 1959and remained with the label through 1963.
These transcriptions capture Wes in contrasting settings and roles; as sideman,
leader and with various group configurations. As a sideman, Wes improvised concisely,
offering exactly suitable, to-the-point solos. On his own recordings, he was more
expansive, developing his solos over a number of choruses with utmost craft.
The artistry exhibited by Wes was ultimately to lead to the redefinition of jazz
guitar. His influence has, and continues to reach the oncoming generations of guitarists
within, and outside the jazz world. Being on the faculty of Berklee College of Music for
several years, I have seen first hand how the music of Wes Montgomery continues to
inspire guitarists in pursuit of excellence. Even those not versed in jazz get excited
about Wes' playing because it simply feels so good.
When working with these transcriptions, keep the recordings close at hand and
refer to them continually. What can be communicated on the printed page is limited,
but your listening to the recordings will help to make the written notes come to life.
A word about the tablature fingerings. When deciding fingerings I considered
the following factors:
1. Playability - Where does the particular phrase lie well on the fingerboard?
2. Harmonic relation - What chord shape or shapes does this phrase imply?
3. Timbre - Does the timbre clearly indicate which string a note was played on?
I have not presumed, nor do I intend to imply, where every note was originally
played by these fingerings. My intention is to provide fingerings that work well with
this music. Due to the nature of the guitar, I also recommend practicing phrases in at
least one other area of the fingerboard.
Here is a brief summary of the transcribed music.
Wes Montgomery - guitar
All tracks
Scrambled Eggs
Nat Adderly - cornet (leader)
Sam Jones - bass
Bobby Timmons - piano
Louis Hayes - drums
recorded January 27, 1960
Scrambled Eggs is from Nat Adderley's highly successful Work
Song album. The Bobby Timmons composition is a bass feature for
Sam Jones who solos during the head breaks. 1have included these
bass breaks in the transcription as a matter of interest. For the
Scrambled Eggs melody, Wes plays octave unison with the cornet.
Taking the last solo for one chorus, Wes appears to be drawing from
the melody by using a great deal of chromaticism in his solo lines.
This technique, that is associated with the bebop jazz style, is characterized
by the resolution of single or double chromatics to chord
tones from above and/ or below.
Compulsion
Joe Gordon - trumpet
Harold Land - tenor sax (leader)
Barry Harris - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Louis Hayes - drums
recorded May 17, 1960
From Harold Land's West Coast Blues LP,Compulsion begins
with trademark octaves from Wes. On the head and solos of his
band mates, Wes shares comping duties with Barry Harris. The A
section of Compulsion has a 1mto IVm chord change that leads to
descending lydian chord structures. Wes takes the second solo and
on his two choruses, skillfully plays through the most active harmonic
segments, melodically weaving through the changes. On the
lydian segments, Wes transposes short musical fragments in parallel
motion with the chord structures. His use of thirds on the final
bridge should also be noted.
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