Full House (CD)


Wes Montgomery

CD
Buy
$13.98
SHIPS FREE in U.S.

Amoeba Review

John Schacht 06/16/2010

Legendary jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery is captured in his comfort zone here – on stage -- at this 1962 date recorded in front of a packed club in Berkeley, California. Montgomery didn’t have the same high profile that the ubiquitous guitarist Grant Green enjoyed at this time, but that wasn’t a question of talent. Montgomery was, in fact, a far superior fret man. But Green, because of his standing as Blue Note’s house guitarist, played on several classic records and had giants of the era regularly appear on his own, while Montgomery’s studio records usually fell short of capturing his electrifying fret skills. (Montgomery also had an unfortunate tendency in later years to record pop songs in a lite jazz style that helped usher in Smooth Jazz, tarnishing his legacy somewhat). But you can throw all that out the window here. With Miles Davis’ sextet in town, Montgomery was able to lasso for this date pianist Wynton Kelly and one of the tightest rhythm sections going at the time, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. Throw in the gifted tenor whirlwind Johnny Griffin, and it’s testament to Montgomery that he remained the center of attention at this date. With the exceptions of the trio ballad “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” and slow blues of “Born to Be Blue,” the mood is spirited, Cobb and Chambers driving the soloists to new heights with each bar. Griffin is his usual fiery self on the swinging title track and the double-timed “Blue ‘n’ Boogie,” Kelly’s runs and block chords matching his intensity. The soloists show a more reflective side on “Come Rain or Come Shine” and their syncopation skills on the Latin-flavored “Cariba” (one of three Montgomery compositions). But it’s Montgomery’s single note lines, derived from scales or modes, dual-stringed octaves, and big block chords (typically appearing in that order during his solos), that show him to be as good as anyone in the history of jazz guitar. This crowd certainly sensed it, and we’re lucky it was captured on tape with such care and fidelity.



Track Listing



Disc 1 Titles
Artist
Length
1.
Full House
Wes Montgomery 09:14
2.
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
Wes Montgomery 03:29
3.
Blue 'N' Boogie
Wes Montgomery 09:41
4.
Cariba [Take 2]
Wes Montgomery 09:42
5.
Come Rain or Come Shine [Take 2]
Wes Montgomery 06:58
6.
S.O.S. [Take 3]
Wes Montgomery 05:06
7.
Cariba [Take 1]
Wes Montgomery 08:28
8.
Come Rain or Come Shine [Take 1]
Wes Montgomery 07:18
9.
S.O.S. [take 2]
Wes Montgomery 04:49
10.
Born to Be Blue [Take 1]
Wes Montgomery 07:23
11.
Born to Be Blue [Take 2]
Wes Montgomery 07:35

CD
Buy
$13.98
SHIPS FREE in U.S.
x Sign-up for emails, sales alerts & more:


loading...

Register


New customers, create your Amoeba.com account here. Its quick and easy!


Register

Don't want to register? Feel free to make a purchase as a guest!

Checkout as Guest

Currently, we do not allow digital purchases without registration

Close

Register

Become a member of Amoeba.com. It's easy and quick!

All fields required.

An error has occured - see below:

Minimum: 8 characters, 1 uppercase, 1 special character

Already have an account? Log in.

Close

Forgot Password






To reset your password, enter your registration e-mail address.




Close

Forgot Username





Enter your registration e-mail address and we'll send you your username.




Close

Amoeba Newsletter Sign Up

Submit
Close