Before he moved away from straight-ahead jazz and starting playing what is now known as smooth jazz, Wes Montgomery was one of bop's finest guitarists.
Montgomery's bop period ended much too soon, but thankfully, he recorded his share of rewarding bop albums when he was still bop-oriented -- and one of them is Boss Guitar, which Orrin Keepnews produced in 1963.
It's a trio recording, employing Mel Rhyne on organ and Jimmy Cobb on performances that have held up well over time; Montgomery shows how expressive a ballad player he could be on the standards "For Heaven's Sake" and "Days of Wine and Roses," but the fast tempo exuberance of "The Trick Bag" (a Montgomery original) serves him equally well.
Montgomery swings the blues with pleasing results on "Fried Pies" (another Montgomery original), while Consuelo Velázquez's "Besame Mucho" (which is usually played at a slow ballad tempo) is successfully transformed into medium-tempo Latin jazz.
Boss Guitar is among the bop-oriented Montgomery albums that should continue to be savored after all these years.
[In addition to the eight master takes that were heard on the original '60s LP, some reissues contain alternate takes of "Besame Mucho," "The Trick Bag," and "Fried Pies" -- all of which will interest collectors.].
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Besame MuchoConsuelo Velázquez | Wes Montgomery | Play | 06:33 | 0 MB | 33 MB |
| 2 | Dearly Beloved | Wes Montgomery | Play | 04:54 | 0 MB | 26 MB |
| 3 | Days of Wine and RosesHenry Mancini | Wes Montgomery | Play | 03:50 | 0 MB | 16 MB |
| 4 | Canadian SunsetNorman Gimbel | Wes Montgomery | Play | 05:09 | 0 MB | 21 MB |
| 5 | Fried PiesWes Montgomery | Wes Montgomery | Play | 06:43 | 0 MB | 37 MB |
| 6 | For Heaven's Sake | Wes Montgomery | Play | 04:42 | 0 MB | 19 MB |
| 7 | Fried Pies [Take 1]Wes Montgomery | Wes Montgomery | Play | 06:39 | 0 MB | 34 MB |
| 8 | Besame Mucho (Take 2) | Wes Montgomery | Play | 06:28 | 0 MB | 33 MB |
| 9 | Fried Pies (2) | Wes Montgomery | Play | 06:48 | 0 MB | 35 MB |
| 10 | The Breeze And I | Wes Montgomery | Play | 04:13 | 0 MB | 21 MB |
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| 56 mins | 280 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abbey Anna | Project Assistant |
| 2 | Rikka Arnold | Editorial |
| 3 | Chris Clough | Project Assistant |
| 4 | Jimmy Cobb | Drums |
| 5 | Ken Deardoff | Design |
| 6 | Ray Fowler | Engineer |
| 7 | Norman Gimbel | Composer |
| 8 | Joe Goldberg | Original Liner Notes |
| 9 | Orrin Keepnews | Recording Producer |
| 10 | Lecuona | Composer |
| 11 | Henry Mancini | Composer |
| 12 | Ed Michel | Photography |
| 13 | Wes Montgomery | Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist |
| 14 | Andrew Pham | Design |
| 15 | Nick Phillips | Reissue Producer |
| 16 | Melvin Rhyne | Hammond B3 |
| 17 | Joe Tarantino | Remastering |
| 18 | Neil Tesser | Liner Notes |
| 19 | Consuelo Velázquez | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |