Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery (1974 Japanese Riverside Stereo Vinyl LP)

Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery | Vinyl LP - 1974 Japanese Riverside/Milestone Stereo (SMJ-6046, Victor Musical Industries)

Wes Montgomery taught himself the guitar in Indianapolis, working days as a welder and playing clubs at night, and he played it like nobody else. He used no pick, plucking the strings with the side of his thumb for a warm, round tone, and he soloed in parallel octaves, two notes moving as one. By 1960 the word was out, and Riverside's Orrin Keepnews brought him to New York and set him in front of a tough rhythm section: Tommy Flanagan on piano, Percy Heath of the Modern Jazz Quartet on bass and his brother Albert Heath on drums. This is the album that made Wes's name. He runs through four of his own tunes, among them "Four On Six" and "West Coast Blues", both of which became standards, alongside Sonny Rollins's "Airegin", Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way" and a couple of ballads. The playing is fast and fluid but never cold, with the blues under everything.

It did exactly what Keepnews hoped. The record established Montgomery as the most important guitarist in jazz since Charlie Christian and set the template that George Benson, Pat Metheny and countless others would follow, and in 2017 the American Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry. Most fans still rate it the high point of his studio work, before the lush pop crossovers of his final years. 

This is the 1974 Japanese pressing on Riverside and Milestone, manufactured by Victor Musical Industries.