Encores Volume 1: Body and Soul with James Clay, Victor Feldman, Wynton Kelly, Buddy Montgomery, Milt Jackson, Monk Montgomery, Sam Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Bobby Thomas, Louis Hayes; 1960-61 Milestone MCD 9252-2 1. Body and Soul 2. So Do It 3. Movin’ Along 4. Doujie 5. Doujie take 8 6. Blue Roz 7. Stablemates 8. Sam Sack 9. SKJ The first time these alternate takes have appeared on CD apart from the ambitious 1992 boxed set Wes Montgomery The Complete Riverside Recordings, this album offers a priceless microscopic look ~t the depth of arguably the greatest innovator in modem jazz guitar history. :Half were previously Issued on LP; the ;)there half are heretofore unissued :except for the set.) While "alternate take" is often ::construed to mean a performance that is .somehow flawed or Inferior to material that was originally selected for release, that generalization hardly applies to world-class musicians for whom top levels of consistency and excellence are the rule rather than the exception. As these tracks confirm, Wes was one such performer. Soon after he began recording as a solo artist in his own right-with Riverside in 1959-he was hailed as the most Innovative jazz guitarist since Charlie Christian. Today, more than 25 years following his untimely death In 1968, his work continues to represent one of the highest standards by which mainstream (jazz guitar is judged. Personally and professionally complex, Wes was both a gentleman and a notoriously self-critical perfectionist who could often be downright stubborn. His obstinacy frequently manifested itself In the studio, where he routinely requested additional take of a tune he had played brilliantly only minutes before. Although that tendency Invariably perplexed those around him-including producer Orrin Keepnews, whose recording cards bear notations like "W.M. doesn't like his solo" and in one instance adds "but everyone else does it" fortunately provides a further look at not only his stunning ability to spin out chorus after chorus of brilliant home based ideas, but also his amazing right-hand thumb technique and innovative approach to octaves. Take numbers can be misleading since their use varies from producer to producer. While others may have held off assigning a new number after a false . start (either on the part of the musicians or caused by a technical reason), Keepnews' practice was to quickly move to a new slate, preferring to have a fresh number for convenience and clarity when working with the tape later on. Consequently, an earlier number does not necessarily represent a complete performance of a particular tune-an important consideration given the not too uncommon suspicion that more material is languishing in some dark comer waiting to be discovered. Furthermore, since many sesslons including those conducted by Riverside-were impromptu affairs that occurred without the benefit of preparation, early takes sometimes meant inspired solos but looser treatment of the head or overall resemble edits of this nature often involve many compromises.) More importantly, even on that somewhat technically ponderous instrument, Wes exhibits his typically high level of fluency. Given no other Information, Keepnews' "thank you" at the end of "So Do It" could easily be misinterpreted as a polite way of saying that Wes and company were dragging out the ending; however, the original plan was to fade out as the musicians vamped. (The usual practice was to do a "live board fade" as the musicians played; this unfazed version is the result of deciding prior to the take to postpone the edit until later.) At the end, listen to how Wes continues with his trademark octaves, giving the Impression that he could have gone on forever. With some predictability, however, he decided that he didn't like his sound on tape, causing engineer Wally Heider to make some adjustments in the way he recorded the guitar. By the time the originally issued sixth take rolled around, the musicians had devised a definite ending. "Movin' Along," a relatively straightforward slow blues, was downgraded from acceptable status because Wes simply didn't like his solo. The "Doujie" alternates, from the January 1961 session that produced the Montgomery Brother’s Groove Yard, differ in one very obvious respect: on take 8, Buddy Montgomery switches from the studio's piano to his own set of vibes with a malfunctioning motor results in a relatively "dry" sound. Here, the two versions of the tune-whose changes are borrowed from Charlie Parker's "Confirmatlon" provldes an excellent back-to-back opportunity to witness Wes's seemingly boundless improvisational invention. Although he sticks to single-notes throughout both solos (he played the originally issued version exclusively in octaves), take 7 comes off as a bit more aggressive due to a slightly brighter tempo and elements like the propulsive Charlie Christian unison lick that launches his second chorus. Milt Jackson and Wes Montgomery: Bags Meets Wes, the product of two December 1961 sessions, is the only album of Wes's career for which there is an alternate for every originally Issued track. Wes uses octaves during the head to "Blue Roz," a swinging riff blues, but again confines his solo to single notes. At the beginning of his second chorus, the slight hesitation, which he seems to shake off with a subsequent flurry of sixteenths, may have been enough to trigger his self-critical side and lead to an additional take. On the "Stablemates" alternate. Milt and Wes forego the originally issued version's incendiary series of fours. Other than that, Wes negotiates the highly chromatic changes with uncanny ease during both solos. The final two selections feature contrasting 12-bar blues. On "Sam Sack" Wes splits his four-chorus solo between single notes and octaves, while the more relaxed "S.K.J" finds him taking two choruses, playing first in straight octaves, and then using chords to punctuate parts of his grooving second twelve. "S.K.J.," incidentally, represents one of the few times where he opened his solo on both the originally Issued take and the alternate with the same phrase. As puzzling as Wes's motivations may have been, the circumstances behind this material indicate that he had a very definite idea of what he wanted in terms of the sound of his Gibson L-5, the quality of his execution, and content of his solos. But while the origins of his musical persona's exacting aspects may be elusive, one thing Is certain: Wes Montgomery was a first-take improviser by any standard-except perhaps his own. - JIM FERGUSON, .1996 - Jim Ferguson Is a Grammy-nominated writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Jazz Times, and Guitar Player. He divides his time between college music Instruction, free-lance writing, and his work as both a Jazz and classical guitarist. |