Very Best of Wes Montgomery

Personnel: Wes Montgomery (guitar).
Liner Note Author: Neil Tesser.
Recording information: Plaza Sound Studios; Reeves Sound Studio, NYC; Tsubo's, Berkeley, CA; United Recording Studios, Los Angeles.
Even though he died young (at age 45 of a heart attack) and his recorded legacy only stretches a little over ten years (1957 to 1968), Wes Montgomery was still arguably the most important of the post-war jazz guitarists. This concisely selected set draws from his first three-and-a-half years as a bandleader and recording artist, covering the years 1959 to 1963, when Montgomery was with Riverside Records. These small-group sessions with such sidemen as Tommy Flanagan, James Clay, Victor Feldman, Hank Jones, Johnny Griffin, and Mel Rhyne produced some of Montgomery's most joyous and spontaneous sides. When that label went under in 1964, Montgomery moved on to Verve Records. ~ Steve Leggett