Search - Wes Montgomery :: Riverside Profiles (Bonus CD)

A Useful Compendium

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 12/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Its really too bad that Wes Montgomery did not achieve the fame and fortune he deserved while he was still around. With the advent of the internet and the quality remastering of his work ongoing his music is finally being granted the recognition it deserves. Of course, few great jazzmen have been truly appreciated by their contemporaries. In the realm of jazz guitar greats you need only to look at where Charlie Christian, Grant Green, and Montgomery were in their day and compare that with the esteem in which each of them are held today. Latter-day Montgomery disciple George Benson has managed to avoid that bittersweet fate but he is a lucky exception.

If you are merely a casual Wes Montgomery fan and are trying to get deeper into his music, the question of where to begin looms large. Many present-day fans came on board during Montgomery's Verve years when he was under the guidance of ace jazz producer Creed Taylor. Since records went out of print rather quickly in those days it would have been difficult to acquire some of his earlier material at that point even if you were aware it existed. Fast-forward forty years and all kinds of great music is reappearing and your opportunities for acquiring great old music can overwhelm both your time and your budget. The Riverside Profiles series featuring jazz artists who had been in the Riverside Records stable is the perfect answer for the fan who just doesn't know where to begin.

This particular 2-CD set gives the listener a well-chosen hour's worth of songs that feature Montgomery as headliner on the first CD and forty-five minutes worth of music featuring his work as a sideman on the second disc. Those who like the guitar in the lead will surely enjoy the first disc best but the second disc is useful as an entree to the work of other major jazz artists in the Riverside stable.

I like both discs, but I lean toward the first as a favorite since Wes's work is front and center there. Just check out Montgomery's take on Besame Mucho!

Wes Montgomery:Riverside Profiles is a useful compendium of his Riverside Record days and gives the fan a firm foundation for further explorations of his back catalogue. The CD is a STEAL at the price offered here and comes with an informative booklet that tells the listener about the songs, the records they came from, and lists the musicians who play on each of them. Get this while its still around."