1960 · Album
The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
Recorded 1959-1960 · Riverside Records · Produced by Orrin Keepnews
A Thumb and a Sound That Changed Everything
Wes Montgomery made the guitar sound like it was singing, and he did it with his bare thumb.
When Wes Montgomery picked up the guitar, he wasn't thinking about technique or impressing anybody. He was thinking about the sound he heard in his head. That's why he played with his thumb instead of a pick—it gave him a warmer, rounder tone that felt more like a voice than an instrument. The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (1960) captures him at a moment when he's already figured out who he is as a player, and he's just going to show you what that sounds like.
The album moves through standards and jazz staples with the kind of ease that only comes from total confidence. Tracks like "Four on Six" let you hear how much space Wes leaves in his lines—he's not filling every gap, which makes the notes he does play land harder. The rhythm section here, led by Wynton Kelly on piano and Paul Chambers on bass, gives him exactly what he needs: solid ground to stand on without anyone trying to outplay him. This isn't a record where the sidemen are fighting for attention. Everyone knows their job.
If you're new to Wes, start here rather than jumping into his later, more arranged work. This is him playing jazz the way he actually wanted to play it—intimate, unpretentious, and focused on the beauty of single notes. It's not his flashiest record, and that's exactly the point. The speed and the complexity are there if you listen closely, but what sticks with you is the tone and the taste. This is a musician who understood that sometimes the best thing you can do is play less and mean more.
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More by Wes Montgomery
All 12 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
