Wes Montgomery – The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery (1960)(Hi-Res, 2025)

Although The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery was recorded and released just a few months after the guitarist's Riverside debut as a leader (The Wes Montgomery Trio), the difference between the two albums is incredible. Not only is Montgomery fronting a group much more complementary to his guitar style (here, it's a guitar/piano/bass/drum quartet, rather than a guitar/organ/drum trio), but his playing is much more confident and indicative of his truly revolutionary technique.

Montgomery's unique, bebop-influenced approach to improvisation and tone—and his smooth thumb-picking—was a shift away from the Charlie Christian/Django Reinhardt school of jazz guitar that still dominated through the late '50s. Fusing soulfulness and sophistication with stunning technicality, The Incredible Jazz Guitar was a demarcation between the two eras, establishing a philosophy that dominates to this day—almost like a Rosetta Stone of modern jazz guitar.

What is instantly noticeable is how hard this group swings. From the first moments of their take on Sonny Rollins' "Airegin," the quartet comes out guns blazing, and rarely lets their foot off the gas for the remainder of the record. Although there are a couple of more pensive moments on the album—notably, a gorgeous run through "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" that gives nearly as much attention to Tommy Flanagan's piano as it does to Montgomery's guitar—for the most part, The Incredible Jazz Guitar is a driving, muscular piece of work. The deceptive fluidity of Montgomery's playing on the fast-paced "Four on Six" masks how complex and innovative this composition (a Montgomery original) is, while the group's appropriately genteel take on "Gone with the Wind" still buzzes with a slow-burn spark. While none of the material crosses the line into full-blown soul-jazz, this is an album that absolutely laid the groundwork for that post-bop movement, with an emphasis on groove and rhythm (thanks to Percy Heath's bass and Albert Heath's drums) that enables the group to improvise at will while staying firmly in the pocket. An essential album. by Jason Ferguson

foobar2000 v2.24.2 / DR Meter v0.9
log date: 2025-04-24 16:03:46

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Wes Montgomery / The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR12 -0.40 dBFS -15.44 dBFS 4:30 01-Airegin (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -0.73 dBFS -16.90 dBFS 5:26 02-D-Natural Blues (Remastered 2025)
DR14 -0.73 dBFS -21.28 dBFS 4:46 03-Polka Dots And Moonbeams (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -1.85 dBFS -16.55 dBFS 6:19 04-Four On Six (Remastered 2025)
DR11 -0.40 dBFS -14.57 dBFS 7:28 05-West Coast Blues (Remastered 2025)
DR11 -2.22 dBFS -19.26 dBFS 4:56 06-In Your Own Sweet Way (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -0.40 dBFS -15.83 dBFS 4:35 07-Mister Walker (Remastered 2025)
DR12 -1.61 dBFS -17.28 dBFS 6:25 08-Gone With The Wind (Remastered 2025)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 8
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 192000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 5111 kbps
Codec: FLAC