Wes Montgomery: Assorted Footage

Fully aware of the frustrations I encountered with a YouTube upload of the Jazz Icons DVD entitled Bill Evans: Live ’64-’75, I decided to try another upload from the series, this time of Wes Montgomery: Live in ’65. Once again this was a matter of managing without the 20-page booklet that accompanied the DVD; but, since my knowledge of Montgomery’s work is relatively limited, I felt I should seize the opportunity to observe him at work, rather than resting content with my anthology of his Riverside recordings. Having set my expectation level appropriately, I found that opportunity to be a satisfying one.

Wes Montgomery (center) discussing the performance of “The End of a Love Affair” with Dutch pianist Pim Jacobs while Ruud Jacobs experiments with some bass riffs (screen shot from the YouTube video being discussed)

As the title suggests, all of the recordings documented performances in 1965. The video begins with four tracks made in Holland with pianist Pim Jacobs, bassist Ruud Jacobs, and drummer Han Bennink. Through a review by Jim Santella on the All About Jazz Web site, I was able to establish that this performance took place on April 2. The second session took place two days later in Belgium with entirely different accompaniment: pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Arthur Harper, and drummer Jimmy Lovelace. This accounted for the next five tracks. The final five tracks were recorded in England on May 7 with yet another trio: pianist Stan Tracey, bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Jackie Dougan. These include “second takes” on Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Here’s That Rainy Day” and Montgomery’s “Twisted Blues,” both of which had been recorded in Belgium. However, the English program had the advantage of some highly informative commentary by club owner Ronnie Scott, who may well have been one of the best sources for useful context, considering the major jazz acts that his club hosted.

For the most part the video work is informative. Each of the three sessions involves a generous number of camera angles for both left-hand fingering and right-hand plucking. When the other musicians are taking solos, there are only a few shots in which the camera is looking at the wrong one. However, the primary focus of attention is on Montgomery’s use of fingers, rather than a guitar pick. In addition, Scott called out his extraordinary skill at playing rapid-fire passages in parallel octaves.

While I might have preferred to listen to more of Montgomery’s original compositions, I would argue that it is consistently the case that his diverse catalog of interpretative riffs consistently counts for more than who the composer happened to be. That said, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Belgium set opened with John Coltrane’s “Impressions.” I suppose there are many that would miss some of the poignancy of Trane’s solo work in this piece, but Montgomery’s take endows the tune with its own unique (and compelling) perspective. In that context I also relished the Holland track of “Nica’s Dream,” Horace Silver’s nod to that extraordinary patroness of adventurous jazz (and guardian angel for more felines than can be enumerated), Pannonica de Koenigswarter.

Taken as a whole this is definitely a video that can stand up to multiple viewings, simply for the many opportunities to observe the bravura dexterity of both of Montgomery’s hands.