Boss Guitar (20 bit mastering)

Artist: Wes Montgomery Label: Riverside Category: Music Average customer rating: Format: Original recording reissued Media: Audio CD Number Of Discs: 1 UPC: 025218486521 EAN: 0025218486521 ASIN: B0000DIJQG Release Date: 2003-10-21

Listmania:

1. Essential jazz 201

Tracks:

1. Besame Mucho
2. Dearly Beloved
3. Days Of Wine And Roses
4. The Trick Bag
5. Canadian Sunset
6. Fried Pies
7. The Breeze And I
8. For Heaven's Sake
9. Besame Mucho
10. Fried Pies

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1. Full House (20 Bit Mastering)
2. The Wes Montgomery Trio
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4. Incredible Jazz Guitar (20 Bit Remaster)
5. Collectors' Items

Customer Reviews:

Get this while available.......2004-09-28

the definitive Wes Montgomery recording.......2003-11-24

1) Repertoire:

It is carefully programmed as a balance of blues + ballads + bop. Two of Wes' best original tunes are here ( "Fried Pies" and "The Trick Bag" ). Some tunes have a Latin/Bossa feel ( "Besame Mucho" and "Canadian Sunset" ) while standards such as "Dearly Beloved" and "Days of Wine & Roses" are taken at varying tempos ( the former taken at an incredibly fast clip ).

2) Performance:

Wes was unbelievably "on" (even by his Olympian standards) for this recording: some of the melodic lines that come out of his improvisations are impressive enough to be considered "tunes" themselves (his improv on the ballad titled "For Heavens Sake" brings tears to the eye). Also, a crucially important aspect of this session was having the services of the great drummer Jimmy Cobb, who really helps propel the group in dynamic fashion.

3) Sound:

The (original) engineering on this album comes closer than most other "Riverside" albums in revealing the beautiful tone of Wes' Gibson L5. While not as rich as his later "Verve" releases, "BOSS GUITAR" is notable for its sound quality, which is subtly enhanced in the 20-bit remastered version under review (NB- another point in favor of this recent re-issue is that the original order of tunes has been restored, alternates being properly relegated to the "bottom" ).

CONCLUSION:

Wes Montgomery was a very consistent artist, so one will not find many mediocre offerings in his oeuvre. Nevertheless, "BOSS GUITAR" stands out both as the flawless diamond in his brilliant (and all too brief) career and as a truly great jazz recording.

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