|
|
Article: The top five Wes Montgomery riffs of all time.(LICK LIBRARY)(John Leslie Montgomery )
- Article from:
- Guitar Player
- Article date:
- December 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 New Bay Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
ALTHOUGH HE WAS LARGELY SELF-TAUGHT--AND COULDN'T READ MUSIC-Wes Montgomery influenced the lexicon of jazz guitar with his pioneering tone, technique, and groove, and, like his idol Charlie Christian, stands as a school unto himself.
Born in 1925, John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery started playing guitar late in his teens. Almost immediately, Montgomery eschewed the plectrum--purely for sonic reasons--in favor of the meaty part of his thumb, creating a lusciously fat tone that would become as synonymous with jazz guitar as distortion would to rock guitar. Montgomery's other calling cards are his use of octaves and block chords.
For the most part, Montgomery ...