Having mentioned Miles Davis' Kind of Blue yesterday, I started thinking about the great blues tune that it contains called, "Freddie Freeloader", and its unusual, but beautiful chord progression that ends on a bVII7 chord. It also features great solos from all three horn players (Davis, Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly), over a brilliantly swinging groove from Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers, and above all a subtle but powerful performance from the pianist Wynton Kelly. It's the only track on the album on which he appears (it's Bill Evans on the rest), but I would guess that more people have heard his performance on this one than on all of his other recordings combined. Which is too bad, because he's made many excellent albums both as a leader and sideman. In fact, it was his abilities as a sideman, his comping skills, for which he was particularly renowned, and you can hear his expertise and taste on this track. Listen to the way he gradually joins in with Davis' solo at 2:15, for an example. And his own solo is perfect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPfFhfSuUZ4

Yesterday was the second time that I've mentioned Wes Montgomery in passing, and it occurred to me that since he is among the most important of jazz guitarists and one of my favourite musicians I had better dedicate a post to him, pronto. To the guitar, he occupies the same sort of position that Sonny Rollins or John Coltrane does in terms of the saxophone: Although none of these names were there at the very beginning of either jazz or bebop, as was the case for Charlie Christian and Charlie Parker, they stand shoulder to shoulder with any musician in jazz.

Montgomery's playing is striking in many regards - his soloing in octaves, his seemingly infinite vocabulary, the logic of his solo constructions, his thrilling interaction with his bands - but perhaps above all is his unique way of playing and placing swing eighth notes. I use the word "placing" because of his amazing ability to play behind the beat, and to make not only his own but every member of the band's contributions sound larger, heavier and more beautiful. Perhaps the best place to hear these qualities is the album called, Smokin' at the Half Note from 1965 with the Wynton Kelly trio. To give you an idea of its importance, Pat Metheny once called it the album that taught him how to play, and he certainly wasn't alone in that experience. Montgomery has probably had a larger influence on later jazz guitarists than anyone. Here is "If You Could See Me Now", the track that contains what Metheny called his "favourite jazz guitar solo of all time": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvf7DWerPy4