JAZZ LIFE July 1982
I apologize for bringing up a rather old story, but 1982 was the year I self-published my color discography of Wes Montgomery. In the July issue of Jazz Life that year, the “MUSICIAN Study” featured Wes Montgomery.
The extensive feature included Miyanoe Takao’s commentary, “Wes Montgomery is the unparalleled guitarist shining in the history of jazz,” the editorial team’s summary, “Even without directly discussing Wes’s world, we end up talking about it,” and Kumagai Yoshihiro’s reflection, “Sincerely and passionately, Wes’s life, which ventured into the unknown realms of jazz, is exactly his music itself.”
Among these, Miyanoe’s account includes an episode he heard about Wes while recording “TOUCH OF LO-VE/VAP 30016-28” with organist Jimmy Smith in September 1981, which I would like to share a part of here.
“I heard a lot about Wes from various musicians. Let’s start with that. Philly Joe Jones, who played with Wes for a while, said, ‘Joe Pass and Kenny Burrell are very good guitarists, but Wes is a genius.’ Ron Carter, who collaborated with Wes on ‘So Much Guitar,’ said, ‘Wes is a quiet man.’ However, when I mentioned this to Jimmy Smith, who I recently recorded with, he said, ‘Who said Wes is a quiet man? He’s not like that at all.’ Apparently, Wes was shy around new people.
Speaking of Jimmy Smith’s long relationship with Wes, there’s an interesting story. After being recognized by Cannonball Adderley, Wes came out of the small town of Indianapolis and eventually played with Jimmy Smith at Carnegie Hall. (Note: This is new information to me.) It was Wes’s first time performing in such a large hall, and he was so shocked by the magnitude and spread of the applause that he almost fell off his chair. This really shows his character.
Let me share another story that reveals his personality. I’ll keep it short as it can get lengthy, but over ten years ago, I submitted an article about Wes to a magazine, which got published. Coincidentally, next to my piece was another article about Wes, which recounted a classical composer, who was taken to a jazz club by a friend, witnessing Wes performing. During a break, the composer met Wes, who then asked him to play classical guitar in the next set. As the composer began to play, the audience started to buzz, and Wes walked around the room, putting a finger to his lips to hush each person. This is such a beautiful story that has stayed with me.”
This is truly a story that only Miyanoe Takao could tell.
In 1982, my mind was completely occupied with turning my collected Wes recordings into a discography. I can’t believe I missed such a valuable article, but I was only focused on SJ magazine back then…what an excuse…