Fusion! Wes Montgomery with Strings

Performer: Wes Montgomery
Artist: Hank Jones; Dick Hyman; Kenny Burrell; Milt Hinton
Engineer: Ray Fowler
Producer: Orrin Keepnews
Distributor: Fantasy (distributor)

Notes: Personnel includes: Wes Montgomery (guitar); Jimmy Jones (conductor); Phil Bodner (woodwinds); Hank Jones, Dick Hyman (piano); Kenny Burrell (guitar); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums). Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York, New York on April 18 & 19, 1963. Originally released on Riverside (9472). Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews. Personnel: Wes Montgomery (guitar); Kenny Burrell (guitar); Gloria Agostini, Margaret Ross (harp); Winston Collymore, Leo Kruczek, Paul Winter , Sylvan Shulman, Arnold Eidus, Mac Ceppos, Samuel Rand, Isadore Zir, David Nadien, Raoul Poliakin, Gene Orloff, Harry Lookofsky (violin); Ralph Hersh, Burt Fisch, Alfred Brown (viola); Lucien Schmit, Charles McCracken, George Ricci, Kermit Moore (cello); Phil Bodner (woodwinds, wind); Dick Hyman, Hank Jones (piano, celesta); Osie Johnson (drums). Liner Note Author: Orrin Keepnews. Recording information: Plaza Sound Studios, New York, NY (04/18/1963/04/19/1963). Unknown Contributor Roles: Dick Hyman; Hank Jones ; Jimmy Jones ; Kenny Burrell; Milt Hinton; Osie Johnson; Phil Bodner. Arranger: Jimmy Jones . FUSION is the beginning of Wes Montgomery's shift into the pop mode. It's noteworthy that this change began while he was still with Riverside, the jazz label that had initially signed him and released all of his small-group recordings as a leader up until that point. His later recordings with Creed Taylor included broader orchestration, woodwinds, and brass as well as strings, and made more of an effort to include more contemporary pop material to accompany this pop treatment--hence records like TEQUILA, and A DAY IN THE LIFE. On FUSION the repertoire is still a combination of standards and jazz compositions, as well as the Montgomery original "Pretty Blue," heard here in two takes with Kenny Burrell on rhythm guitar. It was Montgomery's ambition on this album to sound "like Frank Sinatra with Nelson Riddle," and a low-key, late-night feeling certainly prevails. Even Miles Davis' "Tune-Up" swings lightly. Montgomery does solo, on "Tune-Up" and elsewhere, but for the kind of record that made him one of the most important jazz guitarists ever, try SMOKIN' AT THE HALF NOTE or THE INCREDIBLE JAZZ GUITAR OF WES MONTGOMERY.

Wes Montgomery's warm sound and hard-driving swing are, for many listeners, the epitome of jazz guitar. Rising from relative obscurity in the late 1950s, he became a huge sensation in the '60s, to the point that his recording career veered increasingly into commercial realms. Montgomery could tear off exhilarating solos with effortless grace, and in his relatively brief career he left an enduring legacy of brilliant playing.

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