Tequila [Remaster]

Performer: Wes Montgomery
Artist: George Devens; Ron Carter; Grady Tate; Ray Barretto
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Wes Montgomery (guitar); Claus Ogerman (arranger); Bernard Eichenm Arnold Eidus, Paul Gershman, Emanuel Green, Julius Held, Harry Lookofsky, Joe Malin, Gene Orloff (violin); Abe Kessler, Charles McCracken, George Ricci, Harvey Shapiro (cello); George Devens (vibraphone); Ron Carter (bass); Grady Tate (drums); Ray Barretto (congas). Producer: Creed Taylor. Reissue producer: Ben Young. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 17 & 21 and May 18, 1966. Includes liner notes by Steve Khan and Burt Korall. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit technology by Kevin Reeves (Universal Music Studios-East). This is part of the Verve Records Master Edition series. Personnel: Wes Montgomery (guitar); Julius Held, Arnold Eidus, Joseph Malin, Bernard Eichen, Gene Orloff, Paul Gershman, Emanuel Green, Harry Lookofsky (violin); Abe Kessler, Charles McCracken, Harvey Shapiro, George Ricci (cello); Claus Ogerman (strings); George Devens (vibraphone, background vocals); Grady Tate (drums); Ray Barretto (congas). Audio Remixer: Dennis Drake. Liner Note Authors: Burt Korall; Steve Khan. Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (03/17/1966-05/18/1966). Photographer: Rudy Lequame. Arranger: Claus Ogerman. As Steve Khan observes in his lovingly detailed liner notes, TEQUILA stands as the only album in the Wes Montgomery catalog where the guitarist is not accompanied by a keyboardist of some kind. This, in Khan's opinion, is one of the special things about this album, as it allows one to hear Montgomery's guitar with even greater clarity than usual. Since Louis Armstrong, one of the truisms of jazz has been that a great improviser can spin gold out of the lowest pop dross imaginable. Montgomery certainly had this ability, among his many others, and from around the time of this album on it was called upon more and more frequently. While there's an abundance of small-combo recordings on Riverside, there's also plenty of great playing on the Verve albums in general and TEQUILA in particular. And TEQUILA is certainly informative listening for anyone curious about the origins of George Benson's approach on CTI and later on Warner Brothers, or, for that matter, the entire smooth jazz radio concept.

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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