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36-555: Montgomery often worked with his brothers Buddy (Charles F.) and Monk (William H.), as well as organist Melvin Rhyne . His recordings up to 1965 were oriented towards hard bop , soul jazz , and post bop , but around 1965 he began recording more pop-oriented instrumental albums that found mainstream success. His later guitar style influenced jazz fusion and smooth jazz . Montgomery was born in Indianapolis , Indiana. According to NPR ,

72-682: A Theme of Thelonious Monk (1960, for 13 instruments) utilizing Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman . In 1966, he composed the opera The Visitation . He also orchestrated Scott Joplin 's only known surviving opera Treemonisha for the Houston Grand Opera 's premiere production of this work in 1975. In 1959, Schuller largely gave up performance to devote himself to composition, teaching and writing. He conducted internationally and studied and recorded jazz with such greats as Dizzy Gillespie and John Lewis among many others. Schuller wrote over 190 original compositions in many musical genres. In

108-478: A brand new approach to playing the guitar... The octave technique... and his chord melody and chord soloing playing still is today unmatched". Broom modeled his guitar-organ trio after Montgomery's. Stevie Wonder wrote two tributes to Montgomery: "Bye Bye World", which appeared on his 1968 album Eivets Rednow , and "We All Remember Wes", which George Benson recorded for his 1978 live album Weekend in L.A. In 1982, Bob James and Earl Klugh collaborated on

144-441: A duet album and recorded the song "Wes" as a tribute to Montgomery on the album Two of a Kind . Guitarist Emily Remler released a tribute album to Montgomery in 1988, titled East to Wes . Pat Martino released Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery in 2006. Eric Johnson paid tribute to Montgomery on his 1990 album Ah Via Musicom in a song titled "East Wes". Guitarist David Becker paid tribute to Montgomery on

180-529: A festival of Schuller's music, curated by Bruce Brubaker , titled "I Hear America." At the time, Brubaker remarked, "Gunther Schuller is a key witness to American musical culture." His modernist orchestral work Where the Word Ends , organized in four movements corresponding to those of a symphony, was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2009. In 2011 Schuller published the first volume of

216-510: A heart attack on June 15, 1968, while at home in Indianapolis. He was 45 years old. According to jazz guitar educator Wolf Marshall, Montgomery often approached solos in a three-tiered manner: he would begin the progression with single note lines, derived from scales or modes; after a fitting number of sequences, he would play octaves for a few more sequences, finally culminating with block chords. He used mostly superimposed triads and arpeggios as

252-604: A leader, So Much Guitar , then while visiting his brothers had a chance to perform with John Coltrane's group in San Francisco. In 1961, work was getting harder to find. A tour in Canada led to the album The Montgomery Brothers in Canada , then the band broke up. Montgomery returned to Indianapolis to work in his trio with Rhyne. Keepnews sent him back to California to record a live album with Johnny Griffin , Wynton Kelly , Paul Chambers , and Jimmy Cobb . Their performance became

288-441: A machinist before his music career began and practiced late at night. To keep everyone happy, he played quietly by using his thumb. This actually worked out well as he used an amplifier when performing, which allowed him to really exploit his thumb picking style. His style smoothly incorporated the guitar into jazz and was studied by many. Jazz guitarist Bobby Broom said that on A Dynamic New Sound in 1959, Montgomery "introduced

324-466: A milk company. In 1948, when Lionel Hampton was on tour in Indianapolis, he was looking for a guitarist, and after hearing Montgomery play like Christian he hired him. Montgomery spent two years with the Hampton band. Fear kept him from flying with the rest of the band, so he drove from city to city, town to town, while fellow musicians marveled at his stamina. When arriving at a club, the first thing he did

360-422: A pawn shop in 1935. Although Montgomery spent many hours playing that guitar, he dismissed its usefulness, saying he had to start over when he got his first six-string several years later. He and his brothers returned to Indianapolis. By 1943, Montgomery found work as a welder and got married. At a dance with his wife, he heard a Charlie Christian record for the first time. This inspired him to pick up guitar at

396-568: A two-volume autobiography, Gunther Schuller: A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty . In 2012, Schuller premiered a new arrangement, the Treemonisha suite from Joplin's opera. It was performed as part of The Rest is Noise season at London's South Bank in 2013. Schuller died on June 21, 2015, in Boston , from complications from leukemia . He married Marjorie Black, a singer and pianist, in 1948, and

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432-451: A version of " Windy ", a pop song originally recorded by The Association . Of the ten Wes Montgomery albums that Taylor produced while Montgomery was alive (all recorded for Verve and A&M Records ), eight were aimed at the pop market. The success of these albums led to invitations for Montgomery to perform on major U.S. television shows including The Hollywood Palace and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson . Montgomery died of

468-728: The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, where he stayed until 1959. During his youth, he attended the Precollege Division at the Manhattan School of Music , later going on to teach at the school. But, already a high school dropout because he wanted to play professionally, Schuller never obtained a degree from any institution. He began his career in jazz by recording as a horn player with Miles Davis (1949–50). In 1955, Schuller and jazz pianist John Lewis founded

504-481: The "Montgomery-Johnson Quintet" with saxophonist Alonzo "Pookie" Johnson from 1955 to 1957. Montgomery's earliest sessions as a leader are from the late 1950s. He played briefly with Miles Davis in 1960. After Wes Montgomery's death in 1968, Buddy became active as a jazz educator and advocate. He founded organizations in Milwaukee , where he lived from 1969 to 1982, and Oakland , California , where he lived for most of

540-519: The 1960s and 1970s, Schuller was president of New England Conservatory , where he founded The New England Ragtime Ensemble . During this period, he also held a variety of positions at the Boston Symphony Orchestra 's summer home in Tanglewood , serving as director of new music activities from 1965 to 1969 and as artistic director of the Tanglewood Music Center from 1970 to 1984 and creating

576-500: The 1980s, that offered jazz classes and presented free concerts. He died in Palmdale , California, of a heart attack, aged 79. Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925 – June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Schuller was born in Queens , New York City,

612-669: The 1991 album In Motion with the song "Westward Ho". Lee Ritenour recorded a tribute album in 1993, Wes Bound , that contained Montgomery covers and some originals by Ritenour. While the production and arrangements are typical for the time, he performed the entire album in Montgomery's style on a Gibson L-5 model. Guitarist Joe Diorio released a tribute album in 1998, I Remember You - A Tribute To Wes Montgomery. Lifetime With Buddy Montgomery and Monk Montgomery Posthumous Buddy Montgomery Charles " Buddy " Montgomery (January 30, 1930 – May 14, 2009)

648-518: The Johnson/Montgomery Quintet, somewhat in the style of George Shearing . The band auditioned for Arthur Godfrey and recorded sessions with Quincy Jones . After a residency at a club from 1955 to 1957, Montgomery and his brothers went west. Buddy and Monk Montgomery formed The Mastersounds and signed a contract with Dick Bock at Pacific Jazz . Montgomery joined them for a recording session in 1957 that included Freddie Hubbard . Some of

684-690: The Modern Jazz Society, which gave its first concert at Town Hall , New York, the same year and later became known as the Jazz and Classical Music Society. While lecturing at Brandeis University in 1957, he coined the term " Third Stream " to describe music that combines classical and jazz techniques. He became an enthusiastic advocate of this style and wrote many works according to its principles, among them Transformation (1957, for jazz ensemble), Concertino (1959, for jazz quartet and orchestra), Abstraction (1959, for nine instruments), and Variants on

720-866: The Northwest Bach Festival in Spokane, Washington state . Each year the festival showcased works by J.S. Bach and other composers in venues around Spokane. At the 2010 festival, Schuller conducted the Mass in B minor at St. John's Cathedral , sung by the Bach Festival Chorus, composed of professional singers in Eastern Washington, and the BachFestival, composed of members of the Spokane Symphony and others. Other notable performances Schuller conducted at

756-672: The Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "The melodies are fetchingly tried-and-true, the (unintentional?) stateliness of the rhythms appropriately nineteenth-century , and the instrumental overkill (twenty-four instruments massed on 'Flop-Eared Mule') both gorgeous and hilarious. A grand novelty." Schuller was editor-in-chief of Jazz Masterworks Editions, and co-director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Another effort of preservation

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792-657: The Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. In the 1970s and 1980s Schuller founded the publishers Margun Music and Gun-Mar and the record label GM Recordings. Margun Music and Gun-Mar were sold to Music Sales Group in 1999. Schuller recorded the LP Country Fiddle Band with the Conservatory's country fiddle band, released by Columbia Records in 1976. Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of

828-761: The Wes Montgomery Trio , his first album as a leader after twenty years as a musician. In 1960, he recorded The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery with Tommy Flanagan , Percy Heath , and Albert Heath . He joined his brothers in California to perform as the Montgomery Brothers for the Monterey Jazz Festival . The Mastersounds had broken up, and Buddy and Monk had signed with Fantasy and recorded (with Wes) The Montgomery Brothers , followed by Groove Yard . Montgomery recorded another album as

864-404: The age of 19 and spent a year teaching himself how to play by imitating the recordings of Christian. Although he hadn't intended to become a musician, he felt obligated to learn after buying the guitar. Montgomery received no formal instruction and couldn't read music. By the age of twenty, he was performing in clubs in Indianapolis at night, copying Christian's solos, while working during the day at

900-439: The album Full House . This was followed by Fusion! (1963), his first instrumental pop album. After two more organ trio jazz sessions for Riverside Records in 1963 ( Boss Guitar and Portrait of Wes ), Montgomery left the label for Verve Records . At Verve, Montgomery began working with producer Creed Taylor , who produced Montgomery for the rest of the guitarist's life. His first Verve release, Movin' Wes (1964),

936-650: The festival include the St Matthew Passion in 2008 and Handel's Messiah in 2005. Schuller's association with Spokane began with guest conducting the Spokane Symphony for one week in 1982. He then served as Music Director from 1984 to 1985 and later regularly appeared as a guest conductor. Schuller also served as Artistic Director to the nearby Festival at Sandpoint. In 2005, the Boston Symphony, New England Conservatory, and Harvard University presented

972-402: The main source for his soloing ideas and sounds. Instead of using a guitar pick, Montgomery plucked the strings with the fleshy part of his thumb, using down strokes for single notes and a combination of up strokes and down strokes for chords and octaves. He developed this technique not for technical reasons but for the benefit of his neighbors and not waking his children. He worked long hours as

1008-509: The morning. He was a smoker who had blackouts while trying to maintain this busy schedule. During one performance, the audience included Cannonball Adderley , George Shearing, and Lennie Tristano . Adderley was so impressed by Montgomery's guitar playing that he persuaded Orrin Keepnews to sign him to Riverside . Keepnews was also persuaded by a gushing review written by Gunther Schuller . In New York City Montgomery recorded A Dynamic New Sound,

1044-410: The nickname "Wes" was a child's abbreviation of his middle name, Leslie. The family was large, and the parents split up early in the lives of the children. Montgomery and his brothers moved to Columbus, Ohio , with their father and attended Champion High School . His older brother Monk dropped out of school to sell coal and ice, gradually saving enough money to buy Wes a four-string tenor guitar from

1080-698: The son of German parents Elsie (Bernartz) and Arthur E. Schuller, a violinist with the New York Philharmonic . He studied at the Saint Thomas Choir School and became an accomplished French horn player and flute player. At age 15, he was already playing horn professionally with the American Ballet Theatre (1943) followed by an appointment as principal hornist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1943–45), and then

1116-426: The songs were released by Pacific Jazz on the album The Montgomery Brothers and Five Others , while others were issued on Fingerpickin' (Pacific Jazz, 1958). The Mastersounds remained in California when Montgomery returned to Indianapolis to work in his trio with organist Melvin Rhyne . He worked as a welder during the day to support his wife and seven children, then performed at two clubs at night until well into

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1152-439: Was an American jazz vibraphonist and pianist. He was the younger brother of Wes and Monk Montgomery , a guitarist and bassist respectively. Buddy and brother Monk formed The Mastersounds in the late 1950s and produced ten recordings. When The Mastersounds disbanded, Monk and Buddy joined their brother Wes on a number of Montgomery Brothers recordings, which were mostly arranged by Buddy. They toured together in 1968, and it

1188-636: Was an instrumental pop album arranged by Johnny Pate . It quickly sold more than 100,000 copies and repositioned Montgomery within the recording industry as a crossover artist capable of significant LP sales. At Verve, Montgomery released his last two small-group jazz albums (a 1965 collaboration with Wynton Kelly , and a 1966 collaboration with organist Jimmy Smith ), but his main focus was recording contemporary pop hits as instrumentals. Montgomery had notable success with his versions of " California Dreamin' ", " Tequila ", and " Goin' Out of My Head ". After moving to A&M , Montgomery had his biggest radio hit,

1224-632: Was call home to his wife and family. He was given the opportunity to play with Charles Mingus , Milt Buckner , and Fats Navarro , but not the opportunity he hoped for, and he returned to Indianapolis a better player, though tired and discouraged. He resumed performing at local clubs, this time with the Eddie Higgins Trio and the Roger Jones Quintet, playing with Eddie Higgins , Walter Perkins , and Leroy Vinnegar . He joined his brothers Buddy and Monk and saxophonist Alonzo "Pookie" Johnson in

1260-696: Was his editing and posthumous premiering at Lincoln Center in 1989 of Charles Mingus 's immense final work, Epitaph , subsequently released on Columbia/Sony Records. He was the author of two major books on the history of jazz, Early Jazz (1968) and The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 . His students included Irwin Swack , Ralph Patt , John Ferritto , Mohammed Fairouz , Gitta Steiner , Oliver Knussen , Nancy Zeltsman , Riccardo Dalli Cardillo and hundreds of others. See: List of music students by teacher: R to S#Gunther Schuller . From 1993 until his death, Schuller served as Artistic Director for

1296-523: Was in the middle of that tour that Wes died. Buddy continued to compose, arrange, perform, produce, teach and record, producing nine recordings as a leader. Buddy first played professionally in 1948; in 1949 he played with Big Joe Turner and soon afterwards with Slide Hampton . After a period in the Army, where he had his own quartet, he joined The Mastersounds as a vibraphonist with his brother Monk, pianist Richie Crabtree and drummer Benny Barth in 1957. He led

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