Wes Montgomery is widely regarded as the greatest jazz guitarist of all time. His work has been dissected, analyzed, and copied millions of times. His influence as a jazz guitarist has thus far been unsurpassed and will probably remain so for a very long time. One would be hard-pressed to find a straight-ahead player who has not spent a significant amount of time learning the Montgomery catalog, octaves and all. He is, for lack of a better term, the man!

I thought I had read (and bought) everything that was out there about Montgomery and his music, so you could imagine my surprise when a random trip to my local Sam Ash music store resulted in the discovery of this little gem of a book, a transcription of Montgomery’s “Jazz Icons”  live performance DVD from 1965 called “625 Alive: The Wes Montgomery BBC Performance Transcribed” by Tim Fitzgerald.

(Jazz 625 is the name of the program in which the performance was recorded, in case you were wondering.)

Jazz Icons: Wes Montgomery, Live in '65

After a very brief introduction, the book kicks off with an interview from pianist Harold Mabern, who played with Montgomery starting in 1964. It’s an easy-going interview, but there were a few revelations about Montgomery and his playing that I had not previously heard. I’m not going to tell you what they are, so you’re just going to have to track the book down yourself if you want to know. After the interview the transcriptions start.

I have not dug through every note in the book, but the transcriptions seem accurate and careful attention was made in trying to properly notate Montgomery’s nuanced playing. Although there are only six songs, there is absolutely enough material contained within to give you plenty of years of material to work on; such was the depth of Montgomery’s playing. Each transcription is also prefaced by a quick but thorough analysis of the solo, which offers great insight into how his solos were structured.

Overall I think the book is very well done. If I had to offer one complaint, I think the way the chords were identified in each song could have been executed better. What I mean by that is, in most cases the chords named above the staff are related to what Montgomery played, not what the original chord of the song structure is. I understand why this was done, but I would much rather have seen the original chord progression written and then Montgomery’s substitutions and alterations shown in small script right below. This way the reader gets a much better understanding of what is going on.

But that’s a very minor complaint given the fact that we have a transcribed account of Montgomery’s live playing. I do recommend this book for anyone interested in jazz or Montgomery’s style.