Full house – two aces over three kings. Perfect.
On the night of June 25th 1962 Wes Montgomery played a gig at the Tsubo in Berkeley* backed by three members of Miles Davis’ sextet** and a passing Johnny ‘Little Giant’ Griffin.
Full House, played to an appreciative full house too.
Like 80.35% of all the jazz I have discovered in adulthood Full House was leant to me by my friend Martin a couple of years ago and Wes Montgomery was sold to me as the only man who could be considered a potential equal of Grant Green in the field of jazz guitaristics.
Like 80.96% of all LPs Martin lends me, I bought my own copy before I had finished playing it for the first time.
I have to confess that the guitar is not really in my top rank of jazz instruments, a prejudice I inherited from my mum. I don’t own any Grant Green^ and aside from Full House my jazz guitar collection is limited to a solitary Kenny Burrell LP along with an Alan Holdsworth mini-LP. Wes wins.
I have read and utterly failed to understand various learned screeds about why Montgomery’s playing is so unique, you know stuff along the lines of ‘he played octave fourths arpeggiated across a descending vista of backhanded string bending syncopated third nodules’. It’s the sort of thing that very occasionally puts me off writing about jazz. Unfairly in this case as Full House is gloriously welcoming and easy.
A quick word about the band, you didn’t get to survive playing for Miles unless you were an apex musician with a strong individual flavour. The three tetters here, Paul Chambers on bass, Wynton Kelly on piano and Jimmy Cobb on drums are simply sublime. They all routinely dazzle throughout Full House, by which I mean they drive and embellish every single moment on it, without ever being showy.
If you want showy Johnny ‘Little Giant’ Griffin is your man and I mean no slight at all by that. His tenor sax playing is fierce and yet contained on every cut here, he plays with real intent like a disciplined young gunslinger with something to prove, albeit always in the service of the tune.
Opening with the title track Full House is a great move, this LP fizzes into being, all slinky strutting and clever syncopation melded together in a great tune. Before you really register the fact Montgomery has swished past you with a wonderfully gentle, unshowy, smooth solo which cleaves so closely to the melody you don’t get that separation from the song’s main body that I dislike; that whole ‘Behold my virtuosity, mortal!’ thing.
I also rather enjoy the audience applause after some of the solos and passages. What a wonderful thing this would be transposed into everyone’s workplace. An approving round of applause everytime I finish an audit, or draft a particularly affecting report would really enliven my quotidian travails no end.
The solo reading of ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face’^^ is nothing shy of beautiful. Wes plays with such delicacy and lyricism on this cut that I defy the listener not to see sunshine and smell roses while it plays.
The weakest cut on Full House is ‘Blue ‘n’ Boogie’, which bops fast but ultimately in this company is lesser, despite being the beneficiary of Griffin’s fiercest blowing on this LP.
In contrast ‘Cariba’ is amazing, a fast Latin-gilded treat with a wonderful swinging quality, Jimmy Cobb is unobtrusively excellent on this one. Wes’ solos are lyrical and so expressive. Every time I listen I am mystically transported to a beach-front dancefloor, throwing out fancy footwork to an adoring crowd of admirers and paramours; an all too typical Monday night out for me.
The suitably optimistic ‘Come Rain Or Come Shine’ is illuminated by some great flowing sax by Griffin, that switches seamlessly into yet another understated Montgomery solo. The more I listen I think there is almost a self-deprecating manner about his playing which makes it even more appealing.
Full House signs off on a brisk note with ‘S.O.S’, Griffin playing fast sat astride a galloping rhythm section. There’s a note of real soul about this track and Montgomery plays his fastest solo here, to great affect.
My copy of Full House is an unnecessarily long 3LP version, featuring all manner of other takes than the ones used on the LP proper. Its never quite explained how this was done, how live was it? did they record several sets? or just multiple takes?
To my ears it is all a bit superfluous and a lovely bluesy track called ‘Born To Be Blue’ aside, it dilutes rather than adds any real value for me. Demos, alternate takes etc. usually do.
I commend Full House to any of you out there who like jazz, who like guitar, who like melody, who like yourselves. It really is a delicious treat, a great document of the confluence of 5 huge talents combining in the service of one man’s rather unassuming genius.
1288 Down.
*closed only 4 months after the gig it reopened as the Jabberwock and played a role in the folk and early psych scene. The site is now a garden, which is a far nicer fate than I had expected it to have.
**unsure if these three comprise the sex, or indeed the tet.
^fact true at time of writing, not necessarily so at time of reading.
^^from 1537-approved musical My Fair Lady.
You’re words are always worth the effort. sometimes you hit it out of the park. This take is a case in point. Perfect. The comments are inspired by you and Wes and the great band. The album is a killer and Wes gets reached for at my place more and more as the years pass. Good on you for bringing his sound brought into the light.
I appreciate the footnote system as always, Joe!
Thank you Geoff, you always had an eye for the finer things.
This was, err, nice? I am not a jazz fan by any means (too much Abba / Sabbat / Manics at impressionable ages…) and I know nish all about this sort of stuff, but there was definitely a cool energy to some of this. Other times I just found myself switching off. But as ever 1537 I’d an education, just don’t make me do Jazz GCSE!
My friend Richard (vibes and sax player for Leeds band the Sorcerers) did a degree in jazz – I just can’t imagine the complexities of it all.
Wes is a nice gentle into to guitar jazz and a lot of his moves were borrowed by the rock performers who were to follow.
I’ve spent best part of the day looking for my Wes Montgomery albums, they are hiding from me, perhaps at my son’s house. I’m now ona mission, this sounds like something I want to hear, I think I own it but I can’t find it. I’m going to track my kid down, he has a habit of “borrowing” albums.
I have sympathies in both camps Neil, as a proud collector and as the scrote who ‘borrowed’ his dad’s 1st edition Black Sabbath debut about 20 years ago.
Ain’t Wes great though?
I have been there a few times. Blame 1537 for sending you on a Wes hunt.
This is an excellent idea
Been looking for a Wes Montgomery entry point & this one might just be it.
(Also, I had picked up Grant Green’s Idle Moments a while back, which I like a fair bit, but I haven’t looked at adding anything else yet).
Hola my friend! I couldn’t recommend this one enough to you, GGs Idle Moments is gorgeous but I still balk a bit at guitar jazz. It’s in my DNA a bit, like my issues with Jethro Tull …
It took Wes to bring J back.
You don’t own any Grant Green.
YOU DON’T OWN ANY GRANT GREEN?!!!
(Pause to regain composure)
“Full House” is a great set and I enjoyed your review very much. Although released in 1962, it somehow has a little of that fizzing rock ’n’ roll energy that those Liverpool lads took to the US a short while later. A fine LP. (Often there were multiple sets played at small clubs, with the best versions combined for the album.)
Wes’s later “Willow Weep for Me” (1968) was actually one of my very first jazz purchases, back in the steam driven wind up turntable days of yore. Seeking popularity (and a more substantial income) he succumbed to label pressure and recorded more popular tunes in the second half of the 60s, often with strings added. These veer dangerously close to dinner party music. So what a great loan from Martin, and thanks for deciding my morning spin.
Talk to me about Grant G.
Haha, umm, don’t hurt me? Or at least, not the face Bruce, please not the face!!
I love Wes and I agree totally that his playing seems more readily traceable in rock’s DNA later on too. I own this one and I have heard a couple others but none of his dinner party music phase. Still, can’t blame the man, he was a welder with a family to support.
As for GG, Martin has about 25LPs of his. I love Idle Moments and Talkin About but , you know, lots of music, limited cash. I do have him as a sideman on quite a few Blue Note records. So I’m not a total GG agnostic.