The Lionel Hampton Story is an essential, comprehensive 4-CD retrospective box set compiled and released in 2000 by Proper Records. Spanning over two decades of restless musical activity, the 92-track anthology traces the legendary vibraphonist, drummer, and bandleader's transition from late-1930s Victor small-group swing sessions into his explosive, big band jump-blues era on Decca. Disc 1 highlights Hampton's legendary all-star Victor dates alongside swing icons Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Christian. Discs 2 through 4 chronicle his pioneering 1940s big bands—incubators for early R&B, bop, and soul featuring future masters Illinois Jacquet, Charles Mingus, Dinah Washington, Albert Ammons, and a young Wes Montgomery. Anchored by definitive hits like Flying Home, Hey, Ba-Ba-Re-Bop, Hamp's Boogie Woogie, and Midnight Sun, this release stands as a vital chronicle of swing's evolution into early rhythm & blues.

Released in 1966 on Verve Records, Jimmy and Wes (The Dynamic Duo), captures the only full-length studio collaboration between organist Jimmy Smith and guitarist Wes Montgomery. Produced by Creed Taylor and arranged by Oliver Nelson, Jimmy and Wes brought together two of jazz’s most distinctive voices in an expansive big band setting. Recorded over three days in September 1966 at Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs studio, the sessions featured a brass and reed-heavy ensemble and a top-tier rhythm section with drummer Grady Tate and bassist Richard Davis. Montgomery’s melodic guitar lines and Smith’s fiery organ grooves find a vibrant setting in Nelson’s tight, punchy arrangements – rich in harmonic color and rhythmic drive. The result is a rare meeting of two jazz giants, captured during a period of broad popular success, with the added presence of one of the era’s most accomplished arrangers.

On Encores, Vol. 2: Blue 'N' Boogie, the legendary American guitar icon, generational multi-instrumentalist, and masterfully panoramic architect of modern jazz phrasing Wes Montgomery is celebrated in a towering, historically volcanic, and beautifully swing-heavy archival document. Released in 1996 by Orrin Keepnews' specialized legacy reissue vanguard imprint Milestone Records, this monumental milestone stands as an exceptionally fluid, high-octane monument compiling brilliant unissued alternative takes and rare performances from Wes's absolute peak creative era. Spanning over 56 minutes of immaculate remastered spatial design across 10 expansive tracks, the historical landscape operates with an intense, beautifully syncopated, and masterfully balanced acoustic kinetic energy. Montgomery acts as a brilliant sonic visionary, weaponizing his revolutionary thumb-plucking technique, pristine parallel octaves, and peerless chordal blues geometries—tracking spectacular landmarks from the staggering 11-minute hard bop firestorm of Dizzy Gillespie's title cut Blue 'N' Boogie and a soaring, extended modal drive through Miles Davis's Tune-Up to a deeply poetic, space-conscious reading of Born To Be Blue. Surrounded by an absolute pantheon of hard bop royalty including Wynton Kelly, Johnny Griffin, Mel Rhyne, and Philly Joe Jones, this pristine archive remains an indispensable masterpiece for serious bop purists and classic jazz guitar collectors worldwide.

On this historical anthology, the legendary American guitar icon, generational multi-instrumentalist, and masterfully panoramic architect of jazz guitar phrasing Wes Montgomery is celebrated in a towering, historically volcanic, and beautifully swing-heavy archive document. Released in 1995 by the specialized independent European archival legacy vanguard imprint Giants Of Jazz, this monumental milestone stands as an exceptionally fluid, high-octane monument compiling Wes's absolute definitive early-1960s small group masterworks. Spanning over 73 minutes of immaculate remastered spatial design across 13 expansive tracks, the historical landscape operates with an intense, beautifully syncopated, and masterfully balanced acoustic kinetic energy. Montgomery acts as a brilliant sonic visionary, weaponizing his revolutionary thumb-plucking technique, pristine parallel octaves, and peerless chordal blues geometries alongside a legendary pantheon of hard bop royalty—tracking timeless, world-famous landmarks like Four On Six, West Coast Blues, Airegin, D-Natural Blues, and Twisted Blues. Backed by the unmatched piano artistry of Tommy Flanagan and Hank Jones, the resonant bass telemetry of Percy Heath, and a powerhouse rotation of master drummers, this pristine collection remains an indispensable masterpiece for serious bop purists and classic jazz guitar collectors worldwide.

On Classics Volume 22, the legendary American guitar icon, generational multi-instrumentalist, and masterfully panoramic architect of modern jazz phrasing Wes Montgomery is celebrated in a towering, historically luminous, and beautifully lush anthology document. Released in 1987 as part of the specialized legacy archival series by A&M Records, this monumental milestone stands as an exceptionally fluid, high-fidelity monument compiling Montgomery's absolute definitive late-1960s pop-jazz masterworks tracked under the visionary production umbrella of Creed Taylor and arranged by Don Sebesky. Spanning over 67 minutes of immaculate, widescreen spatial design across 20 tracks, the compilation operates with an intense, beautifully layered, and emotionally charged creative energy. Montgomery acts as a brilliant sonic visionary, weaponizing his revolutionary thumb-picking technique, pristine parallel octaves, and soaring chordal geometries against rich, cinematic orchestral and brass frameworks. Together, they trace spectacular landmarks including his charting pop-jazz anthems Windy and California Nights, his definitive, deeply soulful readings of The Beatles' classics A Day In The Life and Eleanor Rigby, and his legendary, groove-heavy signature standard Road Song. This pristine archive remains an indispensable masterpiece for serious jazz guitar purists and crossover soul-jazz collectors worldwide.

Jazz' Best is a spectacularly comprehensive, deeply definitive, and historically monumental acoustic jazz anthology released on double-compact disc in 1991 by the legendary Verve Records. Spanning over two hours and twenty minutes across 36 masterfully selected tracks, this high-fidelity archive serves as the ultimate primer and a luxurious overview of mid-century jazz history, gathering the absolute finest vocalists, instrumentalists, and bandleaders from the golden ages of Swing, Bebop, Hard Bop, and Bossa Nova. The collection brings together an unparalleled vanguard of jazz royalty, tracing the foundational lineage of the genre through its most iconic pairings and definitive ensemble sessions. Listeners are treated to the sublime, cool jazz breezes of Stan Getz, João and Astrud Gilberto on foundational bossa classics like The Girl From Ipanema and Desafinado, juxtaposed with the timeless, unparalleled vocal chemistry of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong on standard pillars like Summertime and Cheek To Cheek. From the block-chord brilliance of The Oscar Peterson Trio and the roaring Hammond B3 wizardry of Jimmy Smith, to the heartbreaking vocal mastery of Billie Holiday and the deep, breathy tenor saxophone dialogues of Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins, every single track represents a historic blueprint. Exceptionally preserved in pristine dual-format lossless and high-bitrate audio with full booklet artwork scans, this sweeping compilation stands as an absolute mandatory cornerstone for beginners and a prized collector's archive for global purists of elite jazz heritage and classic Verve catalog lore.

Guitarist Diorio knew Wes Montgomery and presents this tribute to his hero, but very little here sounds distinctly like Montgomery. It's all the brilliant leader in a variety of mostly trio settings, but duos and solos alternate on these twelve tracks. Bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Steve Bagby are both underrated jazz men like Diorio, but together the three mesh well, and on the non-trio tracks prove they have something to say on their own.

Full House, from influential jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, was originally released on the Riverside label. Recorded live at Tsubo in Berkeley, California on June 25, 1962 the album also features Johnny Griffin (sax), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Jimmy Cobb (drums). This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series.

Wes Montgomery acceded to the whims of producer Creed Taylor for this, one of the very first CTI productions that would, over the next decade, popularize jazz with string backdrops or rhythm & blues beats. Much to either the delight or chagrin of urban or traditional jazz fans, the music changed, and Montgomery was in the middle, though his delightful playing was essentially unchanged. On the plus side, the legendary guitarist was allowed to collaborate with great musicians like bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, flutist Hubert Laws, and percussionist Ray Barretto. While the small orchestral trappings never dominate this session, the seeds for a more grandiose style of music had been planted with the release of this date in 1968…

Bumpin’ was a career milestone for Montgomery: his first album to reach the Billboard charts, as well as the first to be nominated for Grammys. At the 8th Annual Grammys in 1966, Bumpin’ had Montgomery in the running for Best Original Jazz Composition and Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Large Group or Soloist with Large Group.

Wes Montgomery was one of the great jazz guitarists, a natural extension of Charlie Christian, whose appealing use of octaves became influential and his trademark. He achieved great commercial success during his last few years, only to die prematurely.

Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings is the first official release of the complete previously unissued recordings from jazz guitar giant Wes Montgomery with the Wynton Kelly Trio at the famed Half Note jazz club in New York City in 1965 with drummer Jimmy Cobb and bassists Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Herman Wright and Larry Ridley. Including over 2 hours from the original radio broadcasts with host Alan Grant, the deluxe 2-CD set is mastered by Matthew Lutthans. 2023 marks Wes Montgomery’s Centennial (born March 6, 1923), and this is Resonance’s 7th release of Wes Montgomery recordings in cooperation with the estate. Now Wes Montgomery fans can hear the rest of the music from the Half Note that was only broadcast on the radio nearly 60 years ago.

Originally released in 1963, Boss Guitar is the 8th album from influential and prolific jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Released on the legendary Riverside label it also features Melvine Rhyne (organ) and Jimmy Cobb (drums) across a selection of standards and Montgomery originals.

Because it was recorded between two of Wes Montgomery's best-known albums (Incredible Jazz Guitar and So Much Guitar), this particular LP is a bit underrated. The great guitarist is teamed with flutist James Clay (who switches to tenor on Montgomery's "So Do It!"), pianist Victor Feldman, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Louis Hayes for four standards (highlighted by Clifford Brown's "Sandu" and "Body and Soul"), Sam Jones' "Says You," and two Montgomery originals. This is an often overlooked gem.