10. Wes MontgomerySmokin’ At The Half Note
This is with Wynton Kelly who is also on Kind Of Blue. I love his piano playing immensely. Wes Montgomery was another innovative player because he didn’t use a pick. He used his thumb and fingers to play, which gave his guitar a warmer sound than most whereas Django played with a very, very thick and heavy pick to get that very percussive sound. Wes Montgomery was the total opposite with this ultra warm sound that was very fluid. The man could do a solo of just chords; he was just the master of that. I think a lot of jazz players, or any kind of guitar player really, find listening to him very inspiring no matter what style you play.
