Charles "Buddy" Montgomery (January 30, 1930 – May 14, 2009) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

vibraphonist The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

and pianist. He was the younger brother of Wes and

Monk Montgomery William Howard "Monk" Montgomery (October 10, 1921 – May 20, 1982) was an American jazz bassist. He was a pioneer of the electric bass guitar and possibly the first to be recorded playing the instrument when he participated in a 1953 session re ...

, 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 The Montgomery Brothers were a jazz trio consisting of the brothers Wes Montgomery (electric guitar, 1923–1968), Buddy Montgomery (piano, vibraphone, 1930–2009) and Monk Montgomery (electric bass, double bass, 1921–1982). During the mid-1 ...

recordings, which were mostly arranged by Buddy. They toured together in 1968, and it 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.

Biography

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 the "Montgomery-Johnson Quintet" with saxophonist Alonzo "Pookie" Johnson from 1955 to 1957. His earliest sessions as a leader are from the late 1950s. He played briefly with

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

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 the 1980s, that offered jazz classes and presented free concerts. He died in Palmdale of a heart attack, aged 79.

Discography

The Mastersounds

* ''

Jazz Showcase Jazz Showcase is one of the oldest jazz clubs in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1947 by NEA Jazz Master Joe Segal, whose son Wayne now owns and operates the venue. Segal's various showcases have served as a launch pad for a number of career jazz mu ...

'' (World Pacific, 1957) * ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...

'' (World Pacific, 1957) * '' Kismet'' (World Pacific, 1958) with Wes Montgomery * ''

Flower Drum Song ''Flower Drum Song'' was the eighth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, '' The Flower Drum Song'', by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway in 1958 and was then performed in the ...

'' (World Pacific, 1958) * '' Ballads & Blues'' (World Pacific, 1959) * '' The Mastersounds in Concert'' (World Pacific, 1959) * '' Happy Holidays from Many Lands'' (World Pacific, 1959) * '' The Mastersounds Play Horace Silver'' (World Pacific, 1960) * '' Swinging with the Mastersounds'' (Fantasy, 1961) * ''The Mastersounds on Tour'' (1961) * ''A Date with The Mastersounds'' (Fantasy, 1961)

Buddy Montgomery

* ''The Two-Sided Album'' (

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

, 1968) * ''

This Rather Than That ''This Rather Than That'' is an album by American jazz vibraphonist and pianist Buddy Montgomery recorded in 1969 for the Impulse! Records, Impulse! label.

'' ( Impulse!, 1969) * ''Ties'' (Bean, 1977) * ''

Ties of Love ''Ties of Love'' is an album by the pianist Buddy Montgomery, released by Landmark in 1987. The album, which was Montgomery's first in a decade, was recorded partly in New York with longtime producer Orrin Keepnews. Reception Scott Yanow of All ...

'' ( Landmark, 1986) * '' So Why Not?'' (Landmark, 1988) * '' Live at Maybeck Recital Hall'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...

, 1991) * ''Here Again'' (Sharp Nine, 1997) * ''Icebreaker'' (Staalplaat, 2001) * ''A Love Affair in Paris'' (Space Time, 2002) * ''A Day in the Life'' (

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...

, 2006)

As sideman

The Montgomery Brothers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and Five Others (Pacific Jazz 1957) *

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

: ''Wes & Friends'' (Milestone, 1961) *

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 ...

with the Montgomery Brothers: ''

George Shearing and the Montgomery Brothers ''George Shearing and the Montgomery Brothers'' is an album by Anglo-American jazz pianist George Shearing and jazz trio The Montgomery Brothers, released in 1961. Reception In his Allmusic review, music critic Scott Yanow called the album an " ...

'' (Jazzland, 1961) * Roy Harte &

Milt Holland Milton Holland (born Milton Olshansky; February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene. He pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percus ...

- ''Perfect Percussion: The 44 Instruments of Roy Harte & Milt Holland'', ( World-Pacific Records, 1961) *

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

: '' Do Nothing 'til You Hear from Me'' (Riverside, 1963) *

Charlie Rouse Charlie Rouse (April 6, 1924 – November 30, 1988) was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and flautist. His career is marked by his collaboration with Thelonious Monk, which lasted for more than ten years. Biography Rouse was born in Was ...

: '' Epistrophy'' (Landmark, 1988) * Bobby Hutcherson: '' Cruisin' the 'Bird'' (Landmark, 1988) * David Fathead Newman: '' Blue Head'' ( Candid, 1990) Live, with

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Buddy Musicians from Indianapolis American jazz vibraphonists American jazz pianists American male pianists 1930 births 2009 deaths Fantasy Records artists Impulse! Records artists Landmark Records artists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Montgomery Brothers members