''Fusion!: Wes Montgomery with Strings'' is an album by the American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1963.
History
''Fusion'' was the first album Montgomery recorded with a string section. This would become more commonplace on his later releases on the
Verve
Verve may refer to:
Music
* The Verve, an English rock band
* ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve
* ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album)
* Verve Records, an American jazz record label
Businesses
* Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...
Original Jazz Classics
Original Jazz Classics (or OJC) is a record label that founded in 1983 as an imprint of Fantasy Records.
Under this name original editions of jazz LPs have been reissued on CD and LP, and formerly on cassette as well. The recordings in the seri ...
series with additional alternate takes and all the tracks are also available on the Wes Montgomery compilation CD-set '' The Complete Riverside Recordings''.
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref>
Biography
Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles.
Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...
praised the album: "As with his later albums, Montgomery's guitar solos here are brief and melodic but the jazz content is fairly high even if the emphasis is (with the exception of 'Tune Up') on ballads... worth picking up; the music is quite pretty and pleasing."
Jimmy Van Heusen
James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song.
Life and care ...
, Sammy Cahn) – 2:39
#"Pretty Blue" (Wes Montgomery) – 3:40
#"Pretty Blue" lternate take(Montgomery) – 2:58
#"In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" (Mann, Hilliard) – 2:51
#" Prelude to a Kiss" (
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
,
Irving Mills
Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 16, 1894 – April 21, 1985) was an American music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz artist promoter. He sometimes used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose.
Personal
Mills was ...
, Irving Gordon) – 3:08
#"The Girl Next Door" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin) – 3:08
#" My Romance" (
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...
,
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...
Tune Up Tune up may refer to:
* Service (motor vehicle)
* "Tune Up", a Miles Davis jazz standard
* ''Tune-Up!
''Tune-Up!'' is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1972 and released on the Cobblestone label.Miles Davis) – 3:14
#"Tune Up" lternate take(Davis) – 5:09
#"Tune Up" lternate take(Davis) – 4:44
#" Somewhere" (
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
,
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...
) – 3:30
#"
Baubles, Bangles & Beads
"Baubles, Bangles & Beads" is a popular song from the 1953 musical '' Kismet'', credited to Robert Wright and George Forrest.
Background
Like almost all the music in that show, the melody was based on works by Alexander Borodin, in this case ...
" (
George Forrest George Forrest may refer to:
*G. Topham Forrest (George Topham Forrest, 1872–1945), principal architect for the London County Council
*George Forrest (author) (1915–1999), American author and musician
*George Forrest (botanist) (1873–1932), S ...
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...
Milt Hinton
Milton John Hinton (June 23, 1910 – December 19, 2000) was an American double bassist and photographer.
Regarded as the Dean of American jazz bass players, his nicknames included "Sporty" from his years in Chicago, "Fump" from his time on the ...
–
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
Dick Hyman
Richard Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Art ...
celesta
The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...
*
Hank Jones
Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored ...
celesta
The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
Harry Lookofsky
Harry Lookofsky (1 October 1913 – 8 June 1998) was an American jazz violinist. He was also the father of keyboardist-songwriter Michael Brown, who most notably was a founding member of The Left Banke and Stories.
History
Harry Lookofsky w ...
Arnold Eidus
Arnold Eidus (28 November 1922 – 3 June 2013) was a concert violinist and recording artist.
Life
Eidus's father (Harry Eidus, 1897–1984), a Jewish immigrant from Dvinsk, Latvia, was a violinist; his mother (Sadie "Sonia" Birkenfeld, 190 ...
Paul Winter
Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...
– violin
* Isadore Zir – violin
* George Ricci – cello
* Lucien Schmit – cello
* Charles McCracken – cello
* Kermit Moore – cello
* Margaret Ross –
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
* Gloria Agostini – harp
Production notes:
* Orrin Keepnews – producer
* Ray Fowler – engineer
* Jimmy Jones – conductor, arranger