Wes Montgomery › Similar Artists

Pat Martino - 100% match to Wes Montgomery

Pat Azzara, 25 April 1944, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Martino’s singer father encouraged him to play guitar and he received some instruction from his cousin. He was a professional guitarist by the age of 15, playing with saxophonists Willis Jackson and Red Holloway. He played in all the leading organ combos of the 60s: with Don Patterson, Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack Read more

Joe Pass - 89% match to Wes Montgomery

Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua, 13 January 1929, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, d. 23 May 1994, Los Angeles, California, USA. In his mid- and late teens guitarist Pass worked with a number of name bands, including those led by Tony Pastor and Charlie Barnet. From the early 50s until the beginning of the following decade, Pass dwelt in self-imposed obscurity playing when a Read more

Grant Green - 85% match to Wes Montgomery

6 June 1935, St Louis, Missouri, USA, d. 31 January 1979, New York City, New York, USA. Heavily influenced by Charlie Christian, guitarist Green first played professionally with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest and made his recording debut on organist Brother Jack McDuff’s classic 1960 session, The Honeydripper. Although noted particularly for his work in organ-guitar-dr Read more

Kenny Burrell - 75% match to Wes Montgomery

Kenneth Earl Burrell, 31 July 1931, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Coming from a family that encouraged music (all his three brothers were musicians), Burrell studied classical guitar for a mere 18 months (1952-53). In 1955 he received a Bachelor of Music degree from Detroit’s Wayne University. He played guitar with the Candy Johnson Sextet in 1948, with Count Belcher in 1949 Read more

Jim Hall - 70% match to Wes Montgomery

James Stanley Hall, 4 December 1930, Buffalo, New York, USA. While studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall made his first professional appearances playing guitar in local bands. In the mid-50s he settled on the west coast, where he continued his studies and also played with Chico Hamilton’s quintet. In 1956 he became a member of Jimmy Giuffre’s trio, the Read more

Tal Farlow - 68% match to Wes Montgomery

Talmadge Holt Farlow, 7 June 1921, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, d. 25 July 1998, Sea Bright, New Jersey, USA. Although his father was an amateur musician, Tal Farlow did not begin playing guitar until 1942, working as a professional sign-painter for several years. Before the decade was out he had achieved a sufficiently high standard to be hired by cabaret singer Dardane Read more

Herb Ellis - 51% match to Wes Montgomery

Mitchell Herbert Ellis, 4 August 1921, Farmersville, Texas, USA. In 1941 Ellis attended North Texas State College, where his fellow students included Jimmy Giuffre. After graduation, he played guitar in a number of big bands, including the Casa Loma Orchestra and the Jimmy Dorsey outfit. He was next with Soft Winds, a trio formed from the Dorsey rhythm section with Johnny F Read more

Barney Kessel - 49% match to Wes Montgomery

17 October 1923, Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA, d. 6 May 2004, San Diego, California, USA. After playing in various bands (including one led by Chico, the piano-playing Marx brother), Kessel began to establish a name for himself on the west coast. He appeared in the Norman Granz -produced short film Jammin’ The Blues (1944), then played in various big bands of the late swing Read more

Kurt Rosenwinkel - 47% match to Wes Montgomery

Kurt Peter Rosenwinkel, 28 October 1970, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Playing guitar from an early age, Rosenwinkel’s musical ears were opened by the music of Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Bill Frisell. After briefly attending Berklee College Of Music in Boston, in the late 80s he moved to New York where he joined Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band, an associat Read more

George Benson - 45% match to Wes Montgomery

22 March 1943, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. This guitarist and singer successfully planted his feet in both the modern jazz and easy-listening pop camps in the mid-70s when jazz pop as well as jazz rock became a most lucrative proposition. Before a move to New York in 1963, he had played in various R&B outfits local to Pittsburgh, including the Altairs and the Four Cou Read more

Jimmy Smith - 45% match to Wes Montgomery

James Oscar Smith, 8 December 1925 (1928 is also cited by some sources), Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 8 February 2005, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. The sound of the Hammond Organ in jazz was popularized by Smith, often using the prefix ‘the incredible’ or ‘the amazing’. He became the most famous jazz organist of all times and possibly the most influenti Read more

John Scofield - 45% match to Wes Montgomery

26 December 1951, Dayton, Ohio, USA. From an early background of playing with local R&B groups in Connecticut where he was raised, guitarist Scofield attended the renowned Berklee College Of Music in Boston during the early 70s. He recorded with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker and eventually received an invitation to join Billy Cobham as replacement for John Abercrombie. F Read more

Freddie Hubbard - 42% match to Wes Montgomery

Frederick Dewayne Hubbard, 7 April 1938, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Hubbard began playing trumpet as a child, and in his teens worked locally with Wes Montgomery and Monk Montgomery. When he was 20 he moved to New York, immediately falling in with the best of contemporary jazzmen. Amongst the musicians with whom he worked in the late 50s were Eric Dolphy (his room-mate for Read more

Bill Evans Trio - 37% match to Wes Montgomery

Horace Silver - 37% match to Wes Montgomery

Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva, 2 September 1928, Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. Silver studied piano and tenor saxophone at school, settling on the former instrument for his professional career. Early influences included Portuguese folk music (from his father), blues and bop. He formed a trio for local gigs which included backing visiting musicians. One such visitor, Stan Get Read more