Word: wes
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...Francisco's Jazz Workshop in 1960. Wes has learned to improvise, to say the least. But only now, at 37, has he finally budged from In dianapolis in order to join his brothers Monk and Buddy in a group called the Mastersounds. His playing, though bristling with authority, is unorthodox: he plucks the strings with his thumb in stead of his fingers or a plectrum, giving a rounded, intense tone, and he phrases in short, jabbing bursts instead of the looping legatos of most post-Christian guitarists. Enter Jazz Critic Ralph Gleason...
...Wes: For a long time guys have told me my playing is different, but I couldn't hear it myself. I thought they just wanted me to buy them a drink...
...recording studio just outside Manhattan in 1965. Wes is now firmly ensconced as the top guitarist in jazz, admired and imitated by fellow musicians, triumphant in critics' polls. But in the commercial music world beyond jazz he is still a nonentity. Enter Record Producer Creed Taylor...
...Wes: Man, to me that would be as bad as doing Elvis Presley tunes. Besides, technically I don't know what I'm doing. I get nervous when I see other musicians with paper all over their stands-and me with nothing...
...present. Scene: a jazz club anywhere. Starting with Coin' Out of My Head, Wes's pop-jazz albums have brought a huge, diverse new audience thronging to his in-person appearances. For a solid nine months, one or the other of his recordings has held the No. 1 spot in Billboard's bestseller chart of jazz LPs. This week A Day in the Life, which has sold a whopping 250,000 copies, is at the top of the chart for the 32nd consecutive week...