Fusion! Wes Montgomery with Strings
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 and A&M labels.It has been reissued in the Original Jazz Classics series with additional alternate takes and all the tracks are also available on the Wes Montgomery compilation CD-set The Complete Riverside Recordings.
Reception
In his AllMusic review, music critic Scott Yanow 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 on ballads... worth picking up; the music is quite pretty and pleasing."Track listing
- "All the Way" – 2:39
- "Pretty Blue" – 3:40
- "Pretty Blue" – 2:58
- "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" – 2:51
- "Prelude to a Kiss" – 3:08
- "The Girl Next Door" – 3:08
- "My Romance" – 2:31
- "God Bless the Child" – 3:19
- "Tune Up" – 3:14
- "Tune Up" – 5:09
- "Tune Up" – 4:44
- "Somewhere" – 3:30
- "Baubles, Bangles & Beads" – 2:19
Personnel
- Wes Montgomery – guitar
- Milt Hinton – bass
- Kenny Burrell – guitar
- Dick Hyman – piano, celesta
- Hank Jones – piano, celesta
- Osie Johnson – drums
- Phil Bodner – woodwinds
- Burt Fisch – viola
- Ralph Hersh – viola
- Alfred Brown – viola
- Leo Kruczek – violin
- Harry Lookofsky – violin
- Mac Ceppos – violin
- Winston Collymore – violin
- Arnold Eidus – violin
- David Nadien – violin
- Gene Orloff – violin, concert master
- Raoul Poliakin – violin
- Samuel Rand – violin
- Sylvan Shulman – violin
- Paul Winter – violin
- Isadore Zir – violin
- George Ricci – cello
- Lucien Schmit – cello
- Charles McCracken – cello
- Kermit Moore – cello
- Margaret Ross – harp
- Gloria Agostini – harp
- Orrin Keepnews – producer
- Ray Fowler – engineer
- Jimmy Jones – conductor, arranger