Mr. Walker

Wes Montgomery (electric guitar), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Percy Heath (bass) and Albert Heath (drums). From the album The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (1960).

Tommy Flanagan was an American jazz pianist and composer. As a teenager he played in Detroit with Lucky Thompson’s band and after his military service he played with Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd and Yusef Lateef among others. In 1956 he moved to New York and recorded with Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, participating in Rollins’s album Saxophone Colossus. In 1957 he recorded several albums with J.J. Johnson and then toured Europe, where he recorded his first album as a leader. In 1959 he participated in John Coltrane’s Giant Steps album and in 1960 in Wes Montgomery’s The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery.

In 1961 and 1962 he toured Europe with Coleman Hawkins and from 1963 to 1965 he accompanied Ella Fitgerald on international tours while playing with other bands. Then he played with Art Farmer and Tony Bennet. From 1968 to 1978 he accompanied Ella Fitgerald again and from 1974 onwards he played and recorded as a leader. After leaving Fitgerald he played alone in New York and with other musicians, and during the 1980s and 1990s he led his own trio. He died in 2001 of an arterial aneurysm at the age of 71.

The group exposes the theme at medium tempo and Montgomery begins his solo calmly, but suddenly he accelerates his discourse in an unstoppable way doing acrobatics that seem to be impossible with a guitar. Then he starts his solo using octaves more slowly, but without losing his inventiveness. Flanagan follows him with beautiful and pleasant melodies, and the group re-exposes the theme fading out.