Wes Montgomery - Jazz Guitar Artistry

Great addition to my library

~ There seems to be considerable confusion on Amazon.com regarding "Mel Bay Presents: Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Artistry". A search of variations of that title on Amazon will yield three entries for the original 1995 edition with transcriptions by Zafar Saalik Saood. The price for 'new' copies are (as of this writing in October 2012) a staggering $1,299.99, $147.50, and $17.95. The confusion is compounded by the fact that Amazon also lists the revised 2002 edition Mel Bay Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Artistry, but only lists one used copy available from an external seller. Really, Amazon has plenty of the 1995 edition but none of the 2002 revised edition? Strange.~ The revised 2002 edition has all new transcriptions by John Purse. A comparison of the revised book and the 'look inside' provided by Amazon on the 1995 edition show the transcripts to be dramatically different.~ Since Mel Bay publishers saw fit to completely revise the transcripts and the book in 2002, you may want to check which book you will receive if you order the book. I ordered the book in 2011 through Amazon using this entry in their catalog and received the revised edition mentioned above. For that reason, my review here is for the revised 2002 version.~ The transcripts by John Purse cover every single-note line, octave run, and chordal melody played by Wes on the original recordings. The transcripts are presented in both tab notation and standard musical notation with chord name indications. No chord diagrams are given (except on 'Jingles'), but it can be assumed that anyone advanced enough to take on these transcripts either knows the chord structures or has access to literature that shows the chord diagrams. There is no accompanying CD, so one needs to refer to the original Wes Montgomery recordings. The book does include a detailed discography listing numerous CDs that include the tunes transcribed herein. Some people may prefer to have the book accompanied by a rhythm section minus guitar CD. Likewise, there is no analysis or discussion of the music or the style. It is the lack of the CD and the lack of any discussion / analysis the caused me to lower the review to the 4-star level, but for an intermediate to advance guitar players familiar with the style of Wes Montgomery, these missing features may not diminish the value of this book. For those looking for an excellent analysis of Montgomery's style, try the hard to find Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Method or the more readily available Best of Wes Montgomery: Guitar (Signature Licks).~ The book contains: Full House (10 pages); Doujie (5 pages); Missle Blues (6 pages); Mi Cosa (4 pages); Work Song (3 pages); Double Deal (3 pages); Jingles (8 pages); So Do It (7 pages); Sack o' Woe (4 pages); Fall Out (2 pages); Unit 7 (9 pages); Jeannine (5 pages); Blue Roz (3 pages); Something Like Bags (5 pages). Two of the tracks are from Montgomery's small group recordings on Verve; the others are from his earlier Riverside, Jazzland, and Fantasy recordings. Another excellent book that covers different tune selections from this period of Wes Montgomery's recording career is Mel Bay Wes Montgomery The Early Years.~ I have not gone through every note and every chord of every song and compared the transcripts to the recordings. When using this or any other transcript book I look at the book as a guideline and method of learning the essence of the music and the style. I doubt that Wes Montgomery played these songs note-for-note exactly the same every time he performed, and I have no desire to play the songs as exact copies of the original recordings.~ Both editions of the book include an extensive 8-page essay on the style and history of Wes Montgomery - well worth reading.~ Recommended for intermediate and advanced guitar players.

A view days ago got the book "Mel Bay - Presents Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Artistry". I orderd it on the Amazone site online and within a view days it was here in the Netherlands. Thanks Amazone for your service.Open the book and see the songs written in Tabs and notes. Thats what I like the Tabs, so I can play my favorite songs from Wes Montgomery the man who motivate me to play and use my Jazz Guitar (Gibson ES 175).The books looks good, and well readable, the song are not so popular as the songs written in other books, but a I have bought this one for some particular songs like Full House, Unit 7, Sack o Woe and Jeannine.In the back of the book, a view pages writes the way Wes Montgomery plays with his "Thumb" and more nice reading.I am happy with this book nice to have and makes my collection of Wes Montgomery music in Tabs more complete. But sorry to say, If you like the music from Wes Montgomery and wanna have a fine and good book,... the book of "Wolf Marshal - Best of Wes Montgomery" is better, more complete and nicer to read.

neither of these two versions is accurate totally.If you compare both versions you can come up with a close interpretation of these songs.