WES MONTGOMERY — Bumpin' (review)

WES MONTGOMERY — Bumpin' album cover Album · 1965 · Pop/Art Song/Folk Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
js
“Bumpin” is a fairly typical 60s Verve/Creed Taylor album, sporting a beautiful gatefold album cover that houses well produced, but fairly commercial music that mixes jazz and pop elements. Some of these Verve albums are better than others, "Bumpin" has its moments, but its not one of the best, nor is it the worse either. The talented Wes Montgomery is the star and its no big surprise to see that Don Sebesky is the arranger. Sebesky is often the make or break on these songs as his orchestrations range from clever and modern, to over-done and syrupy sentimental.

The album opens with two of the best cuts, “Bumpin” is cool noire swing blues and Sebesky’s strings add perfect dark touches, and “Tear it Down” is one of the few ‘real jazz’ cuts on here with Montogomery taking a nice hard bop solo. Although “Tear it Down” isn’t a pop number, you still get the idea that Wes is being coached to take it easy. The following two cuts are classic 60s easy listening with “Con Aolma” being a pleasant listen with its Latin groove, harp glissandos and pizzacato string accents, but “A Quiet Thing” is unbearable in its massive sentimental schmaltz.

Side two continues with more cuts in the Latin flavored easy listening vibe with “Here’s that Rainy Day” featuring another well done, but relaxed guitar solo. The album closes out with “Musty”, another swing based blues that allows Wes to play some nice blues/jazz licks, but the song keeps getting swamped with Sebesky’s heavy handed strings. There are probably a few cuts on here that are of interest to Wes Montgomery fans, and a few more that might interest fans of 60s artsy easy listening and exotica, but there are a few cuts on here that are pure fluff, or worse. The title cut is the best, and makes for quite a find for the collector of interesting instrumentals. If you find this record for as cheap as I did, its worth it for that one track alone, plus there are a few other cuts that aren't too bad either.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Symphonic Blues No. 6 Third Stream
CORKY SIEGEL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recut Jazz Related Electronica/Hip-Hop
SKALPEL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Yuval Cohen Quartet : Winter Poems Post-Fusion Contemporary
YUVAL COHEN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Just Nu Jazz
JIM HART
Buy this album from MMA partners
Skrifum Post-Fusion Contemporary
JON BALKE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

SOLSTICE album release • Duo Russo - Holst
PAOLO RUSSO
js· 86 minutes ago
Akiko Yano & Hiromi - Kawarushi (Official Audio)
HIROMI
js· 1 day ago
All I Want For Christmas Is You
DAVID HAZELTINE
js· 1 day ago
Chicken
QUATUOR EBÈNE
js· 2 days ago
Det er en egen lomme
THE LEIF
js· 2 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed