Wes Montgomery’s ‘Bumpin’’ Getting Vinyl Reissue
The jazz guitar legend’s first Billboard charting album is coming to Verbe’s Acoustic Sounds Series.
Soon Wes Montgomery fans will be bumpin’ Bumpin’ on vinyl once again. The jazz guitar legend’s 1965 album will be reissued Dec. 12 as part of Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series.
Bumpin’ was a career milestone for Montgomery: his first album to reach the Billboard charts, as well as the first to be nominated for Grammys. At the 8th Annual Grammys in 1966, Bumpin’ had Montgomery in the running for Best Original Jazz Composition and Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Large Group or Soloist with Large Group.
Backed by Roger Kellaway on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Grady Tate on drums, plus an orchestra arranged and conducted by Don Sebesky, the guitarist shows off his delicate virtuosity throughout the album. The material ranges from smoky Latin jazz to freewheeling bop to swooning balladry, with compositions from talents like Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Mandel, John Francis Burke, and Montgomery himself.
Born in Indianapolis, Montgomery began teaching himself guitar at age 19, inspired by the music of Charlie Christian. He developed a unique style of jazz guitar that became wildly influential, making masterful use of octaves and thumb picking. Even guitarists beyond the jazz world, such as Jimi Hendrix, incorporated elements of Montgomery’s playing into their own.
In 2023, Jazz Guitar Today called him “the overall greatest jazz guitarist that ever lived,” while All Music Guide praises him as “the most influential jazz guitarist of the 1960s, who expanded the resources of the guitar in each of its main areas: chordal, melodic, and rhythmic.” Before his death at age 45 from a heart attack, he found extensive career success, including Grammy wins and chart-topping albums.
Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging. This year, the series has included titles from Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, the John Coltrane Quartet, Roland Kirk, Buddy Guy, Sonny Rollins, Diana Krall, Peggy Lee, Stan Getz, John Lee Hooker, and more.
