The song of the day comes from Wes Montgomery and his “Canadian Sunset”, a sublime ode to love and the Far North, with a groove that warms hearts and bodies.
It was while listening to Charlie Christian’s Solo Flight that young Wes (Wes, short for Leslie) discovered jazz. He was 19 years old. Overwhelmed by the subtlety of Charlie Christian’s playing, he ran out and bought an electric guitar. He began by doing covers, mainly of his idol of the moment. A melodic copy-and-paste to which he added a light, controlled texture that opened the doors to clubs, where he gave his first concerts.
This was his only training, that of a self-taught fan.
After the war, in 1948 Wes joined the orchestra of vibraphone genius Lionel Hampton. He spent two years touring with him.
In 1953, Wes Montgomery released “Boss Guitar”, an album in which, for the first time, his record label Riverside gave him carte blanche in his choice of titles. Modestly, the “Guitarist with the Golden Thumb” (so named for his playing on the low E, which creates a rhythm/melody duality with a soft, fluid texture, when most guitarists use a pick) signed only 3 titles out of the 11 tracks on the LP, leaving the lion’s share to covers. An exercise in which he has excelled since his early musical days. Among the covers on Big Boss: “Besame mucho”, “The Breeze and I” and, above all, “Canadian Sunset”, a sublime song written by pianist Eddie Heywood Jr, with lyrics by Norman Gimbel. It’s about love, or rather the discovery of love in our beautiful country.
“A weekend in Canada, a change of scene
Was the most I bargained for
And then I discovered you and in your eyes
I found the love that I couldn’t ignore ”
Dean Martin gave a memorable performance:
Montgomery chose to make it an exclusively instrumental track, simply letting his Gibson sing (until his death at the age of 45, Wes remained faithful to the Orwell.S.Gibson brand and its L-5 CES half-body). His most famous disciple, George Benson, took up the exercise with a Montgomerian texture and warmth on “White Rabbit”, a tribute album released in 1974.
