Buddy Montgomery – The Two-Sided Album
A weird little record by Buddy Montgomery – the vibes-playing member of the Montgomery family that also included Monk and Wes. The “2 sided” concept here means that side one features Montgomery in a quintet with Harold Mabern on piano, Montego Joe on congas, and Joe Farrell on tenor, and side two features a smaller group, a trio with Buddy, Monk, and Billy Hart, working through mellow versions of tunes from Camelot. This mixed approach was used often on Milestone sets of this vintage – like work by Bobby Timmons and Phil Upchurch – and as on some of those records, the clash of styles makes for interesting work, a bit loose at times, but a nice break from the more standard Prestige/Blue Note style. Titles include “Personage – Wes”, “Samba”, “Probin”, and “Blues For David” (Dusty Groove).
