The sole surviving musical
Montgomery brother goes it alone for the microphones at Maybeck, demonstrating that he has more than enough of the solid musicianship and abundant technique that seems to go with the territory in this series...The usual blend of idioms -- bop-based with frequent immersions in earlier styles, mostly stride and classical derivations -- are lavished upon a collection of standards; "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" has an intriguing alternate re-harmonization of the tune. However, it is Montgomery's own tunes, "Who Cares" and "Money Blues," that deliver something resembling a personal signature, getting into some down-home bluesy rhetoric. Of course everything is superbly recorded. ~ Richard S. Ginell