1. William Howard "Monk" Montgomery was an American jazz bassist.
16 Facts About Monk Montgomery
1. 2.
Monk Montgomery was a pioneer of the electric bass guitar and possibly the first to be recorded playing the instrument when he participated in a 1953 session released on The Art Farmer Septet.
3.
Monk Montgomery was the brother of jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery and vibraphonist Buddy Montgomery.
4.
Monk Montgomery gave his younger brother Wes a tenor guitar when Wes was 11 or 12.
5.
Monk Montgomery himself did not take up the double bass until he was 30, after hearing one of Wes' groups perform.
6.
Monk Montgomery is perhaps the first electric bassist of significance to jazz, taking up the Fender Precision Bass in 1952 or '53, after replacing Roy Johnson in the Lionel Hampton Orchestra.
7.
Monk Montgomery said his biggest influences as a bassist were Jimmy Blanton, Ray Brown, and Charles Mingus.
8.
Monk Montgomery played electric bass with his thumb and adapted his jazz playing from double bass to electric.
9.
Monk Montgomery worked in a foundry and played gigs on upright bass at night in Indianapolis.
10.
Chuck Rainey said that Monk Montgomery was the first electric bassist to record, in any genre.
11.
Monk Montgomery toured and recorded in Europe with Hampton in late 1953.
12.
In 1955, Monk Montgomery moved to Seattle to form The Mastersounds from 1957 to 1960.
13.
The Monk Montgomery Brothers reformed, and made a series of albums in 1961.
14.
In 1964 and 1965, Monk Montgomery performed on two albums by The Jazz Crusaders, and members of that band went on to produce and play on his first two solo albums.
15.
Monk Montgomery died of cancer in Las Vegas on May 20,1982.
16.
Monk Montgomery had a wife, Amelia, three sons, and four stepchildren.