Ep 420 - All That Jazz w/ Monte Montgomery

Like many hip youngsters of my generation, at some point in my twenties I got Jazz-pilled by Beat literature, with writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg name-dropping bop-era musicians like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and many more, sending me to Limewire to download mp3s of 1950s and 1960s Jazz. In recent years, my casual appreciation has turned into a more intense investigation of music history and practice, particularly after discovering “The Grape,” a Jazz club in my neighborhood that’s overflowing with colorful characters and musical adventure. My guest today is one of those characters: Monte Montgomery is a multi-instrumentalist, former touring funk guitarist, and all around hip music dude. In this conversation, he shares highlights from his decades in music, from playing funk with a group of Black GIs on a military base in Germany at the age of 17, to entertaining celebrities and insanely rich people on the Beverly Hills philanthropic event circuit, to his current gig holding court on piano, guitar, and drums every Tuesday night at The Grape.

Check out my new ‘90s music podcast/video series with John Lombardo, 120 MONTHS: https://substack.com/@120months

Listen to our special News Trap episode on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with Justin Rogers-Cooper: https://www.patreon.com/posts/news-trap-8-30-w-137726055 

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