Monk Montgomery

Monk Montgomery (b. Indianapolis, October 10, 1921 – d. Las Vegas, May 20, 1982) – Bassist. Although his professional career did not start until age thirty, Monk Montgomery got his start playing with Lionel Hampton’s band from 1951 to 1953. At that time, Monk started playing the Fender Precision Bass making him possibly the first significant jazz artist to do so. Back in Indy, he played in the Montgomery-Johnson Quintet, which included his brothers Wes (guitar) and Buddy (piano) and Alonzo “Pookie” Johnson. In 1955, he moved to Seattle and later formed Mastersounds, which recorded ten records between 1957 and 1961. The group included Buddy Montgomery (vibraphone), Richie Crabtree (piano), and Benny Barth, a drummer from Indianapolis. From 1966 to 1970, he freelanced with Cal Tjader and spent the remainder of his life in the jazz scene in Las Vegas, where he founded the Las Vegas Jazz Society. Early in his years in Vegas, he played with the Red Norvo Trio.