News from the darkest corners...

Buddy Montgomery, a jazz pianist and vibraphonist best known for his work with the guitarist Wes Montgomery, his older brother, died on May 14, 2009, at his home in Palmdale, Calif. He was 79. The cause was a heart attack.

Buddy Montgomery and another brother, the bassist Monk Montgomery, were members of Wes Montgomery’s quartet on and off during the 1960s. They first worked with him when he was critically acclaimed but little known outside the jazz world and toured with him again after he made a series of lushly orchestrated albums that cracked the pop charts, although they did not play on those records.

Both Buddy and Monk Montgomery had considerable success before then as members of the Mastersounds, a West Coast quartet that specialized in a quiet, gently swinging brand of modern jazz; Buddy played vibraphone with the group. It made several well-received albums for the Pacific Jazz Label between 1957 and 1961.

After Wes Montgomery’s death in 1968, Buddy became active as a jazz educator and advocate. He founded organizations in Milwaukee and Oakland, Calif. that offered jazz classes and presented free concerts.

Montgomery also continued to perform, primarily as a pianist, and led a trio at the Parker Meridien Hotel in New York from 1989 to 1993 before moving back to California.

Over the years Montgomery recorded several albums as a leader. He also performed and recorded with the singer Marlena Shaw, the saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman and others.

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