There is a great discussion among jazz purists and musicologists about Wes Montgomery being the first jazz "crossover" guitarist and the father of smooth jazz. Wes took many pop songs and jazz standards and made them radio-friendly to appeal to a larger audience. In this example, we take a latin feel progression and give it a pop twist while playing lead lines that are distinctively Wes Montgomery.

Notice we still use the octaves based on a G major scale. We also use chords to really create a punch in the line. For those of you still trying to make the adjustment from pick to thumb, I played this example with a pick to demonstrate that these lines still have a great tone with a pick even though using the thumb makes these lines sing. Here's the progression we use:




Gmaj7 / Bm7 / Am7 / Dsus7 D


Gmaj7 / Bm7 / Am7 / Dsus7 D


Cmaj7 / Bm7 / Am7 / Dsus9