CD of the Day - "Wes Montgomery: Down Here On The Ground"

CD of the Day
Wes Montgomery: "Down Here on the Ground" (A&M/CTI) 2009

A new reissue, supervised by Harry Weinger for the "Verve Originals" series, of Wes' best album ever from his A&M/CTI days in the late 60s.
The digipak format reproduces the original cover art (pics by Pete Turner, album design by Sam Antupit) as well as Ira Gitler's liner notes, including complete data and musicians' credits of the sessions produced by Creed Taylor on December 20 & 21, 1967, and January 22 & 26, 1968.
Don Sebesky arranged 8 of the 10 tracks, while Eumir Deodato scored the title track (Lalo Schifrin's wondrous ballad "Down Here On The Ground", from the "Cool Hand Luke" soundtrack) and João Donato's groovy bossa "Know it All," previously recorded in Brazil by Quarteto 004 as "Quem Diz Que Sabe," with Portuguese lyrics by Paulo Sergio Valle.
The basic tracks were cut with Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), Grady Tate (drums) and Ray Barretto (congas). The arrangers later overdubbed vibes (Mike Mainieri), percussion (Bobby Rosengarden), three flutes (Hubert Laws, Romeo Penque & George Marge) and a string quartet.
Thanks to Kevin Reeves' new digital remastering from the original 2-track mixed tapes, the audio quality sounds 100% better than the first CD reissue released in 1987.