Wes Montgomery - California Dreaming 
Year: 1966
Label: Verve (Oct 25, 1990)
Quality: flac + cue

Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jeresy on Sepetmber 14-16, 1966.

A fantastic recording, with great arrangements and spectacular soloing by Wes. Yes it's ultra clean, but also very cool. In particular the guitar solo he lays down on the track "Sun Down" still amazes me - after listening to it for 30 years. ~ "Rice Burner 2000", Amazon.com

Wes Montgomery's last album for Verve (other than an exciting collaboration with Jimmy Smith) is a so-so orchestral date featuring arrangements by Don Sebesky. The material (which includes "Sunny" and "California Dreaming") is strictly pop fluff of the era and the great guitarist has little opportunity to do much other than state the melody in his trademark octaves. This record was perfect for AM radio of the period.  ~ Scott Yanow, AMG

As Wes Montgomery sailed into ever-poppier waters towards the end of his career, two things remained constant: he kept writing and including original tunes on his albums, and he kept playing and including the blues in one shade or another. Thus, on CALIFORNIA DREAMING, another big band-orchestrated Verve album, we get "Sun Down," a six-minute original blues, cut for the most part with just the first-call rhythm section of Herbie Hancock, Richard Davis, Grady Tate and Ray Baretto. The other original, "Mr. Walker," is just as cooking, and dates from Montgomery's second Riverside album, the aptly titled INCREDIBLE JAZZ GUITAR OF WES MONTGOMERY.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING, unlike BUMPIN', emphasizes groove tunes over ballads, and keeps the pop challenges to a minimum. It's not the relentless cooking of SMOKIN' AT THE HALF NOTE, or the aforementioned INCREDIBLE JAZZ GUITAR, but it's solid Montgomery nonetheless. ~ CDUniverse

Personnel:
Wes Montgomery (guitar);
Don Sebesky (arranger, conductor);
Jack Jennings (vibraphone, percussion);
Herbie Hancock (piano);
Al Casamenti, Buck Pizzarelli (guitar);
Richard Davis (bass);
Grady Tate (drums);
Ray Baretto (percussion)

Wes Montgomery - California Dreaming Tracks:
01  California Dreaming (John Phillips) 3:08 
02  Sun Down (Wes Montgomery) 6:03 
03  Oh You Crazy Moon (Johnny Burke/James Van Heusen) 3:44 
04  More, More, Amor (Sol Lake) 2:54 
05  Without You (Rinaldo Marino/Walter Myers) 3:05 
06  Winds Of Barcelona (Sol Lake) 3:07 
07  Sunny (Bobby Hebb) 4:04 
08  Green Papers (Sol Lake) 2:56 
09  Mr. Walker (Wes Montgomery) 3:39 
10  South Of The Border (Michael Carr/Jimmy Kennedy) 3:13