Tim Fitzgerald's Full House Tim Fitzgerald

• 1S.O.S05:43
• 2Four On Six04:54
• 3Far Wes04:57
• 4Cariba03:34
• 5Jingles05:23
• 6Mr. Walker04:31
• 7Fried Pies04:38
• 8While We're Young02:12
• 9Twisted Blues04:27
• 10West Coast Blues05:36
• Total Runtime45:55

Info for Tim Fitzgerald's Full House

In 2015, Fitzgerald founded Tim Fitzgerald's Full House, a septet with a repertory mission that borrowed its name from one of Montgomery's compositions (and the live album on which it first appeared). Drawing members from the top shelf of Windy City straight-ahead jazz - the vibrant scene that tenor saxophonist Von Freeman called 'hardcore jazz' - Fitzgerald turned to folks he's worked with extensively, including the sparklingly inventive pianist Tom Vaitsas and Grammy-nominated trumpeter Victor Garcia, as well as George Fludas, one of the city's greatest drummers and a veteran who has worked with Wes's pianist/vibraphonist brother Buddy Montgomery as well as Mel Rhyne, who played organ with Wes. Working towards this, their eponymous first record, Full House dug in for residencies and one-nighters, cultivating a deep understanding of the material and establishing an approach to Wes quite unlike anything previous. With a 'little big-band' vibe that allows them to range back and forth from fulsome arrangements featuring a three-horn and guitar frontline to spare soulful small group sounds.�

The results are transformative. It's both a songbook record and an achievement on its own terms.

Fitzgerald's genuine love of Wes shines through, but it's not a devotee's slavish re-enactment. Each track crackles and flows with uncorked imagination. It's gorgeously conceived, a program of precise selections culled from the Montgomery archives and thoughtfully rearranged. The record elucidates the way his music could be ultra-hip modern and deep-in-the-soul down home at the same time.

Tim Fitzgerald, guitar
Victor Garcia, trumpet
Chris Madsen, tenor saxophone
Brent Griffin, Jr., alto saxophone
Tom Vaitsas, piano
Christian Dillingham, bass
George Fludas, drums

Tim Fitzgerald
is a Chicago based guitarist and bandleader. He is also author of the book 625 Alive: the Wes Montgomery BBC Concert Transcribed, which has been hailed as the "Ultimate Study of Wes Montgomery's music" (Just Jazz Guitar Magazine) and “One of the 50 greatest guitar books of all time” (The 50 Greatest Guitar Books). He has written columns for Downbeat Magazine, Just Jazz Guitar Magazine and Chicago Jazz Magazine and performed clinics at the Frank Mantooth Jazz Festival.

Tim leads two bands in Chicago -- Tim Fitzgerald's Full House and the Tim Fitzgerald Quartet -- and is a sideman in a multitude of other projects.

Tim's larger group, Full House, is a seven piece, three horn ensemble inspired by the music of jazz great Wes Montgomery. The band features new original arrangements of Wes' music -- not just Wes Montgomery songs, but Wes' famous chord solos and octaves solos as well.

His smaller group, The Tim Fitzgerald Quartet, features a mix of straight ahead jazz and soul music, including Tim's original compositions, the music of Wes Montgomery, and the music of soul jazz greats such as Dr. Lonnie Smith.

Tim has performed at venues from Chicago's Green Mill to the Luxor in Las Vegas, from NYC to Homer, AK. TV and film musical appearances include PBS's Art Beat, the Sony film "The Myth of Fingerprints" and the animated film "Hoodwinked, Too." The many luminaries he has performed with include Von Freeman, Wycliffe Gordon, Ron Perrillo, Makaya McCraven, Marquis Hill, and Denis Charles.

This album contains no booklet.