Little Brother Montgomery
b. Eurreal Wilford Montgomery, 18 April 1906, Kentwood, Louisiana, USA, d. 6 September 1985, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Impressed by the piano players who visited his parents' house, including Jelly Roll Morton and Cooney Vaughan, Little Brother began playing at the age of five. At the age of 11 he ran away, and worked as a musician for the rest of his life. He played the southern jukes and lumber camps as a solo blues pianist, singing in his unmistakable voice, nasal and with a strong vibrato, yet somehow pleading and wistful. With Friday Ford and Dehlco Robert he developed The Forty-Fours into one of the most complex themes in the repertoire, calling his own version Vicksburg Blues. In the '20s Montgomery played jazz in New Orleans with Clarence Desdune and toured Mississippi with Danny Barker; he also worked briefly with Buddy Petit, and on the blues side toured with Big Joe Williams. In 1928 Brother headed for Chicago, playing blues at rent parties with Blind Blake among others, and recording as an accompanist in 1930, under his own name in 1931. During the '30s he returned south to Jackson, Mississippi, from where he travelled as leader of the jazz-playing Southland Troubadours until 1939. He continued to play blues, and on a single day in 1935 recorded no fewer than 18 titles and five accompaniments to other singers for Bluebird, including his instrumental masterpieces Shreveport Farewell and Farish Street Jive, the latter a technically daunting blend of boogie and stride. In 1941 Montgomery settled in Chicago. He worked with Kid Ory at Carnegie Hall in 1949, and was for a long while a member of the Franz Jackson Band; he also continued to work solo (including a residency at an Irish tavern in the '60s) and to record, and was on the first releases by Otis Rush and Magic Sam. In 1960 he visited Europe for the first time, and began recording for a white audience. As well as promoting young protegees like Elaine McFarland (later ‘Spanky’ of Spanky And Our Gang)and Jeanne Carroll, Montgomery recorded himself at home, issuing material on his FM label, named from the initials of himself and his devoted wife Janet Floberg, whom he married in 1967. With her encouragement and support, he had active until not long before his death. Montgomery was a consummate musician, with a huge repertoire and an excellent memory, but his recordings mostly reflect the preferences, first of record companies in the '30s, then of the white audience of the '60s and after; he was a giant of the blues, but it should not be forgotten that he was also a capable pop singer, and an excellent jazz pianist.