Wes Montgomery - "Full House" question

[Thurisarz]

I'm taking out this song by ear and i wonder since i'm not familiar with scales used in jazz i wonder what scales to use on this tune? What is Wes using? Link VideoGoogle

[Osensei]

Look at Wes' face! Look at that, "cat that ate the canary" smile! Does he look like a guy that's going "Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian ..."?

Whatever method you use, just remember to record the melody in your head and play it back mentally when you improvise. This is an example of a more lyrical style of jazz to my ears. Therefore, the improvisation should compliment the original melodic idea of the song. I find I get better results when I obey that rule for this particular idiom.

It's just the opposite with more progressive idioms like fusion. There the idea is for the soloist to think outside the box, color outside the lines or whatever!The more radically the improvisor deviates from the original melody the better where fusion is concerned. But for this style its better to stay close to home. That means no wild modes or strange exotic scales.

Also knowing chord substitutions will yield fruit in this situation. Get one of Joe Pass' instructional videos! He rocks! Or at least he swings!