“I remember going to my mother and saying, ‘Mom, Dad was really good.’ And she goes, ‘Of course, you blockhead. Of course he was.’ You know, and the more I listened to him, the more I realized just how good he was.” – Robert Montgomery, son of Indianapolis jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery
Listen below to learn more about the jazz legend’s story and how a team fit that story into 372 characters on each side of a historical marker celebrating his impact in Indy.
Click here to read audio script
Robert Montgomery: “That was something I remember most: He was warm and gentle and compassionate.”
Wes Montgomery was a renowned jazz guitarist who played all over the world. But rather than pursuing fame in New York or California, his home base was Indianapolis. He lived in the city of his birth with his wife, Serene, and their seven children. And the record deals, albums and tours came anyway.
Montgomery was at the height of his fame when he died of a heart attack at 45. His son Robert was young, about five or six, but he remembers that day – the last time he saw his father. Grief caused him to block out many of the few memories he had. What he does remember is his father’s love: for his family first, for music second.
Robert Montgomery: “The music was second. We were first – my mother. … He established that too. We were first. He took good, great, great care of us. But he had a passion for music.”
The world remembers Wes Montgomery as an innovator. He created a new, warm sound by strumming his guitar with his thumb instead of a pick. The city of Indianapolis will recognize him with a historical marker on March 6, what would have been his 101st birthday. The marker will be at the intersection of 10th and Bellefontaine streets, near a house where Wes and his family lived.
Robert remembers musicians coming to that childhood home, rehearsing with his father in his music room. As an adult, Robert met B.B. King, George Benson and Slash who were inspired by his father. He never had a moment where he realized his father was famous. To him, Wes was just his dad.
Robert Montgomery: “I guess because we were kids, you know, and our home was just normal. It wasn’t ‘Those people came by all the time, those musicians!,’ it was normal. So you didn’t see it like that. To me, he was going to work. It was no different from anybody else’s father. He went to work, he just happened to play guitar.”
As Robert got older, he started to listen to his father’s music.
Robert Montgomery: “And I remember going to my mother and saying, ‘Mom, Dad was really good.’ And she goes, ‘Of course, you blockhead. Of course he was.’ You know, and the more I listened to him, the more I realized just how good he was.”
Several years ago, Scott Taylor met Robert’s siblings while working on a historical marker for John Hope School 26. Taylor, a pilot, became interested in Wes’ life and legacy. He and his wife, Katie, worked with Robert and musician Rob Dixon to apply for a marker in Wes’ honor. They sent the application to the Indiana Historical Bureau.
For the marker, they had to distill his life into 372 characters on each side of the metal sign. They couldn’t use adjectives like “best” or “first.” Each character, each word, had to be based on facts from primary sources.
Rob Dixon: “You had to really think about, ‘Okay, how do we talk about this person and not connect my emotional feelings and inspirational things that he brought to my life and music? That was a challenge, but it was rewarding.”
That was Rob Dixon, the artistic director of the Indy Jazz Fest. Taylor talked to Dixon as one of the primary sources. They researched Wes’ genealogy, accomplishments and family. Taylor’s research took him all the way back to 1867. That year, Wes’ grandfather, who had been enslaved, signed an oath to be recognized as a citizen of the United States.
Scott Taylor: “There’s an oath book. This was post-reconstruction, where freed slaves would sign in as full citizens. And there’s also property tax registers, you know, and so Green Montgomery was his grandfather.”
The documents fill a thick, heavy binder, creating a timeline from Wes’ grandparents to his kids. There were newspaper clippings, scholar’s articles and posters advertising his shows along Indiana Avenue.
On March 6, Indianapolis will see Wes Montgomery’s legacy on the historical marker for the first time.
But the world still feels the echoes of Wes, 90 years since the day he first picked up his guitar.
Rob Dixon: “The way that people approach music here in Indianapolis is a manifestation of Wes Montgomery.”
Robert Montgomery speaks at the Art & Soul festival at the Indianapolis Artsgarden in 2023. Credit: KP's Photography/Indy Arts Council 
An A&M Records advertisement featuring Montgomery. Credit: A&M Records 
A 2004 story about Anthony Montgomery planning a film about his grandfather. Credit: Indianapolis Star 
Robert Montgomery talks about his father during a Mirror Indy audio interview. Credit: Jenna Watson / Mirror Indy 
A Gibson guitar advertisement featuring Montgomery. Credit: Gibson 
A 1964 ad for a show by Gloria Lynne featuring Montgomery at the Circle Theatre. Credit: Indianapolis Recorder 
A Verve Records promotional image. Credit: Verve Records
Robert Montgomery was only about five years old when his father, legendary jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, died of a heart attack at age 45. He doesn’t remember much from that time.
“His death really shook me,” said Robert, the youngest of seven siblings, and it wasn’t until he got older that he began to listen to his father’s music.
“I remember going to my mother and saying, ‘Mom, Dad was really good,’” he said. “And she goes, ‘Of course, you blockhead. Of course he was.’”
Now, Robert, 62, is one of his father’s biggest fans.
“To me, nobody plays as good as he does,” he said. “You know, not just because he’s my dad. Because I’ve listened to guitars, and they’re great. But they’re not Wes.”
Wes Montgomery, who was born in Indianapolis in 1923, was an innovator on the guitar, creating a new sound by playing with his thumb instead of a pick — a style he created so he wouldn’t disturb his family or neighbors while practicing at night after working long days at a factory. He got major record deals, won Grammys and toured.
Even though his music took him across the world, his home was always in Indianapolis. He was recognized on March 6 with a public dedication of a historical marker on what would’ve been his 101st birthday.
The Indiana Historical Bureau, which runs the marker program, has had Wes on its wishlist of people to recognize for years. Wes left his mark across the city, so it wasn’t easy to decide where the marker should go.
[How historical markers can help your community tell important stories]
It could have gone on Indiana Avenue, where he played in jazz clubs. Instead, it will be at 10th and Bellefontaine Streets, near the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. The marker is close to where the Montgomery family home stood on Cornell Street before it was razed to build the interstate.
The decision for the location aligned with Wes’ priorities. He wanted to move to the West Coast to pursue music, but he stayed in Indianapolis for his wife, Serene, and their kids. Wes and Serene were 19 years old when they married in 1943 and were together until Wes’ death in 1968.
“The music was second. We were first – and my mother,” Robert said. “He was really truly a family man. At the very heart of being a family man, the love for us was impeccable.”
It wasn’t easy to capture Wes’ 45 years – his family, his work, his music – on a historical marker. Each side of the metal sign can only hold 372 characters, including spaces. And the text can’t include superlatives like “best” or “first;” everything has to be factual and backed up by primary sources.
“You had to really think about, ‘Okay, how do we talk about this person and not connect my emotional feelings and inspirational things that he brought to my life and music?” said Rob Dixon, a saxophone player. “That was a challenge, but it was rewarding.”
Dixon is the artistic director of the Indy Jazz Fest, and he was part of a team that helped with the application process.
The research was led by Scott and Katie Taylor, who met Robert’s siblings while applying for a marker for John Hope School 26, an initiative led by the Oaks Academy to pay tribute to the history of the school it had purchased. From there, they became interested in Wes’ life and legacy.
All the research fits in a thick, heavy binder full of newspaper clippings, advertisements for shows and more. The book ends with pages of articles about Wes’ legacy and influence.
Wes died on June 15, 1968, and 2,400 people showed up at his funeral, including Julian “Cannonball” Adderly, a renowned saxophone player who “discovered” Wes in 1959 at the Missile Room on North West Street. Adderly and other jazz stars were in town for a show at the Indiana Theater, according to IndyStar reports from the time.
After the public dedication ceremony for the marker on March 6, the Bottleworks Hotel hosted a private reception where Robert and other family members, and musicians and friends from across the country came out to remember Wes.
Serene Miles Montgomery-Woods, who later remarried, died in 2020 at age 96. Robert shared a story his wife told about riding in the car with Serene when she was in her 80s.
“This song came on – Freddie Jackson’s ‘My Lady.’ And my wife thought maybe she didn’t want to hear it, so she turned it down,” he said. His mom said, “‘No, turn that up.’ And she said, ‘Wes used to say that about me all the time. I was his lady.’”
Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.