# No Blues guitar solo > The guitar solo on No Blues by Wes Montgomery (1965). From the album Smokin' at the Half Note. Ranked #253 of all time across 80 lists. Canonical URL: Wes Montgomery, 1965, from *Smokin' at the Half Note*. Solo by *Wes Montgomery*. No Blues, recorded live at the Half Note with Wynton Kelly's trio, shows Wes Montgomery's famous three-stage approach to soloing. He begins with single-note lines picked with his thumb, moves to his trademark octaves, and finally builds to full block chords, each stage raising the intensity. His thumb gives the tone a warm, rounded attack, far softer than a pick. The playing swings hard, with a relaxed confidence that makes the complex lines sound effortless. The solo became a model for jazz guitarists learning how to pace a long improvisation. Listen for the transition from octaves to chords, where the texture thickens and the solo takes on the power of a big band section. No Blues by Wes Montgomery is ranked #253 in our consensus of 80 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Wes Montgomery and the song was released in 1965. It appears on 1 lists, placing as high as #2 (uDiscover Music). ## In our lists - [The 25 Greatest Jazz Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/jazz/) — #9 - [Greatest Live Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/live/) — #14 - [The Best Wes Montgomery Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/wes-montgomery-guitar-solos/) — #6 - [Top 20 Guitar Solos of 1965](https://greatestsolos.com/list/best-guitar-solos-1965/) — #2 ## Sources - [uDiscover Music: The Best Guitar Solos Of All Time: 108 Amazing Moments](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-guitar-solos-ever/) — #2 - [Jazzfuel: 10 Iconic Jazz Guitar Solos Everyone Should Know](https://jazzfuel.com/iconic-jazz-guitar-solos/) ### Who played the guitar solo on No Blues? Wes Montgomery played the solo on Wes Montgomery's No Blues (1965). ### What guitar was used on the No Blues solo? A gibson l-5, according to widely reported accounts. ### Where does No Blues rank among the greatest guitar solos? #253 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 80 published lists; it appears on 1 of them. --- GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)