Barney Kessel


Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" guitarist for studio, film, and television recording sessions. Kessel was a member of the group of session musicians informally known as the Wrecking Crew.

Early life

Kessel was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1923 to a Jewish family. Kessel's father was an immigrant from Hungary who owned and operated a shoe shop. A self-taught guitarist, his only formal musical study was three months of guitar lessons at the age of 12.

Career

He began his career as a teenager, touring with local swing bands. When he was 16, he started playing with the Oklahoma A&M band, Hal Price & the Varsitonians. The band members nicknamed him "Fruitcake" because he practiced in excess of 16 hours per day. Kessel gained recognition due in part to his youth, and in part to being the only white musician playing in all-African-American bands at black clubs.
In the early 1940s, he moved to Los Angeles, where for one year he was a member of the Chico Marx big band. Noticed by Norman Granz, he appeared in the 1944 film Jammin' the Blues, which featured Lester Young. Soon after, he played in the bands of Charlie Barnet and Artie Shaw. During the day, he worked as a studio musician and at night played bop-oriented jazz in clubs. In 1947, he recorded with Charlie Parker. He worked in Jazz at the Philharmonic and for one year in the early 1950s he was a member of the Oscar Peterson trio. After leaving the trio, he recorded several solo albums for Contemporary. He recorded a series of albums with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne as The Poll Winners because the three of them often won polls conducted by Metronome and DownBeat magazines. He was the guitarist on the album Julie Is Her Name by Julie London, which includes the standard "Cry Me a River", selling a million copies and demonstrated Kessel's chordal approach to guitar.
During the 1960s, Kessel worked for Columbia Pictures and was a member of a band of session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. At one point, after a two and a half hour session to record a one-chord song, "The Beat Goes On," Kessel is reported to have stood up and proclaimed, "Never have so many played so little for so much." He recorded with pop acts such as The Monkees and The Beach Boys and with jazz musicians Sonny Rollins and Art Tatum. Kessel played the iconic opening notes of the acclaimed Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, on the track "Wouldn't It Be Nice." He played a 12-string hybrid mando-guitar, plugged directly into the recording console, at Brian Wilson's request. Kessel eventually left studio work to concentrate on his jazz career both onstage and on records. Along with solo work, he formed the ensemble Great Guitars with Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis.
Kessel was rated the No. 1 guitarist in Esquire, DownBeat, and Playboy magazine polls between 1947 and 1960.
From 1957 to 1958, Kay Musical Instrument Company manufactured the Kay Barney Kessel signature series guitars.
From 1961 to 1974, Gibson Guitars manufactured the Barney Kessel artist signature guitars in Standard and Custom models.

Artistry and equipment

Jazz music educator Wolf Marshall said the style that Barney Kessel employed in his music was "the natural outgrowth of the electric guitar tone fostered by Charlie Christian and embraced by virtually every exponent of the post-Christian school". Kessel's signature "warm, clean timbre" was created with hollow-body arch-top electric guitars with the neck pickup activated, played through a tube combo amp. The guitar stylings of Barney Kessel were rooted in 1930s and 1940s jazz, and were influenced by the swing and bebop styles of that time. Kessel was also influenced by post-bop modal jazz, hard bop, and free jazz. Specifically, he named Charlie Parker, Pat Martino, Oscar Peterson, Lester Young and Django Reinhardt as influences on his playing style. Additionally, Kessel's music had a strong blues influence "in both chord- and single-note form". Kessel was known for his chord stylings and single-note solos. Throughout his career, Kessel primarily played a sunburst Gibson ES-350P that was built in either 1947 or 1948, which the guitarist modified extensively. He replaced the original pickup with a "Charlie Christian" bar pickup, replaced the original volume and tone knobs with those taken off of a record player, omitted the pickguard, and installed dot inlays to replace the original fingerboard. Throughout his career, Kessel used various models of combo amplifiers made by Fender, Gibson and Univox. He used a heavy-gauge rounded pick and used medium-gauge Darco-wound polished guitar strings.

Personal life

Kessel was married four times. His first marriage was to Gail Genovia Farmer during the 1950s and 1960s, with whom he had two sons, Dan and David Kessel. He was later married to singer and vocal contractor Betty Jane Baker for 16 years, a union that ended in divorce in 1980. Following a ten-year marriage to Joanne “Jo” Kessel, he married his fourth wife, Phyllis Kessel, who remained with him for the final 12 years of his life.
His sons, Dan and David Kessel, became accomplished record producers and session musicians in their own right, working with prominent figures such as Phil Spector, John Lennon, and Leonard Cohen.

Legacy and influence

Kessel is regarded as a pivotal figure in the evolution of jazz guitar, noted for his sophisticated chordal vocabulary and seamless integration of bebop language into the instrument's repertoire. His work with the "Poll Winners" trio and the Wrecking Crew solidified his reputation as one of the most versatile guitarists in American music history.
  • In 1999, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, recognizing his contributions to the genre.
  • He consistently topped the DownBeat, Metronome, and Playboy jazz polls throughout the 1950s.
  • His signature Gibson and Kay guitar models remain highly sought after by jazz guitarists and collectors for their unique tonal characteristics.

    Death

Kessel was in poor health after suffering a stroke in 1992, which effectively ended his career. 12 years later, he died from a brain tumor at his home in San Diego, California on May 6, 2004 at the age of 80.

Discography

As leader

  • Barney Kessel
  • To Swing or Not to Swing
  • Kessel Plays Standards
  • Easy Like
  • Music to Listen to Barney Kessel By
  • The Poll Winners with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
  • The Poll Winners Ride Again! with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
  • Modern Jazz Performances from Bizet's Opera Carmen
  • Some Like It Hot
  • Poll Winners Three! with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
  • Exploring the Scene! with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
  • Bossa Nova Plus Big Band
  • El Tigre with Harold Land
  • Let's Cook!
  • Breakfast At Tiffany's
  • Barney Kessel's Swingin' Party
  • Contemporary Latin Rhythms
  • On Fire
  • Kessel's Kit
  • Reflections in Rome
  • Hair Is Beautiful
  • Feeling Free
  • What's New... Barney Kessel?
  • Guitarra
  • Swinging Easy!
  • I Remember Django with Stephane Grappelli
  • Limehouse Blues with Stephane Grappelli
  • Summertime in Montreux
  • Easy Moments with Carlo Pes
  • Two Way Conversation with Red Mitchell
  • Barney Plays Kessel
  • Just Friends
  • Blue Soul
  • Great Guitars with Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis
  • The Poll Winners: Straight Ahead with Ray Brown, Shelly Manne
  • Poor Butterfly with Herb Ellis
  • Soaring
  • Live at Sometime
  • A Tribute to the Great Hollywood Stars with Junko Mine
  • By Myself
  • Great Guitars at the Winery with Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis
  • Jellybeans with Bob Maize and Jimmie Smith
  • Solo
  • Great Guitars at Charlie's Georgetown
  • Spontaneous Combustion with Monty Alexander
  • Red Hot and Blues
  • Autumn Leaves
  • Great Guitars Live with Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis
  • Live at the Jazz Mill 1954
  • ''Live at the Jazz Mill 1954 Vol. 2''

    As sideman

With The Beach Boys
With Benny Carter
  • Alone Together
  • Cosmopolite
  • Jazz Giant
  • Aspects
With The Coasters
With Sam Cooke
  • Night Beat
  • Ain't That Good News
With Buddy DeFranco
  • Generalissimo
  • Live Date
  • Bravura
  • Wailers
With Harry Edison
  • Sweets
  • Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You
With Billie Holiday
  • Billie Holiday Sings
  • Billie Holiday
  • Billie Holiday
  • Billie Holiday at JATP
  • Music for Torching
  • Velvet Mood
  • Lady Sings the Blues
  • Body and Soul
  • Songs for Distingué Lovers
  • All or Nothing at All
With Peggy Lee
  • Things Are Swingin
  • I Like Men!
  • Jump for Joy
  • Then Was Then – Now Is Now!
With Dean Martin
  • Dream with Dean
With Anita O'Day
  • This Is Anita
  • Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day
  • Anita Sings the Winners
  • Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May
  • Trav'lin' Light
With Oscar Peterson
With Lou Rawls
  • Too Much!
With Shorty Rogers
  • Martians Come Back!
  • Way Up There
  • Chances Are It Swings
  • The Wizard of Oz and Other Harold Arlen Songs
With The Ronettes
  • Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
With Pete Rugolo
  • Out on a Limb
  • An Adventure in Sound: Reeds in Hi-Fi
  • An Adventure in Sound: Brass in Hi-Fi
With Sonny & Cher
With others