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Barney Kessel

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Barney Kessel
Background information
Born(1923-10-17)October 17, 1923
Muskogee, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedMay 6, 2004(2004-05-06) (aged 80)
San Diego, California
GenresJazz, pop, R&B, rock
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1940s–1992
LabelsContemporary, Reprise, Black Lion, Concord Jazz, RCA Victor, Sonet, Savoy

Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) 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

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Kessel was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1923 to a Jewish family.[1] Kessel's father was an immigrant from Hungary who owned and operated a shoe shop.[2] A self-taught guitarist, his only formal musical study was three months of guitar lessons at the age of 12.[3][4]

Career

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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.[5]

In the early 1940s, he moved to Los Angeles, where for one year he was a member of the Chico Marx big band.[6] Noticed by Norman Granz, he appeared in the 1944 film Jammin' the Blues, which featured Lester Young.[6][7][8] Soon after, he played in the bands of Charlie Barnet and Artie Shaw.[7] During the day, he worked as a studio musician and at night played bop-oriented jazz in clubs.[6][9] In 1947, he recorded with Charlie Parker.[6] He worked in Jazz at the Philharmonic and for one year in the early 1950s he was a member of the Oscar Peterson trio.[6][7] After leaving the trio, he recorded several solo albums for Contemporary.[7] 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.[7] He was the guitarist on the album Julie Is Her Name (1955) by Julie London, which includes the standard "Cry Me a River", selling a million copies and demonstrated Kessel's chordal approach to guitar.[10]

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."[11] He recorded with pop acts such as The Monkees and The Beach Boys and with jazz musicians Sonny Rollins and Art Tatum.[6] 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.[12] 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.[6]

Kessel was rated the No. 1 guitarist in Esquire, DownBeat, and Playboy magazine polls between 1947 and 1960.[13]

From 1957 to 1958, Kay Musical Instrument Company manufactured the Kay Barney Kessel signature series guitars (models "Pro", "Artist" and "Jazz Special").

From 1961 to 1974, Gibson Guitars manufactured the Barney Kessel artist signature guitars in Standard and Custom models.[14]

Artistry

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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 Fender, Gibson and Univox combo amplifiers. He used a heavy-gauge rounded pick and used medium-gauge Darco-wound polished guitar strings.[15]

Personal life

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Kessel was married to Gail Genovia Farmer throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Together they had two sons, Dan and David Kessel. Later, he was married to Betty Jane (BJ) Baker for 16 years, divorcing in 1980. His third marriage to Joanne “Jo” Kessel lasted 10 years, and he was married to his fourth wife, Phyllis Kessel, for 12 years.[16][17][18][19]

Kessel's sons Dan Kessel and David Kessel became record producers and session musicians, working with Phil Spector, John Lennon, Cher, Leonard Cohen,[20] The Ramones, Blondie, The Go-Gos and others.

Death

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Kessel was in poor health after suffering a stroke in 1992, which effectively ended his career. Twelve years later, he died from a brain tumor at his home in San Diego, California, on May 6, 2004, at the age of 80.[21][22]

Discography

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As leader

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As sideman

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With The Beach Boys

With Benny Carter

With The Coasters

With Sam Cooke

With Buddy DeFranco

  • Generalissimo (Verve, 1959)
  • Live Date (Verve, 1959)
  • Bravura (Verve, 1959)
  • Wailers (Verve, 1960)

With Harry Edison

With Billie Holiday

With Peggy Lee

With Anita O'Day

With Oscar Peterson

  • The Oscar Peterson Quartet (Verve, 1955)
  • Romance: The Vocal Styling of Oscar Peterson (Verve, 1956)

With Shorty Rogers

With Pete Rugolo

With Sonny & Cher

With others

Bibliography

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  • Kessel, Barney; Almeida, Laurindo; Heitmeyer, Howard; Hendrickson, Al; Pitman, Bill; Bain, Bob; Marshall, Jack; Roberts, Howard (1961). West Coast Guitar: Eight Original Solos for Guitar. New York: Leeds Music Corporation. ASIN B0080YPG16. OCLC 79391800.
  • Kessel, Barney (1992). The Jazz Guitar Artistry of Barney Kessel: Guitar Solo. Ashley Mark Publishing. ISBN 978-0793516438.
  • Kessel, Barney (1997). The Jazz Guitar Artistry of Barney Kessel, Vol. 2. Ashley Mark Publishing. ISBN 978-0793587056.
  • Kessel, Barney (2000). The Jazz Guitar Artistry of Barney Kessel, Vol. 3. Ashley Mark Publishing. ISBN 978-0634023231.
  • Summerfield, Maurice J.; Kessel, Barney (2008). Barney Kessel: A Jazz Legend. Ashley Mark Publishing. ISBN 978-1872639697.
  • Marshall, Wolf; Kessel, Barney (2009). Barney Kessel: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of His Guitar Styles and Techniques. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1423430476.

References

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  1. ^ "About Barney Kessel". exhibits.library.umkc.edu. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  2. ^ Bernstein, Adam (May 10, 2004). "Barney Kessel, 80". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  3. ^ Leonard Feather (1999). The biographical encyclopedia of jazz. Oxford University Press. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-19-507418-5.
  4. ^ Yanow, Scott (April 1, 2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. Backbeat Books. p. 108.
  5. ^ Oliver, Myrna (May 9, 2004). "Barney Kessel, 80, innovative jazz guitarist". The Boston Globe.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Yanow, Scott (2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. San Francisco: Backbeat. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-1-61713-023-6.
  7. ^ a b c d e Yanow, Scott. "Barney Kessel". AllMusic. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Yanow, Scott (April 1, 2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. Backbeat Books. p. 108.
  9. ^ Yanow, Scott (April 1, 2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. Backbeat Books. p. 108.
  10. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music. Guinness. p. 210. ISBN 0-85112-732-0.
  11. ^ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew (1st ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 163. ISBN 9780312619749.
  12. ^ Kubernik, Harvey. "Brian Wilson: 50 Years Of Pet Sounds". vintagerock.com. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  13. ^ "Barney Kessel". June 12, 2004. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  14. ^ "Gibson and Barney Kessel". Premierguitar.com. July 11, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  15. ^ Marshall, Wolf (2012). Jazz Guitar Icons. Hal-Leonard. p. 63.
  16. ^ "About". Illuminating a Musical Legacy: The Barney Kessel Project. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  17. ^ "Barney Kessel". www.nndb.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  18. ^ "Barney Kessel". Who's Dated Who?. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  19. ^ Barth, Joe (October 18, 2023). "100th Anniversary Of Barney Kessel's Birth". Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  20. ^ Brown, Mick (2008). Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-1400076611.
  21. ^ Keepnews, Peter (May 8, 2004). "Barney Kessel, 80, a Guitarist With Legends of Jazz, Dies". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Yanow, Scott (April 1, 2024). The Great Jazz Guitarists. Backbeat Books.
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