
Great Guitars Live with Charlie Byrd, Herb Ellis (Concord 2001).Spontaneous Combustion with Monty Alexander (Contemporary, 1987).Great Guitars at Charlie's Georgetown (Concord Jazz, 1983).Great Guitars at the Winery with Charlie Byrd, Herb Ellis (Concord Jazz, 1980).


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Bossa Nova Plus Big Band ( Reprise, 1961).Exploring the Scene! with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown (Contemporary, 1960).Poll Winners Three! with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown (Contemporary, 1960).Modern Jazz Performances from Bizet's Opera Carmen (Contemporary, 1959).The Poll Winners Ride Again! with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown (Contemporary, 1958).The Poll Winners with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown (Contemporary, 1957).Music to Listen to Barney Kessel By (Contemporary, 1957).Kessel Plays Standards (Contemporary, 1956).To Swing or Not to Swing (Contemporary, 1955).He died from a brain tumor at his home in San Diego, California, on May 6, 2004, at the age of 80. Kessel was in poor health after suffering a stroke in 1992.

Kessel's sons Dan Kessel (died Feb 2021) and David Kessel became record producers and session musicians, working with Phil Spector, John Lennon, Cher, Leonard Cohen, The Ramones, Blondie, The Go-Go's and more. His third marriage to Joanne (Jo) Kessel lasted 10 years, and he was married to his fourth wife, Phyllis Kessel, for 12 years. He was then married to Betty Jane (BJ) Baker for 16 years. Kessel was married to Gail Genovia Farmer in the 50s and 60s, and she is the mother of Kessel's only children, Dan Kessel and David Kessel. įrom 1961 to 1974, Gibson Guitars manufactured Barney Kessel artist signature guitars in Standard and Custom models. 1 guitarist in Esquire, DownBeat, and Playboy magazine polls between 19. Along with solo work, he formed the ensemble Great Guitars with Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis. Kessel eventually left studio work to concentrate on his jazz career both onstage and on records. 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. ĭuring the 1960s, Kessel worked for Columbia Pictures and was a member of a band of session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. 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.
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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. After leaving the trio, he recorded several solo albums for Contemporary. He worked in Jazz at the Philharmonic and for one year in the early 1950s he was a member of the Oscar Peterson trio. In 1947, he recorded with Charlie Parker. During the day, he worked as a studio musician and at night played jazz in clubs. Soon after, he played in the bands of Charlie Barnet and Artie Shaw. He appeared in the film Jammin' the Blues, which featured Lester Young. In the early 1940s, he moved to Los Angeles, where for one year he was a member of the Chico Marx big band. Kessel gained attention because of his youth and being the only white musician playing in all African American band at black clubs. The band members nicknamed him "Fruitcake" because he practiced up to 16 hours a day. When he was 16, he started playing with the Oklahoma A&M band, Hal Price & the Varsitonians. He began his career as a teenager touring with local dance bands.

His only formal musical study was three months of guitar lessons at the age of 12. Kessel's father was an immigrant from Hungary who owned a shoe shop. Kessel was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1923.
