Welcome back to my Great Guitarists mini series (you can read my previous piece, on Earl Klugh, here). Today, allow me to introduce you to my favourite guitar player of all time. You might not recognise the name, but you’ve certainly heard him on recordings from the jazz greats to The Beach Boys. Introducing…

Barney Kessel

Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1923, Kessel was known by early bandmates for practising up to 16 hours a day. Judging by the amount of work he had, those hours of practice clearly paid off – and I haven’t even touched upon the countless records he released under his own name, not to mention his film scores, world tours with other legendary jazz guitarists or his regular guitar advice column!

While Kessel might not be the most recognisable face or name to many, his prolific session work over several decades means you are guaranteed to have heard his guitar playing. Early gigs for Kessel included the bands of Chico Marx, Artie Shaw, Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker and Oscar Peterson.

Later, he was one of the regular LA session players known collectively (and famously) as The Wrecking Crew. Around the same time, Kessel found ample work as an accompanist. His most recognisable song is Julie London’s definitive version of ‘Cry Me A River’ (from her 1955 album Julie Is Her Name – worth checking out for Kessel’s guitar arrangements alone). He also provided similar guitar backing for several other great jazz singers, such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Anita O’Day.

One of the most heard examples of his session work comes at the very start of Brian Wilson’s classic and sixties-defining record with The Beach Boys. The opening harp-like notes of track one, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, are actually Kessel playing something called a Mando-guitar (sometimes mid-credited as a 12-string guitar). In Situations such as this, session players such as Kessel could call on their training and in-depth knowledge of their instrument and technique to quickly provide the sound that producers and artists such as Wilson were searching for, often when this was not very clearly defined.

In terms of a definitive track, where do I start? Pick up any album led by him and you’ll be rewarded with his amazing jazz guitar playing, from choral soloing through to wonderfully fluid single note lines. Kessel played hollowbody electrics almost exclusively, and although he moved around from various Gibson guitars to Kay models (including variations of a signature model at different price points) and back again, his thick tone with a piano-like clarity rings through. Perhaps we should begin with his beautiful version of the jazz standard Autumn Leaves, performed live in this video from 1979. Enjoy!

As always, do tell me what you think. The full list of guitar players featured in this week’s series aren’t set in stone yet, so if you have any suggestions (ideally with a jazz bent for this week’s run), please do get in touch. I love hearing what you guys think!

Until next time…