Barney Kessel: A Jazz Legend

By Jo Kessel  Muskogee, Oklahoma, native Barney Kessel was a first echelon jazz guitarist known worldwide in traditional jazz circles. Noted 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 began his career as a teenager touring with local dance bands. When he was 16, he started playing with the Oklahoma A&M band, Hal Price, and The Varsitonians. In the early 1940s he moved to Los Angeles, where for one year he was a member of the Chico Marx big band. During the day, he worked as a studio musician and at night played jazz in clubs. His career included playing with Charlie Parker, he worked in Jazz at the Philharmonic, and, in the early 1950s, was a member of the Oscar Peterson trio. He recorded several solo albums for Contemporary and a series of albums with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne as The Poll Winners beca