Barney Kessel

Widely acclaimed as one of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time, Barney Kessel - a be-bop pioneer - was a top session musician who played on over 60 records for everyone from Sam Cooke to The Beach Boys. Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, he was 12 when he first picked up a guitar and had left home and was playing professionally by the time he was 14. Because he was so obsessed with the guitar and practised, reputedly, for around 16 hours a day, he quickly became a force to be reckoned with. His reputation grew after he moved to Los Angeles and in 1944 he appeared in the feature film 'Jammin' the Blues' as the only white musician in an otherwise all-black band including Lester Young and Charlie Christian. The crew were instructed to make up Kessel to look black and film him in the shadows for fear of the negative response in the south to a multi-racial band. Developing a unique style that bridged the gap between swing and be-bop, his technique was admired by his fellow musicians as his experience covered a broad spectrum of music; he toured with Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald and Sonny Rollins and his most famous recordings included Julie London's million-selling 'Cry Me a River' and The Beach Boys' 'Wouldn't It Be Nice?'. He also toured and recorded with fellow guitarists Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis, while he became a celebrated producer and arranger, played regularly on film soundtracks (including 'Some Like It Hot' and 'A Touch of Evil') and played the Mr Spock theme on bass in 'Star Trek'. He was also prominently involved in The Wrecking Crew group of top-line session musicians. Pete Townshend of The Who paid an instrumental tribute to him with the composition 'To Barney Kessel' in 1983. His career was cut short by a stroke in 1992 and he died at his home in San Diego in 2004, aged 80.

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