​Barney Kessel was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma on October 17, 1923 and went on to become one of the most prolific jazz guitarists of the Twentieth Century. During his career he would record 49 albums as a leader, be a first call guitarist for studio work for decades and play with jazz greats like Billie Holiday, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Dexter Gordon and Roy Eldridge.

Kessel had very little formal training on guitar, but by the time he was in his teens he was playing with Hal Price and the Varsitonians. Fellow musicians recalled that Kessel was practicing up to 16 hours a day as a youth and was often the only white member of the bands he performed with. When he appeared in the musical short movie “Jammin’ the Blues” in 1944, he was kept in shadows because all the other musicians were Black and producers feared negative audience reaction for featuring a mixed-race ensemble.

By the time Barney was 20 he was living in Los Angeles and playing in the Chico Marx Big Band. Shortly thereafter, he also spent time playing in the bands fronted by Artie Shaw and Charlie Barnet. He also performed and recorded with Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, Art Tatum and Charlie Parker. During the 1950s Kessel was a frequent winner of “Best Guitarist” polls, including those in Metronome, Esquire, Playboy and DownBeat magazines.

Kessel spent much of his career doing studio work with Columbia and as member of the Tonight Show Band. He was also part of “The Wrecking Crew,” a loose collaboration of studio musicians working in Los Angeles. As a Wrecking Crew member, Kessel recorded with Sonny and Cher, The Monkees and The Beach Boys. During the 1960s and into the 1970s Gibson Guitars manufactured a Barney Kessel model guitar. Kessel suffered a stroke in 1992 and was in poor health for years before his death in 2004.

Here is a link to Barney Kessel playing a Jimmy Van Heusen standard:

"HERE'S THAT RAINY DAY"