October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004

Click here if you have a memory of this artist that you’d like to share

Click here to Support Jazz on the Tube

Guitarist Barney Kessel was born on October 17, 1923 in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

He was a popular figure in the 1950s West Coast scene, leading a number of classic sessions for the Contemporary record label.

Kessel was a member of the “Wrecking Crew,” a group of top-tier 1960s session musicians that appeared on everything from TV jingles to Pet Sounds.

Here, famous jazz guitarist Barney Kessel demonstrates his notorious knowledge of chord inversions and chord-based melodies as he performs “Gypsy in my Soul.”

Throughout the ’50s Playboy and Esquire magazines constantly rated him as the top guitarist playing.

And fellow musicians — such as The Beach Boys and many others — knew it, too, growing to rely on his session work for their hot-selling albums.

Click here if you have a memory of this artist that you’d like to share

Click here to Support Jazz on the Tube