Barney Kessel(1923-2004)
- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
In a near six-decade career, he was rated the #1 guitarist in Esquire,
Downbeat and Playboy magazine polls between 1947 and 1960. Barney
Kessel, a pioneer of the electric guitar and a master of harmonic
improvisations, also recorded over fifty albums including a number of
innovative albums with drummer Shelly Manne
and bassist Ray Brown that were
remarkable for the lack of a pianist. He also performed with the
Oscar Peterson Trio and ensembles with
Charlie Parker,
Charlie Barnet,
Art Tatum and
Artie Shaw, and with performers
Elvis Presley,
Liberace and
The Beach Boys. Leaving the jazz world
for studio work, between 1967 and 1970, he operated Barney Kessel's
Music World in Hollywood, but, in 1972, he returned to full-time stage
work. A stroke in 1992 curtailed his career.
