Kessel Plays Standards

Barney Kessel | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B000000YDE
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,074 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kessel & Coop Swing Unconventionally, December 22, 2000

By 

William Faust (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kessel Plays Standards (Audio CD)

I'm generally not a big fan of experimental instrumentation in jazz, especially swing. I like the traditional ensembles with saxes, trumpets, trombones, bass, piano & drums (preferably brushes). But this disc is an exception. It features swing guitarist Barney Kessel with a first rate (if traditional) rhythm section and the unusual addition of west coast tenorman Bob Cooper on (wait for it).....oboe! But what a treat! On the tracks where the oboe is featured it's done really well and counters the guitar in a relaxed and natural way. A big part of it is the careful arranging work - very impressive. Recorded in 54 and 55, this disc features 12 tracks, no alternate takes, and if you didn't guess from the title, they're all standards - both swinging up tempo charts and ballads. Highly recommended swing guitar with a twist.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars music on guitar, June 9, 2004

By 

. (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Kessel Plays Standards (Audio CD)

For all of the technique on hand in the 21st century, most of it is empty . Barney Kessel could play whatever was put in front of him, or compose limitless variations on the spot; elite technique, always in the service of the music.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the late, great Barney Kessel, July 28, 2006

By 

Christoph K. Bennett (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kessel Plays Standards (Audio CD)

This is really more on his body of work than this release alone. Get anything you can get your hands on by Barney. Everything he did was great and it was never about what he could do but about the music. I've been reading some webpages about him recently to find out more about him. First off, he may well have been the most recorded guitarist of all time. Like the guitar on the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds?" It's Barney. Elvis' "Return to Sender?" Barney, too. He did work with the Beatles. In fact, "counted among his fans such superstars as the late Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison.

"Barney Kessel is incredible. He's just amazing . . . . Nobody can play guitar like that," Lennon said following a recording session in the 1970s.

Harrison was even more enthused, telling an interviewer in the 1960s: "Barney Kessel is definitely the best guitar player in this world, or any other world."
I'd always heard that he was very friendly to up-and-comers and everybody, really. What I didn't know is that he was a devoted Christian, acc. to his wife. That's really nice to know. There are very few great guitarists left. You have Herb Ellis, Bucky Pizzarelli from the days when there really was jazz. Barney was among the best. Seriously, get anything by him. My particular favorites are this one, "Easy Like," and "Solo." But they're all great. His albums are not your typical guitar as frontman shredding away but real group efforts. Very enjoyable. For Barney, it was always about the music first.