Record of the Day: Barney Kessell, “Easy Like”

Barney Kessell
“Easy Like” (Contemporary Cd OJCCd-153-2)

Constantly crossed by the Californian sun, Barney Kessell’s music is the very personification of the West Coast jazz style. Relaxed album, free of sharp edges, sweetly swinging and characterized by a great transparency of instrumental textures, “Easy Like” is the perfect introduction to the music of this great guitarist, whose work has a consistently satisfactory level of quality.

When he was 16 Kessell personally met his idol Charlie Christian, who in addition to inviting him to lunch gave him advice on the instrument and phrasing; although this was the only meeting between the two, Kessell was so impressed by it that he considered it fundamental for his artistic career. In reality, Christian’s nervous guitar wanderings are quite distant from the soft and captivating way with which Barney deals with the guitar but undoubtedly the great harmonic freedom and the marked bebop phrasing of his illustrious predecessor immediately reveal themselves as decisive influences from the first listen of this album .

Accompanied by the usual team of super musicians that producer Lester Koenig assembled for his Contemporary label (Shelley Manne on drums, Bud Shank on sax, Buddy Collette on flute, Red Mitchell on double bass) Kessell floats with supreme lightness over scores widely known as “Tenderly “, “April in Paris” and “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart” but also reveals an excellent writing ability in pages like “Easy Like” (with an excellent flute solo by Collette), “North of the Border” (with markedly latin/bop influences), Bernardo and in the deliciously ironic “Salute to Charlie Christian”.

His solos are always generous and full of imagination, they don’t rely on routine but try to make interesting even compositions that dozens of jazz musicians have explored before him. Sometimes considered a little too light, Barney Kessell’s music instead possesses all the qualities necessary to validly resist the years; his good taste allows him to avoid the cuteness and affectation that sometimes afflict West Coast jazz, keeping the rudder in the direction of bebop and always looking carefully at what was happening on the other side of the ocean.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.