Barney Kessel - How To Make A Bebop Solo Catchy
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- Barney Kessel has a way of playing jazz guitar that often makes his solos very catchy. This is something that you can't actually say about many players after bebop, maybe only Wes? So it is interesting to look at why his solos have this quality.
The solo I am taking some phrases from is on "Satin Doll" of the album Poll Winners with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne. This album really has Kessel in a great setting and in top form. Well worth checking out if you don't know it already!
Kessel is truly great at mixing bebop lines with swing riffs and in that way creating a lot of variation in his solos.
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The Swing Riff ideas from Barney Kessel are a really useful addition for your vocabulary! Who else do you think plays like this?
I am down with the flu for 3 days now, but luckily this was already. Hopefully I will be back in action to finish the video Monday :)
@Steven Turner Certainly: I really like this and there are a few other recordings that I like as well, then there are later records which I can hear good things in but I also get distracted by his technique and his timing a bit. But still the ideas were good enough to analyze one of them in the previous Kessel Video, so I am prepared to live with it as well th-cam.com/video/yjjy-3rTv1s/w-d-xo.html
Herb Ellis. (And you are right, later on Barney "overplayed" his ability and I as well thought he wasn't as good.)
Get well soon Jens!
Bucky Pizzarelli, Mundel Lowe and at times Kenny Burrel
Grant Green was the master at riffing, perhaps as much or more so than Wes. Howard Roberts was also great at riffing.
Hi Jens, I’m starting to delve in your back catalogue and I love what I find. I agree with you on BK's 50s output being his best. As he is one of my favorite jazz guitarists (and maybe my favorite), forgive me for engaging in a friendly manner with the slightly more dismissive comments (especially those found below). I think that Barney's supposed “sloppiness” is exaggerated and most of all misunderstood. From his output, courses, interviews you can see that Barney was all about spontaneous musical expression over technical/theoretical “tidiness”. He did hone is chops and harmony to a tee, and was rightly proud of his proficiency, but was after musical ideas above all else and when he saw one he went after it with a ferociousness that is rarely encountered in any jazz musician … so he was ready to go completely out of his patterns if the situation demanded and “clean execution” be damned. Some may look down on the ghost notes and sloppy passages, but I regard this approach as a wonderful quality making always for very fresh (or as others stated “raw”) playing.
Thanks again for this lesson! I’m off to the next!
Awesome lesson Jens, BK is one of my favorites - especially love his tone.
Thanks RJ :) Your Gibson BK sounds incredible, was it because of his tone you bought it?
Kessel is a master at motifs and repeating melodic pattern ideas. Thanks for sharing!
He certainly is :)
Hi Jens, thanks for the bit on Barney Kessel. His work with Julie London, show a master comping a vocalist.
Guitarist, Bruce Foreman wound up with Barney's guitar. Great he felt it was history worth saving..
Some great duets w/ Peter Bernstein, using that guitar.
I somehow missed B. Kessel along the way. Truly a Jazz guitar must!
Thanks, M
Glad you like the video 🙂
Jens, glad to find this continued discussion of Barney's swing-bebop stylistic blend, especially using this very illustrative example (love that track & album). Barney's first major gig, in '44-'45, was in Artie Shaw's orchestra (as well as Shaw's band-within-a-band, The Gramercy Five, where everybody got more space), and I suspect the motivic element in his solos which you highlight here was something he acquired from the big band environment, which we know made heavy use of riffs and themes. I think it's obvious that Barney remained rooted in swing but still, he clearly absorbed and appreciated bop and incorporated it effectively and authentically in his work. Great post ... and get well soon!
Thank you Elizabeth! Yes, he was as much a swing player as a Bop player 🙂 I will have to check out Artie Shaw. Never heard that.
Kombination von Akkord und Melodieführung macht Barney so gut verständlich .
Sorry?
Excellent lesson on the Barney Kessel approach Jens Larsen. Even a quick analysis of his choices to outline the em to B7 to C# was so rich with self revealing content that enriches the motivic vocabulary--i could revel in that portion of the lesson for days.
Glad you like it 🙂
Great lesson! I learned a lot about double and triple stops from BK. After coming up playing clarinet being able to play more than one note at a time was a joy... Thank You! 😎
Thanks Donald! Barney is indeed great at adding chords to his solo!
You play Kessel like Metheny would play Kessel. Avoiding all the Kathian beauty that a true singing jazz player evokes, its that inner giggle that makes it wonderful. So many miss it.
Thank you! I always wanted to sound like Metheny 🙂
No way, Barney at the end of the 60's and throughout the 70's he was better than ever.
I started to enjoy Kessel's sound and playing by learning his version of Love is here stay. It was an accessable tune and made me want to look up some of his work. I'm trying to learn his take of On Green Dolphin Street. He sounds awefully sloppy but incredibly raw. Thanks for sharing some insight in the man's play. I'm not strong in analyzing pieces so it's very helpful.
Glad you like it, Alain 🙂
So happy you did this. Literally have listened to this solo and this album hundreds of times. This solo always stood out and is very singable. Thanks!
I went to a Barney clinic years ago. On day 1 he showed up pretty late and all sweaty (it was summer). It was great seeing him play close up. Still, he wasn't really much of a teacher. He mostly just played. He had a few pet concepts/techniques to show, but very few. He did have each of us play a bit, but frankly I remember almost nothing from the 3-day clinic. He kept reminding us that he was improvising everything, which he was, but like anyone, he had loads of pet phrases and ideas, and when someone plays solo for hours at a time, you do get a big sense of deja vu. He was also pushing Univox amps(!). This guy in the class had brought his fancy Boogie amp, and proudly asked Barney to try it. He did, and said, ehhh, it's nice, but I like this Univox amp, which was a cheap transistor job. Ironically, your one lesson is conveying more Barney-ism than he did.
Haha! Thank you. I didn't think that would be possible. But I did go try to talk about the things I really like about him :)
@@JensLarsen one thing that happens nicely here are those simple melodies. As you say, it's so tempting to get frisky and throw in some fast stuff. He actually was playing lots of fast stuff in the clinic, which appears to support your comments about his later stuff.
Barney Kessel could be my favorite jazz guitarist. The album Soaring tipped my apple cart. Being a big chord man myself I love the way he played phrases and then hit a chord or more. I've come to understand the criticisms of this period. It sounds like he was a little influenced by contemporary sounds at the time. Most guitarists who aren't too crazy about this sound tend to favor Pat Martino, Joe Diorio....single line players. Both excellent players. To me Barney was such a great storyteller through his music and brought a lot of dimensions to the guitar which resonates with me. Jake Hanna and Monte Budwig are swingin' hard as well. Great video Jens.
Thank you Tom, glad you like it :)
love his playing, thanks for the lesson!
You're very welcome! :)
Kessel's main gig as a session player in the '60s may have contributed to his change in style. He was working with many artists in other genres at that time. The story of his session with Nancy Sinatra is hilarious! :)
We all have opinions, but I enjoyed Barney more when I heard him play several times in the 1980s, when he was in his 60s in age. Of guitarists I heard, only Joe Pass could swing harder. Barney told me that his single note concept was from Sonny Rollins, and his chordal passages from the Basie Band horn section. Now, Rollins played hard and did not tongue every note, so the notes ran together - legato. I believe it was, in fact, a testament to Barney’s awesome technique that he could simulate a saxophone’s legato lines on guitar. It was deliberate, not sloppy - though you choose whether to admire the musical effect. I did.
Thanks ! I love his playing and his chords solo.
Great work, as always !
You're very welcome! Glad you like it 👍
Hi Jens. Barney Kessel was truly a great jazz guitarist (He played among others with Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday!)
Tks for your lesson, it was very instructive and clear.
Omg martin miller used the first part of the second example on Georgia on my mind during his chord solo part
Sweet Jens....love learning from you. You make it so easy....ron
Thanks Ron! Glad you like it!
Love the way you deconstruct his lines, Jen. It helps me listen to his playing to hear the various influences. I can really hear the Charlie Christian in some of his lines now. In addition to the two types of players you mention, the more swing and the more boppish cerebral, I would add the more blues based guys like Grant Green. Swing, bop, and blues were the main ingredients of jazz in the late 50s so it makes sense that many players gravitated one way or the other, right? Similar story today, we just have more to choose from, those three plus rock, classical, folk, etc. Great video!
Thanks! That's true I was thinking about where to put Grant Green too, but he is a generation later though, so in that respect the swing influence is not so strong in his playing (in my opinion)
Nice mix of Swing & Be bop -- like him much
Kessel is one of my absolute favorites. The other two Poll Winners albums are great, as well. Really cool is Barney's quartal chord melody solo on Barney's Blues. Hip to the bone! His two transcription books are worth checking out.
Which Poll winners is your favourite?
Probably the third. The tune selections are great, and there are some real burners on there. Also, all players are at their best on that one I think.
Ok. I think I only know of Poll Winners and Poll winners ride again :)
Barney has been my first jazz guitarist discovered and my First love. If You want to know his best period You must to listen albums with his "pool winners trio". In 50 decade and firs 60, in my opinion he was "the jazz Guitar" no only as leader, he play with Sonny Rollins, Oscar Peterson, and all jazz stars, listen how he accompain the sweet voice of Julie London. His First ability for me is harmonization (he use a lot his thumb and his chord's vocabulary Is extremely rich) use of chords during solos and mixed them whit Lines create more lyric effects, and rithmically he was a Monster lissen "brazilian beat" to have an idea. Maybe in slow tempo, ballads, his evocative lyrics was on top, and at last he put that swing touch in many medium and fast tempo songs in the Spirit of his heroes Charlie Christian and Django (related to him his particulary technique that privilege down stroke in the gipsy's way). Don't forget that Guitar of Barney in 50 and 60 was everywere from spot radio, tv, rock and pop guesting....personally some album of his late era wasn't so good with some changes on technique too, he become more criptic, less clear more introspective, maybe something happening in his Life that mark him or Simply his time as Guitar legend was gone however some good stuff can be found as album soaring,Barney kessel & Friends....
Nice video and good to see some Barney on here.. There is a bit of a Barney divide, those who can't cope with the sloppy sweep solos and those who love him. The sloppy chops used to bother me too but over the years I have come to love him. It is the combination of a great swing feel, amazing chord solos, direct ideas and playing with total emotion and conviction. He means every note and I think he made a massive contribution to the chordal aspect of jazz guitar, especially in trio's.
Thanks Tristan! True, I get the impression he did indeed really shape the guitar trio style a lot :) What albums do you recommend?
Aside from all his early stuff which is all great I really like The poll Winners Exploring The scene, Contemporary Latin Rhythms, Autumn Leaves, Guitarra, Barney Kessel and Friens, Solo and the albums he did with Grapelli. But I recognise he's an acquired taste in the jazz guitar world. i also like him as an accompanist to singers, Sarah Vaughn and Julie London Spring to mind.
I really love "To Swing Or Not To Swing" and "Plays Standards".
Great job
Thank you!
I had a similar experience in encountering Kessel’s music: the first stuff I heard was later-period BK, and the thin tone and Jimmy Page picking really turned me off. And as shallow as it is of me, I also confess to having been turned off by his Hair Club for Men look and the Conway Twitty suits. I ignored his playing for years…and then discovered the first “Poll Winners” record. Completely changed my mind about his taste and touch!
Jens I'm really digging that horn double stop at around 3:00 on the Am7-D7. Right up my alley. Did I mention that I'm a huge Barney Kessel fan?
Glad you like it Tom! 🙂
@@JensLarsen hope you're feeling better.
I saw Barney in the seventies in Pittsburgh ,I would stand outside the club (I was underage,for a drinking establishment) in freezing weather for hours listening to him,I was too transfixed to go home ! President Jimmy Carter had appointed him as the top jazz ambassador in the U.S..
Another awesome video analyzing my personal hero, thanks Jens. Any chance you can analyze Frank Gambale playing over a standard with the Chick Corea Elektric Band? C.T.A. maybe? Thank you.
Ok, I wouldn't really consider CC Elektric band repertoire standards? But it could be something to look into I guess :)
@@JensLarsen Thanks for the reply Jens, sorry for the misunderstanding. CC EB sometimes plays the standard CTA by Jimmy Heath and Miles Davis. Specifically in 2003 at the North Sea Jazz Festival is great, the performance is to see on TH-cam. I would very much appreciate it if you would analyse that solo Gambale plays on CTA. But if I would recommend an interesting original CC EB tune for guitar, gambale plays an awesome solo on the tune "Charged Particles". Thank you! :)
Ok. Strictly speaking that is of course not a standard :) I'll give it a listen. There's a fairly big chance it isn't my thing :)
@@JensLarsen Sorry, I am bit new to jazz and unclear about that term. Well thanks anyway.
As I am sure you know Charlie Christian was Kessels biggest influence but swing was on the way out so he is a very transitional player
True, but Christian was also a bit in between Bebop and Swing :)
Who is your favorite guitar player?
thanks !! Do you not play any charlie byrd stuff?
Glad you like it 🙂 no, I am not that into Charlie Byrd
Thank god, stereo where rhythm section is in one ear, and soloing instrument is in another, is a thing in the past.
Yes, now we all listen on Phones and ipads :)
@@JensLarsen May be it's just a personal thing :)
I use in-ear earbuds with silicon tips, and early jazz stereo mixes of jazz are unpleasant, even recordings like Giant Steps for example. I turned on mono mode on my phone to be able to enjoy them
I completely understand. I guess those mixes were not meant for headphones at all (or mono for that matter :D)
Do you know what guitar he played with Ella on “Solitude”? Thanks
Nope, sorry :)
@@JensLarsen I found an interesting article on his guitars. Turns out that the main one he used was a modified ES-350. Thanks uniqueguitar.blogspot.com/2010/08/barney-kessel-guitars.html?m=1
In Bach's music, it's called melodic sequence
Awesome lesson jens!!
I have a question, that's a bit off topic, but might concern you …
I am sure you are aware of the whole demonetization ordeal with TH-camr content, in regard to use of profanity, and copywrite claims. Recently, many youtubers like Adam Neely, Jared Dines, SpectreStudios, Rick Beato, and many more have been recently struck with copywrite claims, even from videos that have been more than 5 years old, with the claim that their content had atleast 3 seconds of music material that is essentially violating copywrite conditions. This is simply because nowadays, 95% of the songs belong to the wretched Universal Music Group. Ultimately they force TH-cam to swing the entire earnings that these youtubers have hardly made through hard work, simply because they just used 3 seconds of their song , out of their entire 5 minute video. Outrageous!!
I was wondering, aren't you also been affected by these corporate maniacs?? Adam Neely nor Rick Beato can't even give any example in their videos, simply because any mention of any song he gives, goes entirely to UMG. Recently, Adam Neely did a video about the use of mixolydian b6 in All Single Lady's as an example, with the catch that he rewrote the whole song in MIDI, IN MIDI FOR GOD SAKES!!!! and guess what, he got a copywrite claim from no other than UMG. How are you dealing with this madness??? I have always loved your content, and I want to be a full patron soon for you (I am currently working on my Univ Thesis, so time is an issue with me :-( ). I would assume that all the Jazz examples you have given so far, are owned by UMG. Are you able to fair well with these corporate suckers???
Please Keep up the Good Work!!!!
Sköl!!
Thank you!
The copyright claims are being made by people hired by publishers and they only go after channels and videos with hundreds of thousands views, so my channel is not immediately being targeted because there is little money to get.
I have had copyright claims in the past and also on sheet music and titles. For my videos the AdSense money is such a small amount that I don't give it priority to argue with them. I don't rely on adsense.
In time I am sure YT will resolve this, it is in their interest, and the publishers are abusing the current system.
That's what I think.
@@JensLarsen I am glad atleast that this ordeal aint affecting you!!!
At the moment, there's going to be a petition against this claim..... as you clearly said, this was done by some hired people made by the publishers (in this case, UMG), so there's a good chance for a contest. Moreover, it is going to be a joint petition from all Music TH-camrs that got affected, so the contest for this is definitely strong. I hope it goes all well!!
all i know is that barney's rendition of autumn leaves IMO is light years beyond joe pass' version. To me Barney plays with more feel and "soul" than any other jazz guitarist i have heard. Guys like rosenwinkel and pat metheny seem like they are trying to intellectualize music too much. Its as if they are just seeking notes to sound unique rather that sound good. But of course that is just my opinion
It's difficult to discuss taste :)
When he played fast his technique is very sloppy particularly those sweeping arpeggios where he will just sweep through muted strings most of the time. Other than that his chord vocabularies are very tasty. The Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis and Charlie Byrd trio is what inspired me to learn Jazz though.
He was an in-demand session player, so this aspect of his playing (sloppy arpeggios) is something that I would think would not be tolerated on a commercial session.
@@DovidM I think session musicians in the past are quite different to what they needs to be nowadays. I doubt if he will need to push the tempo in a commercial session. It is actually quite funny the way how he play at fast tempo, it is apparent that he physical couldn't play at anything faster than 180bpm 8ths but he managed to just sweep through it and sometimes even turn into a strum of muted arpeggiating chords which are impossible to transcribe. It is almost part of the style of his I guess.
Barney got better and better all throughout his life. I'm listening to Sea miner from 1975 and it sounds better than anything he did before so i wouldn't say his earlier stuff is better. Quite the contrary.
Barney was amazing all throughout his career, which was very long.