More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Guitar
If you’re a fan of Jazz Guitar, this 5 Star All Tube MONO Recording from 1955 belongs in your collection.
Definitely one of the best early Contemporary LPs we’ve ever played – this is why audiophiles love mono.
Man, this music is a blast when it sounds this good. I don’t think there’s a whole lot you could do to make this music sound any better. It’s one of the best early mono Contemporary LPs I’ve ever played. It’s so Tubey Magical. Kessel’s guitar sound is out of this world.
The music here matches the sound for excellence. The whole band just swings. There’s a real old rag-timey feel to the songs.
Look at this list of all-star players: Harry Edison, Jimmy Rowles, Red Mitchell and Shelly Manne — this is some serious jazz talent.
The Players and Personnel
- Bass – Red Mitchell
- Drums – Irv Cottler, Shelly Manne
- Engineer – John Palladino
- Guitar – Barney Kessel
- Photography By – William Claxton
- Piano – Jimmy Rowles
- Recording Supervisor – Lester Koenig
- Rhythm Guitar – Al Hendrickson
- Tenor Saxophone – Bill Perkins, Georgie Auld
- Trumpet – Harry Edison
Side One
Begin The Blues
Louisiana
Happy Feeling
Embraceable
Wail Street
Side Two
Indiana
Moten Swing
Midnight Sun
Comtemporary Blues
Don’t Blame Me
12th Street Rag
AMG 5 Star Rave Review
Guitarist Barney Kessel’s string of recordings for Contemporary in the 1950s included some of the finest work of his career. The unusual repertoire on this set — which includes “Louisiana,” “Indiana,” and “12th Street Rag,” along with four Kessel originals and more usual standards — would by itself make this bop/cool set noteworthy. Add to that a very interesting lineup of players (trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison, Georgie Auld or Bill Perkins on tenor, pianist Jimmy Rowles, the rhythm guitar of Al Hendrickson, bassist Red Mitchell, and Shelly Manne or Irv Cottler on drums) and some excellent showcases for Kessel, and the overall result is an [LP] highly recommended to fans of straight-ahead jazz.