Backgrounder: Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By

By 1957, Los Angeles was Shangri-La for many jazz studio musicians. They had settled in the San Fernando Valley north of the city, married, had kids, no longer had to tour, the weather was great, the highways weren't impossible yet and the Pacific Ocean's beaches were waiting. Provided their car started, they were in business for themselves and doing well.

One of the most prolific jazz guitarists in L.A. was Barney Kessel. In the late 1950s, he was recording for Contemporary. The beauty of the label, in addition to the sterling taste and impeccable recording talents of owner Lester Koenig, were the album covers. Many provided a glossy color photo of L.A., when the city was at its West Coast jazz peak. I'm thinking of Shorty Rogers's Wherever the Five Winds Blow, Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, Lighthouse at Laguna and Hampton Hawes's Four!, to name a few.  

Another terrific album is Music to Listen to Barney Kessel By, with a cover photo by William Claxton. Recorded over three different months, largely due to how busy Kessel was as a studio sideman and the availability of everyone else he wanted on the date. 

Here's the complete Music to Listen to Barney Kessel By without ad interruptions...