[Dixielandjazz] Barney Kessel remembered

[Norman Vickers]

Dear Listmates:  Pianist Pat Kelly of Cincinnati wrote a nice piece for the
Jazz Society of Pensacola's Jazz Alert group about a gig he had with Barney
Kessel. I hope it will be of interest to some on this list as well.He also
gives some personal information for his Pensacola friends.  Those of you in
the Cincinnati area might seek him out.
His style is not exclusively Dixieland but.....

Norman Vickers


__________________________________________
 Barney Kessel Remembered--- by Pat Kelly

It's sad that the jazz world has lost another great one with the passing of
Barney Kessel. Here are a few words about an experience that I had with him.

In the early 1980s (before that period in which I lived in Pensacola from
'83 to 'late-'86) I was playing piano regularly in a quartet with the great
local Cincinnati tenor saxophonist Jimmy McGary. After completing a 13-month
gig at the then new Blue Wisp Jazz Club, we moved on to another engagement
at a restaurant near downtown called Edwards Manufacturing Co., so named
because it was located in the former plush corparate offices of an old
Cincinnati firm of that name.

Barney Kessel was touring at that time and contacted the management at
Edwards about appearing there. He agreed to play with the house band which
was McGary, myself, bassist Marty Wittow and drummer Rody Hasseltine.
(During that same time period, within a few months, Herb Ellis was also
booked at Edwards. Although he requested a "pianoless" rhythm section,
Barney Kessel preferred having a pianist, which was good news for me.)

I recall that the weekend of the engagement the place was packed. There were
many jazz and guitar aficionados who were aware of the legendary stature of
Mr. Kessel. I had become aware of him as a teenager, especially from an
album called Poll Winners 3, a trio record with Shelley Mann and Ray Brown.
I learned later that one member of the audience was Scotty Anderson, a
guitarist now legendary himself, especially among devotees of the Chet
Atkins/Merle Travis school of playing. I've since become Scotty's friend and
worked with him on some recording projects.

What I recall about playing with Barney Kessel was his sound - the sound
that I had heard on his recordings. His lines were very musically
intelligent, clear and logical. He got a little bit of distortion through
his amp when he played certain chord melodies - I had the idea that that was
the sound he was going for. I was well aware that the rest of us were not
Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown or Shelley Manne (we were all, with the exception
of McGary, young players) but he played with us nonetheless, was very
gracious, and made the music happen. It was fun to get to trade fours and
eights with a legend. I do remember one interesting thing that he said
regarding audiences. He said that he had observed through the years that the
typical audience member had an attention span of eleven minutes. After that
they started fidgeting or talking and that it was important to change up the
music to grab their attention again, if possible.

At the completion of the second night of the weekend gig I told him how
immensely I had enjoyed the experience of playing with him. He told me that
he had enjoyed the experience as well and said that he heard many good ideas
in my musical concept and encouraged me to keep playing. That was a thrill
for me and an encouragement that I have kept with me through the years since
then.

I have been busy and active musically, as a bandleader, performer and
producer. My group, The PsychoAcoustic Orchestra recorded 2 CDs in the early
'90s and is reforming after a hiatus (while my wife and I raised our
children, now 18 and 16). I have been a part of Latin X-posure, a 12-piece
salsa/merengue band which has enjoyed success here. I have been producing
records at a rate of at least one per year (including 2 great ones by Scotty
Anderson) for J Curve Records, a local label with national distribution. I
am currently playing weekends at the Dee Felice Cafe, a long established
cajun restaurant/jazz club in Covington, KY - just across the river from
downtown Cincinnati) in a very good quintet.

If anyone is interested in checking out my current and past activites or in
booking me (please bring me to Pensacola),  go to www.patkellymusic.com, my
website.

Thanks for asking, Norman. We will probably visit P'cola this summer
sometime. I'll be in touch.

Regards,

Pat


Patrick Kelly
Cabin 2 Music
513-604-9889

www.patkellymusic.com