One of the finest guitarists to emerge after the death of
Charlie Christian,
Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was a reliable bop soloist throughout his career. He played with a big band fronted by
Chico Marx (1943), was fortunate enough to appear in the classic jazz short Jammin' the Blues (1944) and then worked with the big bands of
Charlie Barnet (1944-45) and
Artie Shaw (1945); he also recorded with Shaw's Gramercy Five.