Renowned jazz electric guitarist Barney Kessel did his bossa nova thing beautifully back in 1961 with his succinctly titled \"Bossa Nova\" LP on Reprise. Eight years later, in Rome, Italy, working with some of the cream of the crop of Italian jazz musicians (and produced by Gian Piero Ricci), he returned to the music of Brazil and the more traditional samba sounds that preceded the bossa nova craze. This LP, for its original 1969 Italy-only release, and then for its 1970 UK release (both on RCA Victor), was titled \"Kessel's Kit\" (as it is here on this Sony Japan import CD); for its 1970 U.S. release on RCA Camden, it was retitled simply Guitarra.\"
Kessel composed four of the nine tracks, two of which (\"On the Riviera\" and \"From the Heart\") are melodic beauties, and the other two are joyous, uptempo samba gems (\"Swing Samba,\" with its completely self-explanatory title, and \"BJ's Samba\"). Co-electric guitarist Carlo Pes (that's right, we get two great guitarists for the price of one!) composed two more, including the exquisitely melodic soft ballad \"Lison\" and the frenetically-paced, heavily-percussed, yet possessed of a compelling melody, \"Meo Irm?o.\" Pes is especially known for his film scores.
Kessel's Italian combo, besides Pes, consists of a drummer, a percussionist, a bassist, as well as Hammond organist Antonello Vannucchi, who injects an unmistakable soul-jazz feel into the proceedings. Adding the relaxed and dreamy five-and-a-half-minute \"Malibu\" (which starts with a stunning 1:43 Kessel solo) into the equation, the final total is four fine ballads you are going to want to hear and five happy, fast-paced dancers.
The stereo sound mastering is top-of-the-line. There is a fold-out paper insert with notes, but you may need to brush up on your Japanese to read any of it.
This would seem to be one of those rare great finds that one would be best advised to grab immediately.
