Barney Kessel Plays "Some Like It Hot" 

Barney Kessel was one of the best known American jazz guitarists during the heyday of the Los Angeles music scene. Not only was he a first call studio musician, he also had a very active performing and recording career at the same time. Between 1954 and 1959, he cut 10 albums for Contemporary, a record label that specialized in jazz and was located in Los Angeles. 

The album Barney Kessel Plays Some Like It Hot was based on the movie that was released in 1959. According to the album liner notes, the musical director of the picture urged Barney - who was in the orchestra that recorded the film's score - to record a modern jazz album of the songs used in the film. 

There were seven musicians used in the recording sessions that make up this record. Barney Kessel plays guitar, Art Pepper plays clarinet, alto and tenor sax, Joe Gordon plays trumpet, Jimmie Rowles plays piano, Jack Marshall plays rhythm guitar, Monty Budwig plays bass and Shelley Manne (who also played with Barney during he recording of the film score) plays drums. Not every track uses the septet though, there a couple of duos featuring Barney and Monty. Additionally, in the liner notes, Barney mentions that in addition to his regular guitar (a Gibson ES 350p), on this recording he also plays a six string bass guitar (not the four string version though), and a classical guitar with nylon strings. 

Barney stated in the liner notes that making the record was fun for all involved, and the arrangements were all "head arrangements" (which basically means there were no written arrangements, the musicians decided how they would perform the song while they were recording it). Although these songs were older numbers that all predated the period of the 1950's (the movie was supposed to be taking place in Prohibition-era Chicago), the musicians gave them a modern feel, with a definite bebop approach to the performances. 

Barney Kessel Plays Some Like It Hot is a record where the players perform very musical and sincere renditions of some really interesting songs. It isn't just the soundtrack, it is interpretations on these songs that are an absolute treat to listen to.  The album was recorded in two sessions; March 30 and 31, 1959 and April 3, 1959. My version is the mono version (and it sounds awesome), Contemporary M 3565.