There was nothing that this guitar-pickin’ Okie from Muskogee couldn't handle. Without question Barney Kessel's list of achievements is nothing less than phenomenal. Having relocated to LA in the early 1940s this perennial poll winner recorded with Dexter, Bird and appeared in the movie Jammin’ The Blues with Pres prior to joining the Oscar Peterson Trio. Quitting a year later in 1954 to become one of LA's most prolific studio musicians, tackling anything from countless Phil Spector Wall of Sound hits, the Beach Boys iconic Pet Sounds, numerous Norman Granz productions, plus his own best-selling jazz albums. However, for many, Kessel is fondly remembered for his matchless contribution to Julie London's 1955 debut album Julie Is Her Name that included ‘Cry Me A River’. All this was pretty much in the future, so it wasn't uncommon for Kessel to be working the jazz circuit as a soloist. Captured during a typical out-of-town club date in Phoenix, Arizona, here Kessel effortlessly glides his way through half-a-dozen familiar standards that include chirpy head arrangements of ‘Tea For Two’ and ‘Let's Fall In Love’, plus a stab at George Wallington's ‘Godchild’. Though pianist Pete Jolly (soon to follow the lucrative LA studio route) throws in a couple of worthwhile solos, the overall feeling is at times somewhat pedestrian.