How does Barney Kessel 'play' his rests/silences so crisply?

[brent.h]

I know this is a strange question.

[mr. beaumont]

A combination of things...

1. Intent-- he's definitely actively damping strings to get those crisp cut offs.

2. Tone-- very dry, no reverb, and relatively bright, so the contrast between sound and silence is quite noticeable.

3. The guitar itself sounds like it doesn't have a ton of sustain, which helps this too.

I love Barney, but I never liked this intro. Sounds like he's rushing through the tune.

[Sigmund451]

Ya gotta be great to record that dry!

Most players dont tend to record like that...so much so that it sounds a little foreign.

[Strat-itis]

Imo what makes it pop off like that besides his technique and tone is the upbeat emphasis.

This is something I've discovered lately about animation. Jazz has upbeat emphasis - it's syncopated.

When people say 'jazz is syncopated' I always thought in more overt terms of off grid jabs like Monk. When in fact it's more subtle than that. Of course off grid jabs and broader gestures are used, but the syncopation in jazz is more essentially emphasizing the upbeats with inflection and phrasing.

[Rodney Gene]

He be real goodt ...

[brent.h]

A combination of things...

1. Intent-- he's definitely actively damping strings to get those crisp cut offs.

Imo what makes it pop off like that besides his technique and tone is the upbeat emphasis.

Yeah I agree.

Physically, the way he holds the neck (thumb over) lands itself well to muting 6th and 5th strings.

Musically, I feel like Barney has a particular 'conception' of how long a note should last (and how also how soon a rest should appear) which I find so swinging - which goes back to what you said about intent.