Carl Kress (October 20, 1907 – June 10, 1965) was an American jazz guitarist who along with Eddie Lang, can be considered the founding father of jazz guitar. While Lang pioneered the use of single-string horn inspired lines, Carl had a very sophisticated chordal style on acoustic guitar.
Kress started on piano before picking up the banjo before gradually shifting to guitar when he joined Paul Whiteman’s orchestra in 1926. Kress did not stay with Whiteman long for he found himself in great demand as a rhythm guitarist. Kress was a master at creating dense and rich chord voicings, rarely playing single-note runs in his occasional solos. For most of his career, he was a studio musician and sideman buried in large orchestras, and his name was little known. As with every acoustic guitarist of the era, there was always the problem of being heard but Kress found his spots and was greatly valued by his fellow musicians.
He was always fond of participating in guitar duets and his most famous early session was a pair of memorable meetings (“Pickin’ My Way” and “Feeling My Way”) with Eddie Lang. While the latter was renowned for his own chordal playing, in what could be considered a tribute to Kress’ brilliance in that area, Lang confined himself during their encounters to playing single-note lines and bass lines.
While not a major name to the general public, Kress appeared on many sessions by Red Nichols (mostly during 1927-31) along with dates by Miff Mole, the Cotton Pickers, the All Star Orchestra, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, Boyd Senter, Ben Selvin, Frankie Trumbauer (“There Comes A Time,” “Jubilee,” and “Mississippi Mud”), Paul Whiteman (“San”), Nat Shilkret, Fred Rich, Irving Mills, and Arthur Schutt among many others. Eddie Lang’s unexpected death on Mar. 26, 1933, left the field open to Dick McDonough (who took Lang’s place on a recording by violinist Joe Venuti) and Kress although they certainly did not need the extra work. It might have been the Depression but both of the guitarists remained extremely busy.
Given Kress’ fondness for guitar duets and the fact that they were at the top of their field in the studios and employed by overlapping radio orchestras, it was inevitable that McDonough and Kress would get to play together. They had been crossing paths regularly since at least 1928 when they occasionally were both part of a Ben Selvin session. On Jan. 31, 1934, Kress and McDonough recorded as a guitar duo on “Stage Fright” and “Danzon,” a pair of tightly-arranged and stimulating performances. Two years later they performed “Heat Wave” as a duet on a radio show (Swingtime At NBC) that was released last year on a Mosaic box set. On the Saturday Night Swing Club show of June 12, 1937, they performed “Chicken A La Swing” and “I Know That You Know.” In all cases, McDonough’s single-note lead matched perfectly with Kress’ sophisticated chords.
Soon Kress became known for his second contribution to jazz by being part owner of the famed ONYX club on 52nd Street. In 1938 and 1939, he made some solo recordings, the songs "Peg Leg Shuffle", "Helena", "Love Song", "Sutton Mutton", and "Afterthoughts". During the 1940s, he played Dixieland jazz with Bobby Hackett, Pee Wee Russell, and Muggsy Spanier.
He also played with Tony Mottola (1941) and in the 1950’s Kress could be seen as the guitarist for the Garry Moore television show. In 1961 Kress joined forces with Chicago guitarist George Barnes for a series of duet albums. Kress was married to Helen Carroll, a native of Bloomington, Indiana, who moved to New York City to become a singer. She was a member of the Satisfiers and sang with Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, and Jo Stafford. Carl and Helen Kress lived in Manhasset, New York. He died of a heart attack in 1965 while he was on tour with George Barnes in Reno, Nevada.
(Edited from Wikipedia & Syncopated Times)