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Art Pepper: Art Pepper: Unreleased Art Vol. VIII - Live At The Winery, September 6, 1976
BySecond, she releases a performance where Pepper plays with "alternate" sidemen, artists not associated with Pepper at the height of his comeback (like pianists George Cables and Milcho Leviev, bassists Tony Dumas and Bob Magnusson and drummers Billy Higgins and Carl Burnett). The music recorded here is somewhat of a "missing link" and is, indeed, revelatory, almost in the biblical sense. Pepper had been working as an accountant in the bakery of a fellow Synanon veteran when he emerged to play "casuals" (weddings and Bar Mitzvahs) and, eventually to begin recording again.
Fifteen years is a long time between records. It may be the myopic view of the past considering recordings like Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (Contemporary, 1957) and Art Pepper + Eleven: The Modern Jazz Classics (Contemporary, 1959). These were game-changing recordings made under the most challenging circumstances.
There is nothing Romantic about chemical dependency or its consequences. It does not enhance creativity; it exists as an impediment to all that could be. Nor should one believe the artist is not changed by the experience: not Charlie Parker, not Frank Morgan, not Art Pepper. The Art Pepper here in the Bicentennial is dramatically different from that of these previous recordings. His tone is harsher and more dry and he still shows the remnants of John Coltrane, who captured his imagination in the 1960s. But, Pepper in the mid-1970s was no developing artist unfinished; he was fully realized and in nuclear transition. He is the musical sum of all he has done and all he has seen.
In 1979, Art and Laurie Pepper published perhaps the finest jazz biography written, Straight Life: the Story of Art Pepper (Da Capo Press). It provides a roadmap and discography where Pepper's work can be conveniently identified and considered in context. According to Pepper's discography at Jazzdisco.org, the altoist's appearance at the Paul Masson Winery, September 6, 1976 took place between his recording as a sideman on Art Farmer: On The Road (Contemporary, 1976) and Pepper's own follow-up to Living Legand, The Trip (Contemporary, 1976). Pepper was getting serious traction just ahead of his first tour of Japan early in 1977. He had been teaching jazz clinics and playing casuals, getting ready for the rest of his productive but too-short life.
Live At The Winery, September 6, 1976 is made up of six songs inner-dispersed with Pepper's grateful and sincere stage banter. The disc opens with possibly Pepper's most passionate reading of the Juan Tizol classic "Caravan." Written for the Duke Ellington orchestra, "Caravan" was composed with a Middle Eastern flavor in mind, but in the hands of Pepper and local pianist Smith Dobson, it is a samba bullet shot from a Latin jazz gun. Pepper gives a long introduction before steering into the familiar theme, fighting a guerrilla war for the next ten minutes of exhilarating performance.
Pepper follows with an angular original composition, "Ophelia" from Living Legend, that would show up many more times in his live performances. A ballad master, Pepper presents "Here's That Rainy Day" also from Living Legend and earlier, displaying the complete command of the form that would reach its pinnacle on Winter Moon (Galaxy, 1980). The band follows with "What Laurie Likes," a blues-funk piece suggesting Pepper's future masterpiece "Red Car" from his next studio recording.
Pepper closes with his be bop-infused "Straight Life" and "Saratoga Blues" demonstrating that he is a master of that idiom also. "Caravan" is a revelation on this recording as is "Make a List (Make a Wish)" from Art Pepper: Unreleased Art, Vol. III; The Croydon Concert, May 14, 1981 (Widow's Taste, 2008). Pepper was capable of reinvention, evolution and perfection in his quest to become the greatest alto saxophonist. Mission accomplished.
Track Listing
Caravan; Ophelia; Here’s That Rainy Day; What Laurie Likes; Straight Life; Saratoga Blues.
Personnel
Art Pepper
saxophone, altoArt Pepper: alto saxophone; Smith Dobson: piano; Jim Nichols: bass; Brad Bilborn: drums.
Album information
Title: Art Pepper: Unreleased Art Vol. VIII - Live At The Winery, September 6, 1976 | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Widow's Taste