Backgrounder: Art Pepper and the Marty Paich 4

In August 1956, Art Pepper was teamed with Marty Paich on piano, Buddy Clark on bass and Frank Capp on drums on a Hollywood recording session for Tampa Records. The label was founded in Los Angeles a year earlier by Robert Scherman and Irving Shorten, and the album was Pepper's first since 1954 due to time spent in jail for drugs.

On The Marty Paich Quartet Featuring Art Pepper, the alto saxophonist plays with a mournful jubilation, sailing up and down the keys with a metaphoric moan and bright sigh of relief. At this point in time, Paich recorded as often as a pianist as he did as an arranger. My guess is that the money came faster on the piano dates and they neatly supplemented his income.

The tracks are What's Right for You, You and the Night and the Music, Sidewinder, Abstract Art, Over the Rainbow, All the Things You Are, Pitfall, Melancholy Madeline and Marty's Blues.

The reason I love this album is its dry heat and Pepper' bluesy mood. I also love that Pepper is the only horn on the session and that he's in the company of Marty Paich's solid group.

Here's the complete Marty Paich Quartet Featuring Art Pepper, without ad interruptions...