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Art Pepper: The Hollywood All-Star Sessions
by C. Andrew Hovan
Let’s face it, when historians and other purveyors of the jazz legacy consider the scene during the 1970s, a bleak outlook is usually the upshot. Jazz had become commercialized, fusionized, rock infested, and raped. Even the modest amount of mainstream fare that was being released to little public notice seemed to pale in comparison with the great body of work delivered during the golden age of the ‘50s and ‘60s. When it came to the life of Art Pepper, this ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: Renascence
by Dave Nathan
Art Pepper was one of those rare jazz players whose playing was immediately recognizable upon hearing the first few measures. Combining the technical fluidity of Charlie Parker with the pure, cool sound belying his West Coast origins, he had enough talent for two alto players.At the time of this recording, Art Pepper had just recordedLiving Legendfor Contemporary Records, one of his few visits to the studio since being released from his latest stay at San Quentin, and his first as ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper
by Robert Spencer
It's all in his remarkable autobiography, Straight Life. Art Pepper was a junkie. First and foremost. He spent long stretches in prison, had innumerable wild adventures, and used drugs to the end of his life. He spent years devoted entirely to scoring the next dose. But in and through it all, he somehow managed to become one of the greatest alto players ever, a bebopper not in thrall to Charlie Parker, a postbopper not in thrall to John Coltrane, and ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: San Francisco Samba
by C. Michael Bailey
San Francisco Samba contains four performances previously unrecorded in the Art Pepper discography. According to Todd Selbert's discography included in the confessional Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper," Pepper had not previously recorded with this collection of musicians (with the exception of Cables). Three of the four pieces included on this disc are well-known in the Pepper repertoire, with the blues “Art Meets Mr. Beautiful" the sole exception.This recording captures Art Pepper at the Keystone Korner in ...
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