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Jazz Articles about Art Pepper
Art Pepper: Smack Up
by Richard J Salvucci
There are certain players and recordings that make an indelible first impression. The circumstances usually involve a degree of ignorance: Who is that? What is he (or she) doing? How did this recording escape notice when so many others did not? A very personal reaction to Art Pepper. Urgency. Intensity. Listen to me. Before the name, there was the sound and the piercing tone that can only come out of some dark emotional depth. A listener did not ...
Continue ReadingContemporary Records 70th: Art Pepper and Benny Carter
by C. Andrew Hovan
In the pantheon of great jazz record labels, the name Contemporary Records looms large among fans and collectors alike. Akin to their east coast competitor, Blue Note Records, Contemporary was well known for its refined presentations. From the characteristic covers and well-written liner notes to the quality pressings, Lester Koenig's labor of love was home to some of the best musicians on the west coast. In addition, thanks to the engineering skills of Ray DuNann and Howard Holzer, the recorded ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: Unreleased Art Pepper: Atlanta 1980
by Angelo Leonardi
La serie delle performance inedite di Art Pepper giunge all'11° capitolo e si aggiunge alle altre registrazioni in studio o live (molte dell'etichetta Galaxy), che documentano la fase finale della sua carriera. Anche quest'album doppio è stato curato dalla vedova Laurie che ebbe il merito di sostenere la fragile personalità del marito, consentendogli di esprimere e documentare la sua maiuscola statura artistica. Figlio non voluto di due alcolizzati, la vita di Art Pepper era stata devastata da ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: Unreleased Art Pepper Volume Eleven: Atlanta
by Peter J. Hoetjes
Laurie Pepper expands upon the legend of her late husband, Art Pepper, with the release of Atlanta. The eleventh edition in her Widow's Taste series of uncovered treasures finds the alto saxophonist at an unspecified jazz club in Atlanta, Georgia, during the spring of 1980. Firmly planted in his comeback era, Pepper found comfort and familiarity in the use of two very different pianists. Although he preferred George Cables, whom he tagged with the moniker “Mr. Beautiful," he was occasionally ...
Continue ReadingNotable and Nearly Missed 2020
by C. Michael Bailey
The strange year that was 2020 yielded, reluctantly, re-issued and previously unissued recordings from across the spectrum of music and ain't it fine to have such to consider. The value of such recordings lay in their function in pointing to the musical future we presently inhabit. They fill in the blank spaces between then and now. Art Pepper Atlanta: Unreleased Art Pepper Volume Eleven Widow's Taste 2020 Okay, Okay! The first release ...
Continue ReadingStan Kenton and His Orchestra: Concert Kenton
by Jack Bowers
There's no question that Stan Kenton led one of the more successful and popular orchestras of the storied Big Band Era, winning various yearly polls while drawing large crowds to his jazz concerts and dance performances from coast to coast. But Kenton always wanted something more: to enlighten as well as entertain. Music, he felt, should be cerebral as well as visceral. And so he formed the Neophonic Orchestra to play the sort of forward-looking jazz he felt many listeners ...
Continue ReadingThe Second Acts of Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, & Johnny Griffin (1975 - 1985)
by Russell Perry
Perfectly timed to reinforce the value of acoustic mainstream jazz and provide an alternative to both fusion and free jazz, Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin reappeared and reestablished themselves as key players at the end of the 1970s. Their excellent late career work paved the way for the resurgence of mainstream bebop and hard bop in the 1980s. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Art Pepper Quartet “Lost Life" from Living Legend (Contemporary) 3:50 Art Pepper Solo “Somewhere ...
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