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Art Pepper: Unreleased Art Volume 4: The Art History Project
by Jeff Stockton
In her liner notes to Volume IV of the Art History Project, Art Pepper's widow describes him as a self-hating, alcoholic sex addict who turned to heroin in order to suppress these tendencies. Second only to Charlie Parker in the DownBeat polls of the day, nobody played alto saxophone as smooth and cool as Art Pepper. Unreleased Art, a three-disc set comprised of two-thirds never-before released material, traces Pepper's life in music from his golden era in the '50s through ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: The Art History Project
by Mark Corroto
The tragic jazz life and death story of saxophonist Art Pepper was similar to that of Charlie Parker in many ways. Like Bird's brilliance, Art Pepper's intense flame burned bright, and his genius with the saxophone was subject to fan adoration and critical admiration. Unlike Parker, who died at age 35, Pepper lived into his mid-50s, making an infamous comeback from drugs and prison.This three-disc compilation is the fourth in a series of releases curated by Pepper's widow, ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: Work of Art
by Chris May
Art Pepper Work of ArtProper Records2008 Anyone dipping their toes for the first time into the recorded legacy of the fitfully prolific Los Angeles-based alto saxophonist Art Pepper (1925-82) is best advised to start with the two series of albums Pepper recorded for Contemporary, one in the period 1957-60, the other in the mid 1970s.
The first began with Meets The Rhythm Section (Contemporary, 1957)--made with trumpeter Miles Davis's rhythm ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: Art Pepper: Unreleased Art, Vol. III; The Croydon Concert, May 14, 1981
by C. Michael Bailey
Laurie Pepper, widow of alto saxophonist Art Pepper, has single-handedly made the most significant contribution to her late husband's legacy in the last decade with the release of Unreleased Art, Volume 1: The Complete Abashiri Concert November 22, 1981 and Unreleased Art, Volume 2: The Last Concert May 30, 1982. Both were released in 2007 on her own Widow's Taste label. While superb, these performances were compromised by poor sonics.
Well, not so with Unreleased Art, Vol. III--The ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: Unreleased Art Vol. 1 & 2
by Marc Medwin
Art Pepper Unreleased Art, Vol. 1: The Complete Abashiri Concert (Nov. 22, 1981) Widow's Taste 2007 Art Pepper Unreleased Art, Vol. 2: The Last Concert (May 30, 1982), Kool Jazz Festival Widow's Taste 2007
Art Pepper's widow, Laurie (his third and final wife), started the Widow's Taste label to give more ...
Continue ReadingArt Lives: Two Newly Released Art Pepper Albums
by Mark Corroto
The story of saxophonist Art Pepper as documented in his autobiography Straight Life (Schirmer Books, 1979) is a remarkable one. The brash and extraordinarily talented Pepper followed saxophonist Charlie Parker into a life of addiction and for Pepper, prison. In between stints, he made some marvelous records, advancing Parker's bebop into a more personal statement. His music, especially during the last six years of his life (he died in 1982 at age 56) was urgent, eloquent, and exceptional. ...
Continue ReadingArt Pepper: Two Previously Unreleased and Outstanding Albums
by C. Michael Bailey
Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr. (1925 -1982) desired the title of “greatest alto saxophonist in the world." Such an ambition might be considered by the uninitiated to have been either naive or intensely egocentric, for Pepper's contemporaries on the axe included Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges and Paul Desmond. But Pepper had more staying power than any of them, and all the while developed his unique and personal sound. Along with Desmond and Lee Konitz, he was among the few small-combo saxophonists ...
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