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Pepper
Art Pepper: Smack Up, 1960
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Recorded over two days in October 1960 for Los Angeles's Contemporary Records, Art Pepper's Smack Up featured six compositions by saxophonists, five of whom had recorded their songs for the label years earlier. It's unclear whether Pepper was compelled to do this by Contemporary or the idea was suggested to him. It's doubtful he came up with the concept on his own. The alto saxophonist was joined by trumpeter Jack Sheldon, pianist Pete Jolly, bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Frank ...
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Backgrounder: Art Pepper and the Marty Paich 4
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
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 ...
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Backgrounder: Pepper Adams Quintet,' 1957
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Stu Williamson was a gorgeous trumpeter and valve trombonist. His smooth tone and ease with which he played and soloed landed him in the Hollywood studios in the 1950s. Born in Brattleboro, Vt., Williamson moved to Los Angeles in 1949. Sadly, he struggled with drug addiction for much of his career. The younger brother of West Coast pianist Claude Williamson, Stu Williamson died in 1991 at age 58. Williamson played on just one album with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams. Recorded ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Art Pepper
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Art Pepper's birthday today!
Alto Saxophonist Art Pepper, a native of Gardena California, played in the overtly emotional manner that came to define the West Coast style. His solo approach was always passionate, from early recordings made with Stan Kenton's orchestra during his years with the band (1943 and 1946-52) and in jam sessions on LA’s Central Avenue. Records and club work with Shorty Rogers and his Giants beginning in 1951 provided more room for ...
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Backgrounder: The Return of Art Pepper
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
After time in prison in California following a drug bust in 1954, alto saxophonist Art Pepper returned to work in Los Angeles in 1956. The Return of Art Pepper was recorded on August 6, 1956 for Jazz West, a subsidiary of Aladdin Records. The LP was produced by Herb Kimmel, who ran the the Jazz West label. The album, recorded at Capitol Studios in the newly completed Capitol Records Tower on Yucca and Vine Streets in Hollywood, featured Art Pepper ...
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Doc: Art Pepper - Notes From a Jazz Survivor
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Loneliness on the road and the dread of performing live in the early 1950s drove Art Pepper to snort heroin. What followed was a lifelong addiction. As he said regarding his stage anxiety, “I'd get sick to my stomach, and the only way I could handle it was getting loaded." It's hard to believe when you listen to Pepper play that he could be hampered by nerves. Such anxiety was more common than not, not only among jazz musicians under ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Art Pepper
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Art Pepper's birthday today!
Alto Saxophonist Art Pepper, a native of Gardena California, played in the overtly emotional manner that came to define the West Coast style. His solo approach was always passionate, from early recordings made with Stan Kenton's orchestra during his years with the band (1943 and 1946-52) and in jam sessions on LA’s Central Avenue. Records and club work with Shorty Rogers and his Giants beginning in 1951 provided more room for ...
read more
Art Pepper and Warne Marsh
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
There are great jazz musicians. And then there are great pairings of great jazz musicians. Some of these pairings you know, some may be less familiar. A duo in the latter category was West Coast alto saxophonist Art Pepper and New York tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh. On the recordings by these two players, you get two artists who personified a cooler, drier sound on the reed instrument. By cooler and drier, I mean smooth, no vibrato, relaxed and behind the ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Pepper Adams
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Pepper Adams' birthday today!
Pepper Adams was one of hard bop's most significant baritone saxophonists. His dark, hearty tone on the horn and driving rhythmic sense provided the antithesis to the lighter, floating (and consequently more popular) styles of Gerry Mulligan. His family moved to Rochester, New York when he was young and in that city he began his musical efforts. That said his family's later move to Detroit, Michigan, a suburb of which was ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Art Pepper
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Art Pepper's birthday today!
Alto Saxophonist Art Pepper, a native of Gardena California, played in the overtly emotional manner that came to define the West Coast style. His solo approach was always passionate, from early recordings made with Stan Kenton's orchestra during his years with the band (1943 and 1946-52) and in jam sessions on LA’s Central Avenue. Records and club work with Shorty Rogers and his Giants beginning in 1951 provided more room for ...
read more
Pepper
