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Promise Kept: The Complete Artists House Recordings
A Man and His Word Art Pepper's career as an alto saxophonist is often said to exist in two eras, separated by incarceration and marriage, joined together by a penchant for substance abuse. In 1952, Pepper was a young jazzman on the rise in a world where John Coltrane and Miles Davis had yet to become household names. This era, which gained substantial steam with the release of The Art Pepper Quartet (Tampa, 1956), was one where he laid the ...
read moreStan Kenton and West Coast Jazz (1950 - 1958)
In the last hour, we heard evidence of Woody Herman's capacity for talent development in the form of further work by reed players Stan Getz, Serge Chaloff, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and Jimmy Giuffre. In this hour we turn the spotlight on alumni of the Stan Kenton Orchestra which produced several significant players in the West Coast cool tradition and a number of prominent vocalists. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Stan Kenton & His Orchestra. “Art Pepper" from Stan ...
read moreArt Pepper: Unreleased Art Pepper Vol. 10: Toronto
Laurie Pepper, widow of alto saxophonist Art Pepper, achieved a life milestone in her brilliantly liberating sequel to Straight Life--The Story Of Art Pepper By Art And Laurie Pepper (Da Capo Press, 1983), where she rhetorically asked: “If Art hadn't had me there constantly assessing his mood, taking his aesthetic temperature, would he then have had to push his vision by himself? I think somebody else, another friend or lover, might have done it...But what matters here, to ...
read moreArt Pepper: The Return of Art Pepper
Alto saxophonist Art Pepper's first incarceration for drugs took place between August 1954 and July 1956, a period conspicuous for Pepper's absence from the recording studio. Pepper's first recording as a leader after his release was, aptly, The Return of Art Pepper. He had been busy as a sideman for trumpeters Shorty Rogers (Big Shorty Express (RCA, 1956)) and Chet Baker (The Route (Pacific Jazz, 1956)) before entering Capitol Studios on August 5, 1956 to record the ten pieces that ...
read moreArt Pepper: Presents “West Coast Sessions” Volumes 5 & 6
Omnivore Records concludes its remastering and re-release of Art Pepper's Yupiteru (later to become Atlas Records) recordings volumes 5 and 6, featuring, trumpeter Jack Sheldon, and drummer Shelly Manne, respectively. To date, the label has remastered and released four volumes: Art Pepper: Presents “West Coast Sessions" Volumes 1: Sonny Stitt (2017); Art Pepper: Presents “West Coast Sessions" Volumes 2: Pete Jolly (2017); Art Pepper: Presents “West Coast Sessions" Volumes 3: Lee Konitz (2017); and Art Pepper: Presents “West Coast Sessions" ...
read moreArt Pepper: Presents “West Coast Sessions” Volumes 3 & 4
Today is the day that I finally come clean about Art Pepper and me. In 1984, I was taking a year off between having finished Pharmacy School and beginning a graduate program in Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Design. During this time, I had my yearly eye appointment with my ophthalmologist, one Dr. A. Henry Thomas, with whom I struck up a conversation regarding jazz. Up to this point, the only jazz recording I owned was...of course...Miles Davis's Kind of Blue ...
read moreArt Pepper: The Art Pepper Quartet
Omnivore Records has struck up a dandy relationship with Laurie Pepper and the Art Pepper Estate, resulting in an impressive discography, that when coupled with Laurie Pepper's own Widow's Taste Records, has provided fans many hours of previously unreleased music. First released by the label was the 2015 Neon Art Series: Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3. These recordings were first released as neon-colored vinyl long players in 2012, taking advantage of the renewed interest in analogue vinyl and ...
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Contest Giveaway
ELIGIBLE WINNERS: 5 | DAYS REMAINING: 23
Prize: Ragmala: A Garland Of Ragas by Adam Rudolph
World music pioneer Adam Rudolph and his groundbreaking Go: Organic Orchestra join forces with Brooklyn Raga Massive to create the monumental new album, Ragmala – A Garland of Ragas (Meta Records). Ragmala bridges generations, cultures and traditions in a deep-rooted, forward-looking sound born of 21st-century innovation and hybrid voices. Epic in scale and ambition, the project features 40 world-class musicians including Gnawa master musician Hassan Hakmoun, legendary drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake, forward-thinking cornetist Graham Haynes, and tradition-blurring flutist...
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