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Art 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 ...
read moreNotable 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 ...
read moreThe 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 ...
read morePromise Kept: The Complete Artists House Recordings
by Peter J. Hoetjes
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)
by Russell Perry
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
by C. Michael Bailey
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
by C. Michael Bailey
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 ...
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