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Pepper Adams


Tom 1960

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I'm presently listening to Donald Byrd's "Byrd In Hand" which features some fine playing of Pepper Adams. This is really a very nice album all around. Up to this point I don't believe I have anything that features the playing of Adams besides the other issue I own, Byrd's "Royal Flush". I'm really digging his stuff. So the question lies, what else can you recommend for me of Pepper Adams? As always I appreciate the input. Thanks.

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Pepper had some great moments with Thad & Mel. One recording that is underrated IMHO is the collaboration w/the late Ruth Brown. There are some GREAT arrangements, the band sounds inspired and Pepper plays his @$$ off.

I love everything about Lee's The Cooker. Excellent session.

I listen to the Byrd/Adams Mosaic frequently.

Another great side is Don Friedman's Hot Pepper And Knepper(w/George Mraz and Billy Hart), although I don't know if it is currently in print.

The quintet date w/Thad is Mean What You Say w/Mel, Ron Carter and Duke Pearson. Highly recommended.

Pepper is da man! :g

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Some very good '60s dates in which Pepper appears as a sideman include:

Barry Harris: LUMINESCENCE (Prestige)

Barry Harris: BULLS EYE! (Prestige)

Donald Byrd: AT THE HALF NOTE (Vols. 1 & 2) (Blue Note)

Donald Byrd: OFF TO THE RACES (Blue Note)

Dizzy Gillespie: LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD (double CD) (Blue Note)

And I highly second the recommendation of Mingus' BLUES AND ROOTS (Atlantic), an album that's a must for any serious collection.

Edited by MartyJazz
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Some late Pepper:

His Muse recordings are very good, especially "The Master".

"Conjuration" w/Kenny Wheeler of all people on "Reservoir" is Excellent.

"Urban Dreams" on Quicksilver is also one of my favorites.

What he said.

The quintet date w/Thad is Mean What You Say w/Mel, Ron Carter and Duke Pearson. Highly recommended.

That too.

I love Pepper.

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One of my favourite Pepper Adams dates is a Dizzy Gillespie jam session gig from the Village Vanguard, which featured Chick Corea, Garnett Brown, Richard Davis and Mel Lewis, with Ray Nance and Elvin Jones coming in for a few numbers.

I enjoy Pepper's work with Mingus, especially Blues 'n' Roots. He's also on Monk's Town Hall Concert.

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"Mean What You Say" and "Live at the Half Note" would be my favorites of the bunch.

You can frequently pick up the Byrd/Adams Mosaic for close to list price on ebay. Sometimes LESS. It doesn't seem to pull in the usual premium prices that OOP Mosaics usually get.

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One of his first important record dates was a Kenny Clarke LP on Savoy; the CD reissue was called Kenny Clarke meets the Detroit Jazzmen (Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, Kenny Burell, and Adams) - still one of my favourites.

(....)

Agree.

A really great hard bop session, a great album, that one. Pepper and Burrell play some wonderful melodic lines together, inspired solos; all players seem to be in top form. Misteriously enough, it's a 1957 date if I'm not wrong, I'd have to check it out, the sound of that cd is magnificent like no typical recording of the period. Some of the best Pepper Adams for me, with Mean What You Say.

His Atlantic recordings with Mingus are out of any compare, since jazz history simply breathes there.

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Pepper Adams Plays the Music of Charles Mingus (Fresh Sounds).

"This is one of those must-own recordings for fans of Adams; but it is also for those who revere Mingus' work, because, as radical as some of these interpretations are, they were not only sanctioned by, but delighted in by the composer. " - Allmusic.com

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just to make sure everything Adams ever did gets a mention in this thread :) two fine Mal Waldron Prestige jams he's on are Gene Ammons "Blue Gene" and John Coltrane "Dakar"

The main reason I bought Dakar was for Adams. (I understand some like it for Coltrane. To each his own.)

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I am a huge fan of Pepper Adams. Here are some very good CDs in my collection by Pepper as leader that I don't believe have been mentioned. I have all the ones previously mentioned too.

Motor City Scene - bethlehem

Julian - Enja

Pepper - Enja

Live In Europe - Improv

California Cookin' - Interplay

Live - Just Jazz

Urban Dreams - Quick Silver

10 To 5 At The Five Spot - Riverside

The Adams Effect - Uptown

Pepper Adams Quintet - VSOP

Out Of This World - Warwick

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How could I forget this:

Pepper Adams Quintet---a Mode/VSOP reissue, with Stu Williamson, trumpet; Carl Perkins, piano; Leroy Vinnegar, b; Mel Lewis,d. A real gem. One of my "desert island" jazz albums.

I actually have the original LP of this one--it has the "deep groove" and is pressed on see-through orange vinyl.

Another LP I have--Live in Europe, on the Impro label, with George Arvanitas, Jacky Samson and Charles Saudrais, recorded in 1977.

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