Art Pepper & Trane

[medjuck]

According to various critics and Art Pepper himself in "Straight Life", he became a John Coltrane imitater in the mid '60s. In all the recordings I've heard from this period he still sounds like Art Pepper to me. Can anyone suggest some cds where the Coltrane influence is manifested? Maybe his recordings with Buddy Rich?

[danasgoodstuff]

As detailed in Straight Life, he was in prison for much of this period but there is an unissued session done for Contemporary that supposedly shows the 'Trane influence at it's height and there are bootlegs but I'd have to check what I have before making a reccomendation on these...

[JSngry]

"Imitator" is way too strong a description if you ask me. He felt the power of Trane and confronted it head-on, rather than deny it, ignore it, or some other ignoble response. "Strongly influenced by" might be more accurate, I think, if for no other reason that Pepper was probably congenitally incapable of letting himself imitate anybody outright. The fact that he even allowed himself to be influenced might account for Pepper's description of himself as an "imitator". The man seems to have had more twists in his psyche than an O. Henry story encoded in a DNA strand stashed in a pretzel.

Having said that, try THE TRIP.

Edited January 4, 2004 by JSngry

[John L]

I hear a strong Coltrane influence in everything that Pepper did from the 60s on. As Jim S. points out, he never actually lost his own voice to Coltrane's. He was too far advanced for that. Live at Donte's (1968) is a good example of Pepper in his maximal Trane period.

[Joe]

http://www.onefinalnote.com/reviews/p/pepp...od-all-star.asp

[Claude]

I see a very strong Coltrane influence in the music he plays on the Jazz Casual TV show from 1964 (available on DVD). He still sounds like Art Pepper, although much darker than in the 50's, but the rhythm section plays in typical Coltrane style.

Jazz Casual

Air Date: May 9, 1964

Live music performances and interviews

Art Pepper - saxophone

Frank Strazzeri - piano

Hersh Hamel - bass

Bill Goodwin - drums

- The Trip (Pepper)

- D Section (Pepper)

- Untitled (Pepper)

[couw]

the thing that really changed in Pepper's playing is that he is no longer afraid to paint himself the naked truth in his music. That's the crux of the Coltrane influence and it makes for a darn involved and involving music. But it's Art Pepper of course, 'cause no-one could play the naked truth that was John Coltrane, but Trane himself.

[kh1958]

I see a very strong Coltrane influence in the music he plays on the Jazz Casual TV show from 1964 (available on DVD). He still sounds like Art Pepper, although much darker than in the 50's, but the rhythm section plays in typical Coltrane style.

Jazz Casual

Air Date: May 9, 1964

Live music performances and interviews

Art Pepper - saxophone

Frank Strazzeri - piano

Hersh Hamel - bass

Bill Goodwin - drums

- The Trip (Pepper)

- D Section (Pepper)

- Untitled (Pepper)

I haven't seen that Jazz Casual. Is that a Europe only release?

[Claude]

Yes, it has been released by IDEM Spain, on a DVD with three Jazz Casual shows:

Gerry Mulligan / Art Pepper / Art Farmer on www.freshsoundrecords.com

It is a DVD with a PAL side and a NTSC side (regionfree), so it should play on any DVD system. Picture and sound quality are good.

Edited January 5, 2004 by Claude

[couw]

A short search showed that this has been released as a region 1 DVD as well. Seems to be OOP or at least OOStock now though. The music is available on CD as well.

[Claude]

Here is the former european DVD release, by IDEM also:

Collection Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual : Art Pepper / Bola Sete

[mikeweil]

I think Pepper stayed more himself than other players that fell under the Coltrane spell, Frank Foster and Harold Land in particular, who changed their styles considerably after hearing Coltrane after 1960. Pepper had that quest for a more direct and uninhibited expression in him since his Pacific Jazz trios, this is mentioned in the liner to "Art Pepper meets The Rhythm Section" as well, but contrary to Foster or Land he did not use Coltrane phrases directly, but took it more as an encouragement to play "free" in the sense of disrespecting conventions where they inhibited his personal style - al teast that's the way I hear it. Congrats to admitting the influence wthout falling under the spell of it - I liked Foster and Land much better before their Trane infection - although I like Land with Hutcherson an awful lot.

[medjuck]

http://www.onefinalnote.com/reviews/p/pepp...od-all-star.asp

I've got The Hollywood Sessions. I think the problem with Stitt session is that Stitt blows Art away. I'll look for the Jazz Casual DVD and The Trip. I've been told that there are some recordings (bootlegs perhaps) where Pepper sounds like Coltrane playing alto. I've never heard them. The only recording I have from the mid '60s is Smack Up which I like very much but which doesn't show much Coltrane influence to me. Thanks everyone for all the help.

[medjuck]

I see a very strong Coltrane influence in the music he plays on the Jazz Casual TV show from 1964 (available on DVD). He still sounds like Art Pepper, although much darker than in the 50's, but the rhythm section plays in typical Coltrane style.

Jazz Casual

Air Date: May 9, 1964

Live music performances and interviews

Art Pepper - saxophone

Frank Strazzeri - piano

Hersh Hamel - bass

Bill Goodwin - drums

- The Trip (Pepper)

- D Section (Pepper)

- Untitled (Pepper)

Thanks for the advice. I got hold of this and it's definitely an example of Pepper being over-influenced by Coltrane. I've only watched/listened to it a couple of times but so far don't care for it very much. I'd rather listen to the real thing-- either Trane or Art. It's also about his only recording from 1964.