Huh? Am I listening to a different recording? Pepper is just being Pepper - playing the changes the way he always does, which is a bit unique. I guess if you don't like Pepper's ballad style,,, it's not as pretty as Chet's but it's still got something going for me.
Pepper himself tells of the time he soloed in his "normal" way in Stan Kenton's band and had most of the band members thinking he didn't know what he was doing.
We both listened to the same recording, Just with different ears and probably coming from diffrent places. Which is fine.