Art Pepper

[Dub Modal]

Man, I need to listen to those VV sessions again. I thought Elvin was totally subdued and rather generic in a way, since that didnt really seem his style by those years. 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

a polychord organ?!

[Dub Modal]

[soulpope]

7 hours ago, DMP said:

I want to agree with soulpope on the Pepper Vanguard sessions - Elvin Jones, a wonderful drummer, seems to dominate, to the detriment of the music. I was at the earlier Gumbs-Perla-LaBarbara appearance, and I always thought that has been unfairly passed over - it was a strong AND sympathetic group, Gumbs, in particular, was a revelation (apparently a last minute sub for Jacki Byard) and Pepper seemed to be knocked out by them...   For me, one of the most memorable evenings in a lifetime of listening. 

Obviously I`m full of envy  .... thnx for sharing ....

[Clunky]

On 3/7/2008 at 10:05 PM, Clunky said:

 

 

 

I've really struggled to enjoy the Galaxy box. I got it ultra cheap from 2001 and perhaps as a result have never warmed to it as whole. Perhaps too much of good thing. Late Pepper's wretched intensity can be hard to endure over each of the set's long CDs. Love 50s Contemporary /Omega Tape Pepper, particularly the session with Carl Perkins.

How tastes change over time. The Galaxy set has had very frequent spins in recent years and sits close to the hifi system. I really appreciate late Art Pepper and possibly prefer it to his earlier material. Apples and pears really but it's funny coming across my opinion of 13 years ago and reflecting on how different it is now.

 

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, Clunky said:

How tastes change over time. The Galaxy set has had very frequent spins in recent years and sits close to the hifi system. I really appreciate late Art Pepper and possibly prefer it to his earlier material. Apples and pears really but it's funny coming across my opinion of 13 years ago and reflecting on how different it is now.

Same here .... do believe his Galaxy recordings are underappreciated ....

[mjzee]

On 12/17/2019 at 5:09 PM, mjzee said:

Just noticed that the Japanese are reissuing "Very R.A.R.E." on January 22.  Elvin Jones, Art Pepper, Roland Hanna, Richard Davis.  I've always wanted to hear this.

 

I picked this up, and discover that it's only 27 minutes long.  The credits on the original album (back cover reproduced in the booklet) state: 

Recorded at Van Gelder Recording Studio, New Jersey, June 13, 14 & 20, 1979

Recording engineer: Rudy Van Gelder

Cutting lathe operator: Rudy Van Gelder

This last credit got me thinking.  Was this originally a direct-to-disc LP?  That would account for the short running time.  But how do two sides get cut direct-to-disc over three days?  Maybe one day was a washout.

Update: Still don't know if it was direct-to-disc, but it was released at 45 RPM:

 

[Gheorghe]

wow, Tin Tin Deo. He recorded it also on the great album "Art Pepper meets the Rhythm Section".

[Chuck Nessa]

Yes it was direct to disc.

[rostasi]

Art Pepper Played With Love

[felser]

1 hour ago, rostasi said:

Art Pepper Played With Love

Great article, thanks.  70's/80's Pepper has always spoken deeply to me.  I remember reading that during that era, his playing was as if each note might be his last, so he put all he had into it.   The coda on "Patricia" from 'Art Pepper Today' takes me to another place.

[Holy Ghost]

Love Art on so many levels. Dude served hard time. Like, I love the Contemporary dates, but respect everything after San Quentin. Music's changed, he changed. After serving time, you feel it. It's incredible. Dude lived the life. It makes his music so much more special.

[JSngry]

My preference is for later Pepper as well , but if you heard a later Pepper record without knowing the player and/or his backstory, would you automatically hear "prison"? Or is that maybe projecting the narrative onto the music?

I can just as easily believe that it was something in him that led him to his behavior, and that was what he was playing, not the prison. Prison was just something that happened along the way, and perhaps inevitably. 

Have you read Straight Life?

[Rabshakeh]

What I tend to project onto Pepper more is that Arthur Rimbaud / Poete Maudit thing.

I listen to e.g. Blues for the Fishermen and I hear a self-conscious aesthetics of descent to the depths in the pursuit of art. That record in particular has aspects that are clearly designed as signals de profundis. 

Prison and heroin were part of it, and in that sense I can hear prison.

Lots of jazz critics and writers try to project the same thing onto Charlie Parker, but it washes off because the Charlie Parker who spoke for himself never seems to have been into that look all, whereas from what I have read of Pepper he was more the type. 

[jlhoots]

I like lots of Pepper. Meets The Rhythm Section is still one of my favorites.

[Peter Friedman]

I generally prefer early Art Pepper. However, there are some things by late Art Pepper that I definitely like.

One of my favorite Art Pepper albums is this one:

[T.D.]

15 hours ago, JSngry said:

My preference is for later Pepper as well , but if you heard a later Pepper record without knowing the player and/or his backstory, would you automatically hear "prison"? Or is that maybe projecting the narrative onto the music?

I can just as easily believe that it was something in him that led him to his behavior, and that was what he was playing, not the prison. Prison was just something that happened along the way, and perhaps inevitably. 

Have you read Straight Life?

I like all periods of Pepper. Probably listen to the (late) live Vanguard package the most.

I've read Straight Life, twice even, and still crack it open periodically to revisit certain passages. The main thing that struck me is that Pepper was (OK, came off in the book as) just about the most extreme addict/addictive personality I've ever seen (and I've seen quite a few). With all the accompanying personality defects. Likely also some inferiority complex / fear of being "not good enough" as a musician. The latter came off vividly in some racial encounters in Straight Life, but also non-racially in (Laurie's iirc; at work now so can't check) liner notes to the Vanguard box (which related how Pepper responded to the insecurity by snorting massive amounts of coke in the hotel each night). I also find Pepper's audience patter in the Vanguard set preternaturally assholic, which ties in with a lot of the behavior chronicled in Straight Life. [Regardless, I believe he was an excellent musician. Plenty of high achievers in all fields are/were not exemplary figures.]

Anyway, I'm inclined to think that his life trajectory was the (scary) result of personality traits and not a conscious art (pun?)-related choice.

[rostasi]

I like Pepper - especially when he's salty.

[felser]

2 hours ago, T.D. said:

 

Anyway, I'm inclined to think that his life trajectory was the (scary) result of personality traits and not a conscious art (pun?)-related choice.

+1

[Teasing the Korean]

55 minutes ago, felser said:

+1

Actually, it's +11.  😀