Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section

by Art Pepper

Overview

By the time of this, Art Pepper's tenth recording as a leader, he was making his individual voice on the alto saxophone leave the cozy confines of his heroes Charlie Parker and Lee Konitz. Joining the Miles Davis rhythm section of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones made the transformation all that more illuminating. It's a classic east meets west, cool plus hot but never lukewarm combination that provides many bright moments for the quartet during this exceptional date from that great year in music, 1957. A bit of a flip, loosened but precise interpretation of the melody on "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" gets the ball rolling, followed by a "Bags Groove" parallel with "Red Pepper Blues," and a delicate, atypical treatment of "Imagination." A compositional collaboration of Pepper and Chambers on the quick "Waltz Me Blues" and hard-edged, running-as-fast-as-he-can take of "Straight Life" really sets the gears whirring. Philly Joe Jones is a great bop drummer, no doubt, one of the all-time greats with Kenny Clarke and Max Roach. His crisp Latin-to-swing pace for "Tin Tin Deo" deserves notice, masterful in its creation and seamlessness. Pepper makes a typical "Star Eyes" brighter, and he goes into a lower octave tone, more like a tenor, for "Birks Works" and the bonus track "The Man I Love." It's clear he has heard his share of Stan Getz in this era. Though Art Pepper played with many a potent trio, this one inspires him to the maximum, and certainly makes for one of his most substantive recordings after his initial incarcerations, and before his second major slip into the deep abyss of drug addiction. ~ Michael G. Nastos

Product Details

Release Date:	02/24/2023
Label:	Craft Records
UPC:	0888072230941

Tracks

1. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
2. Red Pepper Blues
3. Imagination
4. Waltz Me Blues
5. Straight Life
6. Jazz Me Blues
7. Tin Tin Deo
8. Star Eyes
9. Birks Works

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Art Pepper   Primary Artist,Sax (Alto),Featured Artist
Rhythm Section   Primary Artist
Paul Chambers   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Philly Joe Jones   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Drums
Red Garland   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Piano
Marty Paich Quartet   Primary Artist
Frank Capp   Drums
Marty Paich   Piano
Buddy Clark   Bass

Technical Credits

Lester Koenig   Audio Production,Producer,Liner Notes,Original Liner Notes
Roy DuNann   Audio Engineer,Engineer,Recording
Jerome Kern   Composer
Harold Arlen   Composer
Bernie Grundman   Mastering
Gene DePaul   Composer
Cole Porter   Composer
Dizzy Gillespie   Composer
Chano Pozo   Composer
Chad Kassem   Executive Producer
Don Raye   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Johnny Mandel   Composer
Walter Fuller   Composer
Robert B. Sherman   Composer
Howard Dietz   Composer
James Van Heusen   Composer
Pittman   Composer
Art Pepper   Composer
Tom Delaney   Composer
Akira Taguchi   Mastering Supervisor
Arthur Schwartz   Composer
Gil Fuller   Composer
Paul Chambers   Composer
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
E.Y. "Yip" Harburg   Composer
De Paul   Composer
Marty Paich   Composer
Red Garland   Composer
Phil DeLancie   Mastering,Remastering,Digital Remastering
Johnny Burke   Composer
Bill Pittman   Composer
William Claxton   Cover Photo,Photography
Alan Yoshida   Mastering
Tom Delany   Composer