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Art Pepper

American jazz alto saxophonist (–)

Musical artist

Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, – June 15, )[1] was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active primarily in West Coast jazz, Pepper first came to prominence in Stan Kenton's big band. He was known for his emotionally charged performances and several stylistic shifts throughout his career, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as having "attained his goal of becoming the world's greatest altoist" at the time of his death in [2]

Early life

Art Pepper was born in Gardena, California, United States.[3] His mother was a year-old runaway; his father, a merchant seaman. Both were violent alcoholics, and when Pepper was still quite young, he was sent to live with his paternal grandmother. He expressed early musical interest and talent, and he was given lessons. He began playing clarinet at the age of nine, switched to alto saxophone at 13,[4] and immediately began jamming on Central Avenue, the black nightclub district of Los Angeles.

Career

At the age of 17, he began playing professionally with Benny Carter and then became part of the Stan Kenton orchestra, touring with that band until he was drafted in After the war, he returned to Los Angeles, and joined the Kenton Innovations Orchestra.[4] By the s, Pepper was recognized as one of the leading alto saxophonists in jazz, finishing second only to Charlie Parker as Best Alto Saxophonist in the DownBeat magazine Readers Poll of Along with Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, and Shelly Manne, and perhaps due more to geography than playing style, Pepper is often associated with the musical movement known as West Coast jazz, as contrasted with the East Coast (or "hot") jazz of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Some of Pepper's best known albums from the s are Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics, Gettin' Together, and Smack Up.[4] Other recordings from this time appear on The Aladdin Recordings (three volumes), The Early Show, The Late Show, Surf Ride, and Art Pepper with Warne Marsh (also issued as The Way It Was!), which features a session recorded with tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh.

His career was repeatedly interrupted by several prison stints stemming from his addiction to heroin,[4] but Pepper managed to have several productive "comebacks". Remarkably, his substance abuse and legal travails did not affect the quality of his recordings, which maintained a high level of musicianship throughout his career until his death in

His last comeback saw Pepper, who had started his career in Stan Kenton's big band, becoming a member of Buddy Rich's Big Band from to After beginning methadone therapy in the mids, he toured Europe and Japan with his own groups and recorded many albums, mostly for Galaxy Records, a subsidiary of Fantasy Records. Pepper's later albums include Living Legend, Art Pepper Today, Among Friends, and Live in Japan.[4]

Personal life

Pepper lived for many years in the hills of Echo Park, in Los Angeles. He became a heroin addict in the s, and his career was interrupted by drug-related prison sentences in –56, –61, –64, and –65; the final two sentences were served in San Quentin.[1] While in San Quentin, he played in an ensemble with saxophonist Frank Morgan.[5] In the late s, Pepper spent time in Synanon, a rehabilitation program that turned out to be a cult.

His autobiography,[6]Straight Life (, co-written with his third wife Laurie Pepper), discusses the jazz music world, as well as drug and criminal subcultures of midth century California. Among the many anecdotes shared from his life, Pepper boasts of raping a woman while stationed in London during the Second World War (deserved, in his view, because he had shared whiskey and walked several miles with her).[7] Soon after the publication of this book, director Don McGlynn released the documentary film Art Pepper: Notes from a Jazz Survivor,[8] discussing his life and featuring interviews with both Art and his wife Laurie, as well as footage from a live performance in a Malibu jazz club. Laurie Pepper also released an interview to NPR.

Pepper died of a stroke in Los Angeles on June 15, , aged [6][9] He is interred in the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood.

Discography

As leader

  • Surf Ride (Savoy, ) – recorded in –54
  • Two Altos with Sonny Red (Regent, ) – recorded in –54
  • The Return of Art Pepper with Jack Sheldon (Jazz West, )
  • Playboys with Chet Baker and Phil Urso (Pacific Jazz, ) – reissued as Picture of Heath
  • The Art Pepper Quartet (Tampa, ) – recorded in
  • Collections with Red Norvo, Joe Morello and Gerry Wiggins (Intro, )
  • Modern Art (Intro, ) – recorded in –57
  • Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section (Contemporary, )
  • Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics (Contemporary, )
  • Gettin' Together with Conte Candoli (Contemporary, )
  • Smack Up with Jack Sheldon (Contemporary, )
  • Intensity (Contemporary, ) – recorded in
  • Art Pepper Quartet in San Francisco (Fresh Sound, ) – live
  • Art Pepper Quintet&#;: Live at Donte's with Joe Romano (Fresh Sound, ) – live
  • The Art of Pepper (Onyx, ) – recorded in
  • Garden State Jam Sessions Bootleg (Lone Hill Jazz, ) – live
  • I'll Remember April&#;: Live at Foothill College (Storyville, )
  • Living Legend (Contemporary, )
  • The Trip (Contemporary, )
  • A Night in Tunisia (Storyville, ) – live
  • Tokyo Debut (Galaxy, ) – live. also released as First Live in Japan.
  • No Limit (Contemporary, )
  • Thursday Night at the Village Vanguard (Contemporary, ) – live
  • Friday Night at the Village Vanguard (Contemporary, ) – live
  • Saturday Night at the Village Vanguard (Contemporary, ) – live
  • More for Les at the Village Vanguard (Contemporary, ) – live
  • Live in Japan, Vol. 1: Ophelia (Storyville, )
  • Live in Japan, Vol. 2 (Storyville, )
  • Among Friends (Interplay, )
  • Art Pepper Today (Galaxy, )
  • Landscape (Galaxy, ) – live
  • Besame Mucho (Galaxy, ) – live
  • Straight Life (Galaxy, )
  • So in Love (Artists House, ) – recorded in
  • One September Afternoon (Galaxy, )
  • Winter Moon with Howard Roberts (Galaxy, ) – recorded in
  • Roadgame (Galaxy, ) – live recorded in
  • Goin' Home with George Cables (Galaxy, )
  • Darn That Dream (Real Time, )
  • Art Lives (Galaxy, ) – live recorded in
  • Tête-à-Tête with George Cables (Galaxy, ) – recorded in
  • Artworks (Galaxy, ) – recorded in
  • APQ (Galaxy, ) – live recorded in
  • New York Album (Galaxy, ) – recorded in
  • Stardust (Victor (Japan), ) – recorded in
  • Art Pepper with Warne Marsh (Contemporary, ) – recorded in reissued tracks from The Way It Was! ().
  • Tokyo Encore (Dreyfus, ) – live recorded in
  • Arthur's Blues (Galaxy, ) – live recorded in
  • Art in L.A. (WestWind, )[2CD] – recorded in –60
  • Live in Japan: The Summer Knows (Absord (Japan), ) – live
  • Art 'n' Zoot with Zoot Sims (Pablo, ) – live recorded in
  • Art Pepper with Duke Jordan in Copenhagen with Duke Jordan (Galaxy, ) – live recorded in
  • San Francisco Samba (Contemporary, ) – live recorded in
  • Unreleased Art, Vol. 1–10 (Widow's Taste, –)

With Chet Baker

With Toni Harper

  • Lady Lonely (RCA, )
  • Night Mood (RCA, )

With Stan Kenton

  • Stan Kenton's Milestones (Capitol, ) – recorded in –47
  • Stan Kenton Classics (Capitol, ) – recorded in –47
  • Encores (Capitol, )
  • A Presentation of Progressive Jazz (Capitol, )
  • Innovations in Modern Music (Capitol, )
  • Stan Kenton Presents (Capitol, )
  • Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton (Capitol, )
  • This Modern World (Capitol, )
  • The Kenton Era (Capitol, ) – recorded in –54
  • The Innovations Orchestra (Capitol, ) – recorded in –51

With Milcho Leviev

  • Blues for the Fisherman (Mole, ) – live
  • True Blues (Mole, ) – live

With Shorty Rogers

With others

  • Jesse Belvin, Mr. Easy (RCA, ) – recorded in
  • Hoagy Carmichael, Hoagy Sings Carmichael (Pacific Jazz, ) – recorded in
  • Dolo Coker, California Hard with Blue Mitchell (Xanadu, ) – recorded in
  • Richie Cole, Return to Alto Acres (Palo Alto, )
  • Conte Candoli, Mucho Calor with Bill Perkins, Russ Freeman, Ben Tucker, Chuck Flores, Jack Costanzo and Mike Pacheko (Andex/VSOP, )
  • Herb Ellis and Jimmy Giuffre, Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre (Verve, )
  • Art Farmer, On the Road (Contemporary, )
  • Jerry Fielding, The Gauntlet (Warner Bros., ) – Soundtrack recorded in
  • Johnny Griffin, Birds and Ballads (Galaxy, )
  • Freddie Hubbard, Mistral (East World, ) – recorded in
  • Elvin Jones, Very R.A.R.E. (Trio (Japan), ) – recorded in
  • Barney Kessel, Some Like It Hot (Contemporary, )
  • Shelly Manne, The West Coast Sound (Contemporary, ) – recorded in –55
  • Jack Nitzsche, Heart Beat (Capitol, ) – Soundtrack
  • Anita O'Day, Cool Heat (Verve, )
  • Marty Paich, The Marty Paich Quartet featuring Art Pepper (Tampa/VSOP, )
  • André Previn, The Subterraneans (MGM, ) – soundtrack
  • Buddy Rich Big Band, Mercy, Mercy (Pacific Jazz, ) – live

Transcriptions

Published transcriptions:

  • Jazz Styles and Analysis: Alto Sax by Harry Miedema. Chicago, Fifth Printing, February Includes Broadway.
  • Straight Life: the Story of Art Pepper by Art Pepper and Laurie Pepper. New York and London, ISBN&#; Includes the head of Straight Life.
  • Jazz 2: Sax Alto. Transcribed by John Robert Brown. International Music Publications, Woodford Green, Essex, ISBN&#; Includes 'Round Midnight.
  • The Genius of Art Pepper. Foreword by Laurie Pepper. North Sydney, Warner/Chappell Music, ISBN&#; Includes: Arthur's Blues; Blues for Blanche; Funny Blues; Landscape; Make a List Make a Wish; Mambo de la Pinta; Mambo Koyama; Mr Big Falls his J.G. Hand; Our Song; Road Game; September Song; Tete a Tete. All transcriptions include parts for Alto and Rhythm; Funny Blues also has a part for Trumpet.
  • Masters of the Alto Saxophone Play The Blues. Jazz Alto Solos. Transcribed by Trent Kynaston and Jonathan Ball. Corybant Productions, Includes True Blues.
  • The Art Pepper Collection. Foreword by Jeff Sultanof. Milwaukee, Hal Leonard, ISBN&#; Includes: Art's Oregano; Diane; Landscape; Las Cuevas de Mario; Make a List (Make a Wish); Mr. Big Falls his J.G. Hand; Ophelia; Pepper Returns; Sometime; Straight Life; Surf Ride(I); Surf Ride(II); That's Love; The Trip; Waltz Me Blues.
  • West Coast Jazz Saxophone Solos transcribed and edited by Robert A. Luckey, Ph.D. Features 15 recorded solos from to , including five solos by Art Pepper. Olympia Music Publishing, ISBN&#;

Transcriptions available on the Internet:

Bibliography

A more extensive bibliography is issued by the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt

  • John Tyna, "Art Pepper Tells the Tragic Role Narcotics Played in Blighting His Career and Life", Downbeat, September 19, , p.&#;
  • John Tynan, "Art Pepper Quartet", Downbeat, May 16, , p.&#;
  • J. McKinney, "Art Pepper: Profile of a Comeback", Metronome, lxxvii, September , p.&#;
  • John Tynan, "The Return of Art Pepper", Downbeat, xxvii/8, , p.&#;
  • John Tynan, "End of the Road", Downbeat, xxvii/25, , p.&#;
  • John Tynan, "Art Pepper's not the Same", Downbeat, xxxi/22, , p.&#;
  • Ernie Edwards Jr. et al. "Jazz Discographies Unlimited" Presents "Art Pepper". A Complete Discography Compiled by Ernie Edwards, Jr. Jazz Discographies Unlimited, Spotlight Series, Vol. 4. October 22pp.
  • C. Marra, "Art Pepper: 'I'm Here to Stay!'" Downbeat, xl/4, , p.&#;
  • L. Underwood, "Pepper's Painful Road to Pure Art". Downbeat, xlii/11, , p.&#;
  • Art Pepper and Laurie Pepper, Straight Life: the Story of Art Pepper. New York and London, ISBN&#; Includes a discography.
  • P. Welding, "Art Pepper: Rewards of the Straight Life", Downbeat, xlvi/18, , p.&#;
  • Chris Sheridan, "The Contemporary Art of Pepper", Jazz Journal International, Vol. 32, No. 9, September , p.&#;9.
  • "The evolution of an individualist". Interview with Les Tomkins.
  • "Art Pepper", Swing Journal, xxxiv/1, , p.&#;
  • "At Ronnie's". Interview with Les Tomkins.
  • "A rich past, and a bright future". Interview with Les Tomkins.
  • "New Fields Still to Conquer"; Interview with Les Tomkins.
  • Gary Giddins, "The Whiteness of the Wail", in Riding on a Blue Note. New York: Oxford University Press, , pp.&#;– (An article originally published in July )
  • David Nicholson Pepperell, "Art Pepper: I Want to Play so Bad", Wire Magazine, Issue 28, June , pp.&#;26–
  • Gary Giddins, "Art Pepper, ", in Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the 80s. New York: OUP, , pp.&#;– (An article originally published in June )
  • Ted Gioia, "Straight Life", in West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California, . New York and Oxford: OUP, , pp.&#;– (Chapter Fourteen). ISBN&#;
  • Todd Selbert, The Art Pepper Companion: Writings on a Jazz Original. Cooper Square Press, ISBN&#;
  • Laurie Pepper, ART: Why I Stuck with a Junkie Jazzman. Arthur Pepper Music Corporation ISBN&#;
  • Lily Anolik, "The Tale of the Tape". Harper's Magazine, September

References

  1. ^ abSlonimsky, Nicolas; Theodore Baker (). Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Eighth Edition. New York, New York: Schirmer Books.
  2. ^Yanow, Scott. "Art Pepper Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 22,
  3. ^Dupuis, Robert. "Art Pepper." Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music. Vol. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Print.
  4. ^ abcdeColin Larkin, ed. (). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First&#;ed.). Guinness Publishing. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  5. ^"Frank Morgan On Piano Jazz". . May 30, Retrieved July 30,
  6. ^ abStraight Life: The Story Of Art Pepper[permanent dead link&#;] by Art Pepper and Laurie Pepper, Da Capo Press (reprint of original book published by Schirmer Books, a division of MacMillan Publishing).
  7. ^English, T. J. (October 7, ). "Why Art Pepper's Straight Life Is Still the Most Harrowing Jazz Memoir Ever". JazzTimes. Archived from the original on July 30, Retrieved April 11, : CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^Palmer, Robert (December 15, ). "Movie Review&#;: Tales of Jazz Saxophonists". . Retrieved July 30,
  9. ^Giddins, Gary (October 19, ). Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition And Innovation. Da Capo Press. ISBN&#;. Retrieved July 30, &#; via Google Books.[permanent dead link&#;]

External links

Art Pepper

Years given are for the recording(s) featuring Art Pepper, not first release.

As
leader
or
co-leader
With
Stan
Kenton
With
Shorty
Rogers
With
others
  • Chet Baker Big Band ()
  • Mucho Calor (Conte Candoli, )
  • Hoagy Sings Carmichael (Hoagy Carmichael, )
  • California Hard (Dolo Coker, )
  • Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre ()
  • On the Road (Art Farmer, )
  • Birds and Ballads (Johnny Griffin, )
  • Mistral (Freddie Hubbard, )
  • Very R.A.R.E. (Elvin Jones, )
  • Some Like It Hot (Barney Kessel, )
  • The West Coast Sound (Shelly Manne, )
  • Cool Heat (Anita O'Day, )
Film
soundtracks