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▐███▓██▀▀▓▀░ [ J U S T F U N . P R E S E N T S ] ██▓▓█▀▀
░ ▓████▓▌ ░ ▐▓▀▀
▓ ▐█████▓█ ▀ ░
▀█▄▓████▓▓▄█▀ Artist.......: Art Pepper ░▓ ▌
▄▀██▓██▓▓▀ Album.Title..: Hollywood AllStar Sessions ░▓░▐▓
▓▓▄▀█▓▓▓▀ Label........: Galaxy ░▓░ █▓▌
▐█▓▓ ▀▓ Genre........: Jazz ░▓▓▓ ▐█▓▓
▓█▓▌ ▓░ ███▓▓[z0o]░
▐██░ ░ ░ ▄ ░▄▄▄▄▓▄▄▓████▓▓▄▄▄▄▓▄▄
▀▓█░▄ ▌ ░▓░ [ R E L E A S E . I N F O ] ▓░ ▓▀▓█████████████▓▓▓▀
░ ▀▀▓█▄▐▓ ░▓▓▓░ ░▓▓▓░ ░ ▀▓██████▓██▓▓▀ ░
░ ░ █▓▌▄▄▄ ▄▓ ░▓▓▓░ ░▓▓▓▓▓▓░ ▀▓█████▓▓▓
░▓▓░ ▐█▓▓ ░ ░▓▓░ rip.date....: Jun-01-2003 ░▓▓ ▐███████▓▓▌ ░
░░ ███▓▓ ▓▓░▓░ str.date....: 000-00-1979 ░▓▓░ ▓███▀ ▀▓█▓▓ ░
▄▄▄▄▄▓▄▄▓████▓▓▄▄▄▄░▄▄ ripper......: JustFun ▓ ▐█▓▀ ░ ░▀█▓▌
▀▓█████████████▓▓▓▀ quality.....: 192 kbps ░▓░ █▀ ░░▓▓▓ ▀▓
░ ▀▓██████▓██▓▓▀ ▓░ size........: 474,4 MB ▓▓ ▀░ ░ ░ ░▓░ ░▀
▀▓█████▓▓▓ ░░▓ playtime....: 345:02 min ░▓▓░▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓░
░ ▐███████▓▓▌░▓▓▓░ Catnr.......: n/a ░▓▓▓▓▓ ▓░▓▓░░ ░
▓███▀ ▀▓█▓▓ ▓░░ URL.........: n/a ░▒░ ░▓░ ░
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░ ▄█▒████████▓▓▀ ▀▓██▓███▓▄
▄▓██░██████▓▓█▀ [ T R A C K . L I S T I N G ] ▀▀▀▓██▓▌
▓█████████▓▓█▀ ▐█▄██▓▀
▐███▓██▀▀▓▀░ ██▓▓█▀▀
▓████▓▌ ░ track title time ▐▓▀▀
▓████▓▌ ▀ ░▌
▓████▓▌ CD 1 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 01. just friends (1st session) 05:32 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 02. begin the beguine (1st session) 06:50 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 03. for art's sake (1st session) 04:55 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 04. funny blues (1st session) 07:03 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 05. angel eyes (1st session) 06:46 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 06. p town (1st session) 06:34 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 07. funny blues (alt take) (1st session) 07:31 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 08. angel eyes (alt take) (1st session) 06:14 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 09. angel wings (1st session) 05:20 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 10. softly as in a morning sunrise (1st session) 05:17 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 11. you'd be so nice to come home too 06:47 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ (1st session) ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 12. jack's blues (1st session) 05:08 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ CD 2 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 01. broadway (2nd session) 06:11 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 02. hist≤ria de un amor (2nd session) 07:46 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 03. minority (2nd session) 06:19 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 04. you'd be so nice to come home (alt take) 05:43 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ (2nd session) ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 05. broadway [alt take] (2nd session) 04:21 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 06. strike up the band (2nd session) 05:09 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 07. you go to my head (2nd session) 04:37 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 08. i surrender dear (2nd session) 07:39 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 09. y.i. blues (2nd session) 06:10 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 10. night & day (2nd session) 09:59 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 11. everything happens to me (2nd session) 06:00 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ CD 3 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 01. out of nowhere (3rd session) 06:54 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 02. y.i. blues (alt take) (3rd session) 04:47 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 03. scrapple from the apple (3rd session) 06:39 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 04. wee (3rd session) 06:31 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 05. bernie's tune (3rd session) 08:40 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 06. how high the moon (3rd session) 08:42 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 07. walkin (3rd session) 05:55 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 08. groovin' high (3rd session) 06:07 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 09. groovin' high (unrlsd alt take) (3rd session) 06:10 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ CD 4 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 01. atlas blues (4th session) 09:33 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 02. lester leaps in (4th session) 11:25 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 03. my funny valentine (4th session) 05:35 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 04. imagination (4th session) 05:57 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 05. just friends (4th session) 07:07 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 06. these foolish things (4th session) 06:01 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 07. hollywood jam blues (4th session) 07:24 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 08. lover come back to me (4th session) 06:16 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 09. limehouse blues (4th session) 08:35 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ CD 5 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 01. i'm getting sentimental over you 06:44 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ (5th session) ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 02. i'm getting sentimental over you (alt take) 10:26 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ (5th session) ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 03. 's wonderful (5th session) 06:43 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 04. whims of chambers (5th session) 06:56 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 05. a minor blues in f (5th session) 07:49 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 06. high jingo (5th session) 04:24 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 07. the shadow of your smile (5th session) 05:38 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 08. anniversary song (5th session) 06:38 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 09. cherokee (5th session) 04:43 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 10. 's wonderful (alt take) (5th session) 06:15 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ 11. whims of chambers (unrsld alt take) 06:37 ▓▌
▓████▓▌ (5th session) ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ [ A B O U T . T H i S . R E L E A S E ] ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ This five-CD box of studio material was originally ▓▌
▓████▓▌ released in Japan on the tiny Atlas label. Until ▓▌
▓████▓▌ now it has never been available in the United ▓▌
▓████▓▌ States. Impeccably recorded between 1979 and 1982, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the year Art Pepper's horn was silenced ù at least ▓▌
▓████▓▌ as a mortal ù these sides were the brainchild of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Yasuyuki Ishihara. His vision was for Pepper to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ lead a number of bands comprised of his old cohorts ▓▌
▓████▓▌ on the West Coast jazz scene for a West Coast ▓▌
▓████▓▌ "super session" series that would sell in Japan ▓▌
▓████▓▌ like hotcakes. There were only two problems: First, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper was under exclusive contract to Galaxy ▓▌
▓████▓▌ worldwide and could not appear as a leader on any ▓▌
▓████▓▌ other label. The second problem related to Pepper ▓▌
▓████▓▌ himself; he wanted to give Ishihara what he wanted ▓▌
▓████▓▌ but wasn't necessarily interested in returning to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ old ground, so he wanted a say in who was in these ▓▌
▓████▓▌ bands ù since a new one had to be selected for ▓▌
▓████▓▌ every session. The solutions were fairly simple: ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper would always appear as a sideman even though ▓▌
▓████▓▌ he was really the session leader, and he, his wife ▓▌
▓████▓▌ and manager Laurie Pepper (who should win a Grammy ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Award for her liner notes here), and Ishihara would ▓▌
▓████▓▌ come to consensus on the bands. Laurie Pepper ▓▌
▓████▓▌ points out that when Art was playing as a sideman, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ he could relax, just play, and have fun; ▓▌
▓████▓▌ technically, since he wasn't the leader here, he ▓▌
▓████▓▌ did just that. Her point is borne out in the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ recordings: Pepper is blowing his ass off in his ▓▌
▓████▓▌ usual lilting and lyrical style, full of knotty ▓▌
▓████▓▌ runs up the registers of the horn, light and easy ▓▌
▓████▓▌ but no less driven. His playing here is free of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ tension, yet contains without question the very ▓▌
▓████▓▌ passion that made him such a melodic improviser and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ individual stylist ù the only member of his ▓▌
▓████▓▌ generation that didn't cop the style of Charlie ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Parker. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ And what bands they are. "All-Star" doesn't even ▓▌
▓████▓▌ begin to get at it when the lineup on one date is ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Art Pepper on alto, Bill Watrous on trombone, Russ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Freeman on piano, Bob Magnuson on bass, and Carl ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Burnett on drums, and then on another the group ▓▌
▓████▓▌ consists of Jack Sheldon on trumpet, Milcho Leviev ▓▌
▓████▓▌ on piano, Tony Dumas on bass, and Burnett again. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ But that's just the tip of the iceberg. As these ▓▌
▓████▓▌ sessions stretched on over time, other giants such ▓▌
▓████▓▌ as drummer Shelly Manne (who had played with Pepper ▓▌
▓████▓▌ in the early days of the West Coast scene ù as had ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Sheldon and Freeman), Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pete Jolly hopped on board. Noted sidemen such as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Monte Budwig, Bob Cooper, John Heard, Lou Levy, Roy ▓▌
▓████▓▌ McCurdy, Bob Magnuson, John Dentz, Mike Lang, and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Chuck Domanico also joined the various sessions. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ The first disc has all of session one ù with ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Watrous, Freeman, Burnett, and Magnuson ù and a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ third of the session with Sheldon. The gig starts ▓▌
▓████▓▌ easily enough with "Just Friends," which is an easy ▓▌
▓████▓▌ communication builder, especially between Pepper ▓▌
▓████▓▌ and Freeman; there's the gentleness set by ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Burnett's drummed intro and the line played by ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper, with Watrous playing a gorgeous trombone ▓▌
▓████▓▌ harmony, filling in the counterpoint. Freeman's ▓▌
▓████▓▌ comping is full of small surprises, like the ninths ▓▌
▓████▓▌ tossed in at the end of a chord sequence just to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ make the rhythm section feel more angular, while ▓▌
▓████▓▌ keeping the melodic framework of tune intact. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper's solo is brilliant; his stop-and-start ▓▌
▓████▓▌ stuttered blues lines dig deep into his ▓▌
▓████▓▌ considerable world of feeling. It's a tease, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ though: after three choruses Freeman takes over. He ▓▌
▓████▓▌ sounds as if he was surprised at his own solo, as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ if he didn't know he could pack that much into only ▓▌
▓████▓▌ two choruses. In a sense the session starts in ▓▌
▓████▓▌ earnest with "Begin the Beguine." Freeman's ▓▌
▓████▓▌ contrapuntal harmony against the melody is striking ▓▌
▓████▓▌ and quick; Pepper and Watrous move in to trade ▓▌
▓████▓▌ fours and harmonies as the intervals change like ▓▌
▓████▓▌ lightning. However, Watrous' trombone solo really ▓▌
▓████▓▌ makes the tune happen. It's so open and full ù as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ if the entire world of music was in that slide of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ his, with his scattershot melodies and arpeggios. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ This blows the early solos of Curtis Fuller and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ J.J. Johnson out of the water when it comes to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ intensity, and engages more inside the tune. There ▓▌
▓████▓▌ are two more sprightly numbers: Written by Watrous ▓▌
▓████▓▌ and with its quick tempo and gnarly melody, "For ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Art's Sake" is a tune to blow on; the gently ▓▌
▓████▓▌ swinging "Funny Blues" feels like it came straight ▓▌
▓████▓▌ from the '50s. But "Angel Eyes" shows Pepper doing ▓▌
▓████▓▌ what he does best: play ballads. His blues soloing ▓▌
▓████▓▌ is flawless, and the way he packs notes into the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ phrase never sounds rushed or extraneous. His solo ▓▌
▓████▓▌ opens the tune with its long melody, and is then ▓▌
▓████▓▌ followed wonderfully in the middle and lower ▓▌
▓████▓▌ registers by Freeman; the two are so perfectly ▓▌
▓████▓▌ matched you can't believe that haven't always ▓▌
▓████▓▌ played together. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Session two features the incomparable ballad ▓▌
▓████▓▌ stylings of trumpeter Jack Sheldon, designated as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the leader for this outing. Its highlights are ▓▌
▓████▓▌ "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise, moved up-tempo for ▓▌
▓████▓▌ this session with Pepper in full blues mode, and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Sheldon's mournful opening of "You'd Be So Nice to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Come Home To," with Leviev opening the gently ▓▌
▓████▓▌ swinging melody for Pepper to zoom in on. But the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ true prize in the session, and rightfully Laurie's ▓▌
▓████▓▌ favorite piece, is "Historia de un Amor." Pepper ▓▌
▓████▓▌ states a minor-key Spanish line, and plays one of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ his blues stutters ù starting, starting again, and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ finally filling up the space before giving way to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Sheldon's sadder-than-sad trumpet. His melody ▓▌
▓████▓▌ captures within it all of the bleeding, broken ▓▌
▓████▓▌ hearts that still burn with the fire of love in ▓▌
▓████▓▌ their fragile brokenness. His lyrical statement and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper's response in the form of a wrenching solo ▓▌
▓████▓▌ are almost unbearably beautiful. Leviev knows how ▓▌
▓████▓▌ to accent the deep feeling in the tune with ▓▌
▓████▓▌ clustered minors and graceful trills. Sheldon's ▓▌
▓████▓▌ solo moves to the middle register of the horn and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ literally cries with the same intensity of feeling ▓▌
▓████▓▌ that a classical tenor does in his aria. There is ▓▌
▓████▓▌ also a fine performance of Monk's "I Surrender, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Dear" that would be stellar if it weren't for an ▓▌
▓████▓▌ overindulgent piano solo by Leviev; but there is ▓▌
▓████▓▌ also a moving, shimmering read of Pepper's "theme ▓▌
▓████▓▌ song," "Everything Happens to Me." ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Session three ù a quartet date with Roy McCurdy, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pete Jolly, and Bob Magnusson ù consists of only ▓▌
▓████▓▌ two tracks, notable for Pepper's ability, along ▓▌
▓████▓▌ with Jolly, to indulge the full range of his ▓▌
▓████▓▌ particular kind of melodic invention. For Pepper, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ harmony was never an extension of melody; it was ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the very foundation principle that all intricate ▓▌
▓████▓▌ melodic forms were built upon (and rightfully so, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ but many jazz musicians forget this). His solos ▓▌
▓████▓▌ look for the angular way to approach melodic ▓▌
▓████▓▌ improvisation ù his hearing of chords was very ▓▌
▓████▓▌ sophisticated and he could trace their root in the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ blink of an eye and be off and running based on ▓▌
▓████▓▌ them. Both selections in this session ù "Out of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Nowhere" and an alternate take of "Y.I. Blues" ù ▓▌
▓████▓▌ showcase the close connection of Jolly and Pepper. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ But session four is where things begin to jump, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ when Sonny Stitt joins the band as "leader." Right ▓▌
▓████▓▌ away, things steam with the bebop classic "Scrapple ▓▌
▓████▓▌ From the Apple," and it feels like East Coast ▓▌
▓████▓▌ versus West Coast in a battle of ego, dexterity, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ intervallic fire and flair, and ù ultimately ù ▓▌
▓████▓▌ harmonic invention. The cut is played at a furious ▓▌
▓████▓▌ tempo, at least as fast as the original by Bird and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Diz. The melody slips by in a blink and both ▓▌
▓████▓▌ players trade fours in between. You can definitely ▓▌
▓████▓▌ tell who is who: Pepper's warmer tone is readily ▓▌
▓████▓▌ apparent and Stitt still has that Bird-like sound. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Stitt takes an all-fire, all-the-time kind of solo ▓▌
▓████▓▌ as Pepper plays, moves in another direction, plays ▓▌
▓████▓▌ some more, and then ties all the lines together ▓▌
▓████▓▌ with thought and emotion, not just power. The ▓▌
▓████▓▌ versions of "How High the Moon" and the two takes ▓▌
▓████▓▌ of "Groovin' High" are also mind-benders in how ▓▌
▓████▓▌ tough these guys are on each other, both having a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ gladiator's ball. The big surprise, however, is Lou ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Levy, who smokes these tunes like he was eating ▓▌
▓████▓▌ them for breakfast. He provides a wall of harmony ▓▌
▓████▓▌ so fluid and dense that both saxophonists have to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ come out shooting, tearing the blues apart from ▓▌
▓████▓▌ inside in order to get to the end of the line. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ The latter part of this session features Freeman on ▓▌
▓████▓▌ piano and John Heard on bass. Its most notable and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ interesting moments are "Lester Leaps In," with ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper playing tenor. It's over 11 minutes long, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ and both players get to stretch the boundaries of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the tune as Freeman maintains the changes and moves ▓▌
▓████▓▌ its harmonics around to take into consideration the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ outrageous chances these guys are taking with a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ classic. Stitt figures it's his move because ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper's playing tenor, but the fact of the matter ▓▌
▓████▓▌ is that Pepper's comfort with the horn is ▓▌
▓████▓▌ astonishing. He plays it as if it were an alto ù ▓▌
▓████▓▌ fluid, quick as a pickpocket, and slippery as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ grease. This one must have been exhausting to play, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ because it's an ass-kicker to listen to. The ▓▌
▓████▓▌ versions of "My Funny Valentine" and "Imagination," ▓▌
▓████▓▌ both West Coast signature tunes, are handled with ▓▌
▓████▓▌ elegance and grace, although Stitt's playing sounds ▓▌
▓████▓▌ stilted a bit on "Imagination." ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ The next two sessions feature the stellar talents ▓▌
▓████▓▌ of Shelly Manne (session five), and Lee Konitz ▓▌
▓████▓▌ (session six). There are no highlights from either ▓▌
▓████▓▌ of these dates, done in 1981 and 1982, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ respectively. The selections of tunes should speak ▓▌
▓████▓▌ for themselves. On the session with Manne as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ leader, "Just Friends," "These Foolish Things," ▓▌
▓████▓▌ "Limehouse Blues," and "Lover Come Back to Me" ▓▌
▓████▓▌ reignite the fire that existed between Pepper and ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Manne in the Stan Kenton band, later in Pepper's ▓▌
▓████▓▌ first quartets, and on Manne's early dates as a ▓▌
▓████▓▌ leader. With Watrous, Jolly, and tenor sax man Bob ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Cooper on board, this feels like West Coast ▓▌
▓████▓▌ classicism, although done in the modern vernacular. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper's tone seems to change here, becoming ▓▌
▓████▓▌ silkier and more muted and reserved ù but no less ▓▌
▓████▓▌ inventive. Cooper is a fine tenor player, but ▓▌
▓████▓▌ lyrically he is no match for Pepper ù although ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Watrous is. The three trade out harmonies on ▓▌
▓████▓▌ augmented chords through most of the tunes, but the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Pepper and Watrous exchanges and fills are the most ▓▌
▓████▓▌ interesting. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ On the meeting between Konitz and Pepper, much ▓▌
▓████▓▌ could be written. There is a mutual respect here ▓▌
▓████▓▌ that is so high ù Art Pepper handed the session ▓▌
▓████▓▌ over to Konitz. Konitz picked the tunes and Pepper ▓▌
▓████▓▌ picked the rhythm section, featuring Mike Lang on ▓▌
▓████▓▌ piano (who is a studio musician par excellence), ▓▌
▓████▓▌ drummer John Dentz, and bassist Bob Magnuson (who ▓▌
▓████▓▌ is as solid a bass player as there is). Magnuson is ▓▌
▓████▓▌ inventive and flawless in his sense of time (often ▓▌
▓████▓▌ more accurate than the best drummers). And he knows ▓▌
▓████▓▌ how to solo; every time he does he changes elements ▓▌
▓████▓▌ in the music's framework. Pepper is the edgier of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ the two saxophonists; freed of the responsibility ▓▌
▓████▓▌ for the session, he concentrates on relaxing, ▓▌
▓████▓▌ playing his level best, and cornering each solo as ▓▌
▓████▓▌ if it were his last (he died five months later so ▓▌
▓████▓▌ they almost were). On tunes such as "High Jingo," ▓▌
▓████▓▌ "The Shadow of Your Smile," "S' Wonderful," ▓▌
▓████▓▌ "Cherokee," "Minor Blues in F," and "Whims of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Chambers," Konitz is full of warm and sweet earth ▓▌
▓████▓▌ tones. He and Pepper play "together"; there is no ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ego, no nervousness ù just two horn players finding ▓▌
▓████▓▌ each other on the fly harmonically and melodically. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ When they stutter and overlap each other's phrases ▓▌
▓████▓▌ on "Whims of Chambers" near the end, you would ▓▌
▓████▓▌ swear telepathy is something that happens every day ▓▌
▓████▓▌ in the jazz world. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
▓████▓▌ In all, these five CDs occupy a very special place ▓▌
▓████▓▌ in Art Pepper's discography, let alone his life. ▓▌
▓████▓▌ They offer a portrait of him as he never was on the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ dates he led: relaxed, easy, and full of a kind of ▓▌
▓████▓▌ fluid motion that fills you when you aren't ▓▌
▓████▓▌ responsible for everything. Somehow he tricked ▓▌
▓████▓▌ himself into believing that he wasn't the leader on ▓▌
▓████▓▌ these dates and thus played as he hadn't ever ▓▌
▓████▓▌ before ù even on the old songs, where he didn't ▓▌
▓████▓▌ even quote himself. Everything was new for these ▓▌
▓████▓▌ sessions in Pepper's mind, no matter what the ▓▌
▓████▓▌ producer wanted. Finally, listeners in the States ▓▌
▓████▓▌ get to hear these sessions in a package that is ▓▌
▓████▓▌ well-documented almost to a fault, with wonderfully ▓▌
▓████▓▌ remastered sound in a gorgeous package. Bravo to ▓▌
▓████▓▌ Laurie Pepper and to Fantasy for making this ▓▌
▓████▓▌ material available ▓▌
▓████▓▌ ▓▌
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