The 1950s and 60s were overflowing with alto sax players inspired by the Pied Piper of bebop, Charlie Parker. Few are remembered today, but Art Pepper is probably the most important of the mainstream alto saxists, representing the West Coast Sound in glorious lyricism.
Pepper had a fascinatingly turbulent life, with a series of highs and lows, both musically and personally. This 1960 release caught him at the very end of one of his zeniths, just before getting incarcerated for drug possession. Somehow, his pharmaceutical demons had no influence on his playing, as this album with Jack Sheldon/tp, Pete Jolly/p, Jimmy Bond/b and Frank Butler attests.
Pepper is in glorious form on Harold Land’s easily swinging title tune, while the altoist sweeps on the 5/4 blues of “Las Cuevas de Mario”. Jolly and Sheldon are crystal clear on Buddy Collette’s exquisitely KC’d “A Bit of Basie”, and even a bit of “outside” is alluded to as Pepper takes on Ornette Coleman’s “Tears Inside” without even blinking. Creative, cohesive and inspiring. It sounds so simple and easy in retrospect, but if so, how come no one plays this evocatively?