Laurie Pepper continues to keep the sound and vision of alto sax legend Art Pepper alive. She’s dug up a plethora of wonderful concert recordings the past years, and now she’s written the liner notes for these two delicious 1980-era studio albums that Pepper recorded and have only been available in Japan. We in the West have been missing a lot!
Volume One has Pepper in a pair of sessions with bebop pioneer Sonny Stitt. The first disc has the rhythm section of Lou Levy/p, Chuck De Monaco/b and Carl Burnette/dr adding sizzle to snapper slike “Groovin’ High” and the snazzy “Wee” while the contrast of tones between Pepper’s slightly coarse tone with Stitt’s sleeker sound is exquisite on the gorgeous unaccompanied intro to “How High The Moon.”
The second disc has the rhythm team with Burnette, John Heard/b and Russ Freeman/p while Pepper takes on the tenor sax and bears down on “Lester Leaps In.” Stitt switches between alto and tenor, and is as sweet as cider on ”My Funny Valentine” while both glow like a sunset on “Autumn in New York.” This is modern jazz played be the guys that created it; what more could you want?
Volume Two has Pepper with LA cats Pete Jolly/p, Bob Magnusson/b and Roy McCurdy/dr, for a vintage display of class. McCurdy snaps out a military groove and sizzles on “Strike Up The Band” while his brush work sets the table for Pepper’s crystalline musings on “Everything Happens to Me.” Jolly lays down some soft pilaf for Pepper’s protein on the velvety “You Go To My Head,” is cheery on “Out of Nowhere” and swings with delight as McCurdy drives with the ride cymbal on “Night and Day.” All throughout, Pepper is able to mix text book bebop with dashes of large brush work of exclamation points. Grab these two albums and find out what’s missing in today’s music.