Out of This World

November 1, 2014, 5:15 am

≪ Previous: Rex Stewart and Young Pepper Adams

Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

Thanks to new research, the recording date of Out of This World has been further refined. In Pepper Adams' Joy Road (page 111) I wrote that this date was recorded during the period 1-8 January or after they returned from Chicago on c. 24-31. Newly discovered documents rule out the 1-8 January time frame. See below.

Correction

PEPPER ADAMS-DONALD BYRD - OUT OF THIS WORLD

610125

between 25 Jan- 5 Feb 1961, New York: Donald Byrd tp; Pepper Adams bs; Herbie Hancock p; Teddy Charles vib*; Laymon Jackson b; Jimmy Cobb dm.

Sometime between 25 January and 5 February 1961 the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet record their date for Warwick. This was Pepper Adams' eighth date as either leader or co-leader. New research reveals that, with the exception of a 13-20 December gig at Curro's in Milwaukee (see 601213), the Quintet worked in Chicago steadily for nearly two months (from 22 November 1960 until 22 January 1961). Assuming a long travel day back to New York on 23 January and theopening of their week run at the Five Spot on the 24th, the band likely recorded no earlier than 25 Jnauary. As yet, no known information exists on band gigs for the period 1-5 February, prior to the group embarking on their two month tour of the Midwest and Eastern Canada.

↧

New Pepper Adams Sessions

November 1, 2014, 6:21 am

≫ Next: The Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet (1958-61)

≪ Previous: Out of This World

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

Here's nine exciting discoveries that have been unearthed since the 2012 publication of Pepper Adams' Joy Road: An Annotated Discography. All have or will be posted at http://www.pepperadams.com/JoyRoad/DiscoUpdates.pdf.

New Entry:

DONALD BYRD-PEPPER ADAMS

610616

16 June 1961, TV broadcast, Cleveland: Donald Byrd tp; Pepper Adams bs; Herbie Hancock p; Cleveland Eaton b; Teddy Robinson dm.

The Quintet appeared on the program The One O'Clock Club while in town working at Algiers. The show was broadcast by WEWS (Channel 5), hosted by Dorothy Fuldheim. It isn't clear if either the audio or video still exists.

New Entry:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

660321

21 Mar 1966, private recording, Village Vanguard: Thad Jones flh; Snooky Young, Jimmy Nottingham, Bill Berry, Jimmy Owens tp; Bob Brookmeyer vtb; Garnett Brown, Jack Rains tb; Cliff Heather btb; Jerome Richardson as, ss, cl fl; Jerry Dodgion ss, as, fl; Joe Farrell fl, ts, ss; Eddie Daniels ts, ss, cl; Pepper Adams bs, cl; Hank Jones p; Sam Herman g; Richard Davis b; Mel Lewis dm.

aOnce AroundBMG (NZ) CD: 74321-51939-2

b Don't Ever Leave Me

cLover Man

dA--That's Freedom unissued

e All My Yesterdays

f Back Bone

gBig Dipper

hThe Little Pixie

iLow Down

jMornin' Reverend

k Willow Weep for Me

New Entry:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

680720

20 July 1968, audience recording or radio broadcast, Pit Inn, Tokyo: Thad Jones flh; Bob Brookmeyer vtb; Jimmy Knepper, Garnett Brown tb; Cliff Heather btb; Jerry Dodgion as, fl; Jerome Richardson as, cl, fl; Seldon Powell ts; Eddie Daniels ts; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; Kunimitsu Inaba b; Mel Lewis dm.

a Lover Man

b Bachafillen

c unknown title

d Don't Git Sassy

e Back Bone

f Don't Ever Leave Me

g St. Louis Blues

-c is a solo piano feature.

According to bassist Richard Davis, in a 2014 email to the author, Davis left the gig early and Inaba took his place. Because the Pit Inn was a small room for a big band, it's conceivable that Thad Jones scaled the band down to twelve pieces and Davis left the club along with the entire trumpet section before the final set.

This is the only known recorded gig from the band's first "tour" of Japan. Elvin Jones' future wife, Keiko, had agreed to put together eleven days worth of gigs. There was a great deal of excitement because this was the band's first overseas trip. An itinerary of events was given in advance to members of the band. On the morning of 11 July the band, along with seven of the musicians' wives, waited at JFK Airport to board a plane but the promised tickets never arrived at the gate. Thad Jones and Mel Lewis were left with no alternative but to charge the tickets on their American Express cards, without which the orchestra might've dissolved. To make matters worse, despite the itinerary, only one gig was arranged for the band in advance. The orchestra was in limbo each day until gigs could be acquired. The photographer K. Abe lent his life savings to pay for airplane tickets to get the group back to New York. After Mel Lewis returned, he paid Abe back by leveraging his residence with a second mortgage.

According to Jerry Dodgion, Jerome Richardson made the trip and the trumpet section on the tour was Snooky Young, Jimmy Nottingham, Danny Moore and Richard Williams. Richard Davis remembered the following: Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Richard Williams, Garnett Brown, Bob Brookmeyer, Cliff Heather, Eddie Daniels, Pepper Adams and Roland Hanna.

New Entry:

DUKE PEARSON

690427

27 April 1969, Famous Ballroom, Baltimore: Burt Collins, Joe Shepley, Jim Bossy Donald Byrd tp, flh; Julian Priester, Joe Forst, Eddie Bert tb; Kenny Rupp btb; Jerry Dodgion, Al Gibbons as, fl; Frank Foster, Lew Tabackin ts; Pepper Adams bs; Duke Pearson p; Bob Cranshaw b; Mickey Roker dm.

aHi-FlyUptown CD: UPCD-2772

bNew Girl

cEldorado

dIn the Still of the Night

e Tones for Joan's Bones

fStraight Up and Down

gReady When You Are C.B

hNight Song

Recorded by the Left Bank Jazz Society. See 671215.

New Entry:

RUBY BRAFF

19 July 1972, audience recording, Half Note, New York: Ruby Braff cornet; Pepper Adams bs; Dill Jones p; George Mraz b; Dottie Dodgion dm.

aunknown blues

This recording was discussed in Michael Steinman's blog "Jazz Lives" (http://jazzlives.wordpress.com/author/jazzlives), published on 5 August 2014:

"I will close with my single Pepper Adams sighting. In 1972, several friends and I followed Ruby Braff to gigs. Although Ruby was unpredictable and unreasonably given to rage, he was always pleasant to us and allowed us to tape-record him. On July 19 of that year, my friend Stu and I came to the Half Note to record Ruby with the Welsh pianist Dill Jones, bassist George Mraz (then working with Pepper in the Thad Jones – Mel Lewis ensemble, and Dottie Dodgion on drums. About two-thirds through the evening, where the music had been very sweet, with Ruby’s characteristic leaps through the repertoire of Louis, Duke and Billie, a tall man ascended the stand with a baritone saxophone, was greeted warmly by the players, and the quintet launched into an extended blues in Ab. I remember Dottie Dodgion being particularly enthusiastic about the unnamed musician’s playing, who packed his horn and went off into the warm Greenwich Village night. Who was that unmasked man? The subject of Carner’s book, and yes, the tape exists, although not in my possession."

New Entry:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

17 Sept 1973, audience recording, Blighty's, Farnworth, England: Thad Jones cornet; Jon Faddis, Steve Furtado, Jim Bossy, Cecil Bridgewater tp; Jimmy Knepper, Billy Campbell, Steve Turre tb; Cliff Heather btb; Jerry Dodgion ss, as, fl; Ed Xiques ss, as, fl, cl; Billy Harper ts, ss, cl; Rob Bridgewater ts, cl; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; George Mraz b; Mel Lewis dm; Dee Dee Bridgewater voc.*

aUs

b61st and Richard

cSuite for Pops:

Meetin' Place

Only for Now

The Farewell

dThe Second Race

e Fingers

fBye Bye Blackbird*

gHow Insensitive*

New Entry:

SADAO WATANABE

740311

c. 11 March 1974, FM-Tokyo radio broadcast, Tokyo: Sadao Watanabe as; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; Eizo Honda b; Fumio Watanabe dm.

aWistful Moment

bWhen Lights Are Low

cRide On

dEphemera

e Oleo

New Entry:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

751215

15 December 1975, audience recording, Village Vanguard, New York: Thad Jones flh; Al Porcino, Waymon Reed, Sinclair Acey, Cecil Bridgewater tp; Billy Campbell, Janice Robinson, John Mosca tb; Earl McIntyre btb; Jerry Dodgion, Ed Xiques ss, as, fl; Frank Foster, Gregory Herbert ts, cl; Pepper Adams bs; Onaje Allan Gumbs p; George Mraz or Steve Gilmore b; Mel Lewis dm.

a Big Dipper

bKids Are Pretty People

cBachafillen

dSamba con Getchu

eGiant Steps

fThank You

gA Child Is Born

New Entry:

PER HUSBY

790325

25 Mar 1979, audience recording, Kristiansund, Norway: Pepper Adams bs; Per Husby p; Bjorn Alterhaug, Espen Rud dm.

a Just Friends

b Quiet Lady

c Eiderdown (1)

d Embraceable You

e Three and One

f'Tis

(1) Rhythm section only.

Sponsored by the Kristiansund Jazz Society.

↧

The Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet (1958-61)

November 8, 2014, 4:21 am

≫ Next: Joy Road Updates

≪ Previous: New Pepper Adams Sessions

Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

http://instagram.com/p/r-aenRpnvf/?modal=true

Here's the piece I wrote for Wayne State University Press. It will be published in their forthcoming anthology about Detroit's musical history. The piece is posted here:

http://www.pepperadams.com/ByrdAdamsHistory.pdf

Although they certainly knew each other in Detroit, trumpeter Donald Byrd and baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams never played together until both moved to New York City. Their first gig toas probably at the Cafe Bohemia in early February, 1958. Later that month, Byrd and Adams were paired as the front line for a Thelonious Monk studio recording, just as they began a residency at the Five Spot that lasted until June. Already in demand as a dynamic front-line duo, their four-month run (with Detroiters Doug Watkins and Elvin Jones) gave them the opportunity to launch the Byrd-Adams Quintet. Riverside Records recorded the group live in April. Six months later the band would record Off to the Races, its first of a series of recordings for Blue Note Records that cemented the band’s place in jazz history.

In the Summer of 1958, however, directly after the lengthy Five Spot engagement, Donald Byrd toured Europe with Watkins and Belgian tenor saxophonist Bobby Jaspar. Adams, for his part, accepted a six-week engagement with Benny Goodman. Again, in early 1959 the Byrd-Adams Quintet would be shelved in favor of Byrd and Adams’ four-month commitment to the Thelonious Monk Big Band (culminating with the influential Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall date for Riverside). This on-again/off-again schedule would characterize the early history of the Quintet, from mid-1958 well into 1960. Because steady work wasn’t available for the group’s first two-and-a-half years as a unit, Byrd and Adams continued to take gigs as sidemen while also maintaining active careers as solo artists.

From 1958-1961, Byrd and Adams were busy indeed, working and recording in many settings. Besides their membership in Monk’s orchestra in early 1959, Adams did two tours with Benny Goodman and another with Chet Baker before May, 1959, when the Byrd-Adams Quintet recorded Byrd in Hand, their second date for Blue Note. By then the Quintet had already worked two weeks at New York’s Village Vanguard. In October, 1959 the band was touring again, this time playing gigs in Toronto and Pittsburgh.

In the Spring of 1960 the Byrd-Adams Quintet (including Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones) recorded three tunes for a stereophonic sampler project for Warwick Records. Before that, Byrd without Adams had worked his way from New York to San Francisco and back while Adams formed a short-lived quintet with tenor saxophonist J.R. Monterose. But by July, 1960 the Quintet’s superb rhythm section of Duke Pearson, Laymon Jackson and Lex Humphries had coalesced. And with Adams back in the group, the Quintet began its incarnation as a steadily working ensemble. A three month tour took the band to Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City and Pittsburgh, then back to Chicago and Detroit before returning to New York in late October.

During the group’s two-month stint in Chicago (that would extend into January, 1961), pianist Herbie Hancock was hired to replace Duke Pearson. This was Hancock’s first gig outside of Chicago with a touring band. Hancock moved from Chicago to New York to join the group.

Back in New York, the Quintet recorded again for Warwick, then toured for most of the year before disbanding in October. In February and March, 1961 the group gigged throughout the Eastern United States and Canada, working at the New Showboat in Philadelphia, then Montreal and Toronto and back to the Bird House in Chicago before working in Indianapolis and Rochester, New York. Returning to New York in April, the group recorded two more dates for Blue Note (Chant and The Cat Walk) within a two week period.

Looking back at the group’s history, there seems to be a direct relationship between the amount of recordings the Byrd-Adams duo made and the frequency of Quintet gigs. Stated another way, the more recordings Byrd-Adams made, the more they created demand for their Quintet to be heard live in performance. Their first recording, 10 to 4 at the Five Spot, released in mid-1958, was followed by the release of the Quintet’s first two Blue Note recordings in 1959, Off to the Races and Byrd in Hand. Those were followed in turn by a double-LP recorded in November, 1960 (Live at the Half Note) and five studio sessions (Motor City Scene, Out of This World, Chant, The Cat Walk and Royal Flush) all recorded before October, 1961. This upward arc of activity in the studios was equally true for their dense club-date calendar. Band itineraries, magazine articles and advertisements in the jazz and lay press all demonstrate that 1960 and 1961 were, indeed, the glory days for the working quintet, when the band was performing regularly and functioning at its peak. This is the main reason why I find the Quintet’s cluster of six recordings made in less than a year’s time to be their finest work. Working steadily for only a year also explains why the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet remains to this day not nearly as well-known as some of other similarly constituted great small bands of its time, such as those led by Max Roach, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Horace Silver or Cannonball Adderley.

What other conclusions can we make about the Quintet’s three early recordings leading up to their great body of work done in late 1960 and 1961? First, it’s clear that Byrd and Adams favored Detroit musicians in their group whenever possible. The live 1958 Riverside date, for example, was an all-Detroit group except for pianist Bobby Timmons, though I suspect they tried to hire Tommy Flanagan.

For their second and third dates—the Quintet’s first two for Blue Note—commercial pressures dictated that Byrd, as leader, feature some of the musicians in Blue Note’s stable. It also necessitated expanding the front line to three horns. These all-star sessions would soon be phased out in favor of showcasing the working Quintet. That’s because the group started touring steadily in mid-1960, congealing as a unit, and attracting attention as a unique band with its own sound.

Two other things that characterize the Quintet’s recordings is their inclusion of original compositions and the use of the ballad feature. Both Byrd and pianist Duke Pearson used these recording dates as opportunities to write original tunes and arrangements for small group. The ballad feature, a convention of jazz performance, and something Byrd would’ve been asked to perform as a member of Art Blakey’s band a la trumpeter Clifford Brown, is something Byrd and Adams would always do in club dates and on several of their recordings. They used ballads as solo features for either Byrd or Adams, typically undergirded by the rhythm section, and as a way to affect variety within each set of music. Additionally, having one of the horn players drop out on a slow-tempo number was sensible in another way. It would by necessity abbreviate the duration of the tune and not unduly disrupt the set’s momentum.

In retrospect, there’s no question that Byrd’s exclusive recording contract with Blue Note catalyzed the Byrd-Adams Quintet. Their increasing popularity, due to the wide distribution and overall excellence of their first two Blue Note recordings, also led to them eventually being picked up by the Shaw Agency, who booked tours for the group throughout North America.

Fortuitously, too, a brief lapse in Byrd’s Blue Note contract allowed Byrd and Adams the opportunity to fit in two additional recording dates. One, Out of This World for Warwick, was for the working group. The other, Motor City Scene (under Adams’ leadership for Bethlehem), was for sextet, with the addition of Detroiter Kenny Burrell on guitar.

Listen to Bitty Ditty here: http://youtu.be/Y23YPy-8o7c

Despite all their recordings, steady work on the road, and critical acclaim, the Shaw Agency’s predilection for booking the Quintet on very long road trips spelled disaster for the band. Exhausting car rides (Minneapolis to Dallas, Salt Lake City, Denver, then Detroit, for example) were already booked by Shaw in October, 1960. In July and August, 1961 the group was back at it, driving from New York to Cleveland, then St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago and Detroit, leading up to Royal Flush, their last New York studio date in September. In October the band returned to St. Louis, then played Kansas City, where the club folded and the group wasn’t paid. Years later Adams cited transportation costs relative to what they were earning as the main reason for ending the four year collaboration. But the Kansas City experience must have functioned as a telling metaphor and as an embodiment of the group’s pent-up frustrations. It was the Quintet’s final gig.

Despite their all-too brief time together, three outstanding recordings were made in the late 1950s and six superb dates were made in a ten-month stretch beginning on November 11, 1960 with the Blue Note double-LP Live at the Half Note. The Half Note date is the only Quintet recording to have never gone out of print in the U.S., some measure of its enduring value. From it, Duke Pearson’s composition “Jeanine” is the Quintet’s only tune that has became a standard in the jazz repertoire. Live at the Half Note reveals the band at the height of its power and remains the best example of what the band sounded like at the time.

Listen to Jeannine here: http://youtu.be/bovferybdb8

Just after the Half Note recording, the Quintet, in a burst of activity, recorded four more dates in New York. First was the Bethlehem session, led by Adams, that returned to the favored all-Detroit formula (with Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers and Louis Hayes). A January date for Warwick, Out of This World, featured the working group, now with young Herbie Hancock on his very first record session, but with drummer Jimmy Cobb in place of Lex Humphries. In April and early May, the Quintet’s two Blue Note studio dates used other drummers entirely: Philly Joe Jones on The Cat Walk, because they couldn’t locate Humphries, and Teddy Robinson on Chant because he was already touring with the band at the time. One final Quintet date, Royal Flush, was done in September, 1961. It’s just as excellent as the others. It features Byrd, Adams and Hancock, with bassist Butch Warren and drummer Billy Higgins.

Summing up the totality of band’s output, what is it about this group that made it unique? First and foremost, of course, the Quintet featured two great instrumental stylists backed by a terrific, interactive, hard-swinging rhythm section. Their repertoire was fresh and compelling, comprised of a blend of unusual standards, interesting originals, and cleverly adapted tunes, such as an uptempo version of “I’m an Old Cowhand” or Henry Mancini’s “Theme from Mr. Lucky.”

Listen to I’m an Old Cowhand here: http://youtu.be/Z6Pa9XdmY4c

Sonically, trumpet with baritone sax is an exquisite pairing, even more aurally spread than the customary trumpet/tenor sax pairing of its time. A trumpet/baritone front line was still rather unusual in 1958, especially one playing this brand of intense post-Charlie Parker small group jazz. But, more than that, Byrd and Adams meshed so well because their styles were so complementary. Byrd, at root, was a very melodic, soulful, lyrical player who used nuance, space and blues inflections in his solos. Adams did too, though he was more of a rhapsodic player, who delighted in double-time playing and exhibiting other technical flourishes. Byrd, it could be said, was more of a “horizontal” soloist, Adams more “vertical.” What a perfect counterbalance! And when Byrd and Adams stated each tune’s theme, their phrasing—often using impressive dynamics or provocative counterpoint lines—was always so beautifully rendered.

All told, during the four year stretch that reached its quintessence in 1960-61, the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet recorded eleven dates—seven studio albums, one sampler, and three live LPs—assuring their place as one of the great jazz groups of its time. The band launched the career of Herbie Hancock and it gave Byrd, Duke Pearson and, to a lesser extent, Adams and Hancock, a forum to write original compositions. Some of the tunes in their book (“Curro’s,” “Bird House” and “Jorgie’s”) immortalized jazz clubs. The Quintet surely helped Adams’ career too. He was heard widely in clubs throughout North America and the Blue Note dates in particular were well distributed in the U.S. and abroad during his lifetime.

Discography/Filmography

With the exception of Live at the Half Note, all of the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet’s Blue Note recordings have been collected in a Mosaic Records box set. 10 to 4 at the Five Spot and Motor City Scene have been reissued on CD. Out of This World has been reissued on CD too, but beware of cannibalized recordings from bootlegs that cut and paste some of the tunes almost beyond recognition. Most of the Quintet sessions were under Byrd’s name because Blue Note’s contract was with him. The dates on other labels fall under Pepper Adams’ leadership or Adams-Byrd.

No film or videotape footage of the Byrd-Adams Quintet has been uncovered as yet but a terrific clip from the 1958 Cannes Jazz Festival, featuring the Bobby Jaspar-Donald Byrd Quintet is listed below. Each member of that rhythm section (Walter Davis Jr., Doug Watkins and Arthur Taylor) recorded with the Byrd-Adams Quintet on Blue Note.

Pepper Adams, Motor City Scene, Bethlehem BCP-6056.

____________, 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot, Original Jazz Classics CD: OJCCD-031-2.

Pepper Adams-Donald Byrd, Out of This World, Fresh Sound CD: FSR-335.

Donald Byrd, At the Half Note Cafe (Vol. 1), Blue Note CD: CDP-7-46539-2.

__________, At the Half Note Cafe (Vol. 2), Blue Note CD: CDP-7-46540-2.

Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams, The Complete Blue Note Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams Studio Sessions, CD: CDBN-7-46540-2.

Bobby Jaspar-Donald Byrd, INA videotape (France), http://youtu.be/XEwuLs5hCRE.

Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall, Original Jazz Classics CD: OJCCD-135-2.

Gary Carner is the author of Pepper Adams’ Joy Road, The Miles Davis Companion and Jazz Performers. From 1984 until Adams’ death in 1986, Carner collaborated with Pepper Adams on his memoirs. Carner’s research on Adams’ career, collected at pepperadams.com, spans four decades. Carner blogs about Adams at gc-pepperadamsblog.blogspot.com and has also produced all 42 of Adams’ compositions for Motema Music.

↧

Joy Road Updates

November 15, 2014, 4:06 am

≫ Next: Byrd-Adams Repertoire (1958-61)

≪ Previous: The Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet (1958-61)

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

Here's new updates to Joy Road. In discographies, as many of you know, things are always changing! This update will post at pepperadams.com sometime this weekend.

I've been amassing corrections and additions since the August 2012 publication of Pepper Adams’ Joy Road. As you will see, there are some very exciting new Pepper Adams discoveries. The 2013 paperback edition gave me a chance to overhaul the Index. For reasons I explain below, it’s vastly superior to the index in the hardcover version. But those are static changes, fixed in the manuscript. Discographers know that their databases are instantly obsolete upon publication. New commercial recordings continue to get released or reissued. Audience recordings are continually discovered. Errors are unmasked and missing information slowly but surely gets supplanted by new data. That’s why discographies in book form are now a rarity. With the steady stream of updates that are needed to keep a discography current, the internet is the ideal medium. When Joy Road goes out of print, in fact, my entire book with updates will be posted right here. In the meantime, please send any corrections or additions to info@pepperadams.com.

Correction:

STAN KENTON - VOICES IN MODERN

570304, page 32

Personnel should reference 17 January 1957, not 17 January 1956.

Correction:

DAVE PELL - A PELL OF A TIME

570320, page 34

The two-line note about Walter Bruyninckx should be deleted.

Addition:

BOB KEENE - SOLO FOR SEVEN

570321, page 34

The tune Solo (from Andex LP: A-4001) should be added.

Correction:

AUTHOR'S NOTE, page 52

See 731216 should be See 731217.

Correction

BUD SHANK - THE JAMES DEAN STORY

570813

13 August 1957, Radio Recorders,Hollywood CA: Charlie Mariano, Herbie Steward as; Bill Holman, Richie Kamuca ts; Pepper Adams bs, bcl; Claude Williamson p; Monty Budwig b; Mel Lewis dm; Mike Pacheco bongos; FEATURED SOLOISTS: Chet Baker tp; Bud Shank as, fl.

aLost Love

bPeople

cRebel at Work

Regarding Bill Holman and Johnny Mandel’s participation, on July 29, 2104 researcher James Harrod emailed me this: "The [AFM] contracts just list the musicians. Holman might have retained the charts that he arranged. I believe that he has placed most of his archive with the LOC. He received arranger credit on the 14th only. Mandel is not listed as arranger on the 13th. He might have had a direct agreement with Dick Bock for his services. The back liner of P-2005 notes that Mandel arranged The Search, Jimmy's Theme, and Success; with Holman arranging the other selections. Mandel might have retained his charts as well." Harrod also told me that Chet Baker was listed on the LP as co-leader merely as a marketing strategy to boost sales. Also, Johnny Mandel likely functioned as a conductor at both sessions.

Correction

BUD SHANK - THE JAMES DEAN STORY

570814

14 August 1957, Radio Recorders, Hollywood CA: Same as 13 August, add Ray Linn, Don Fagerquist tp; Milt Bernhart tb; Mike Pacheco bongos; Chet Baker voc*.

aJimmy's Theme

bFairmount, Indiana

cLet Me Be Loved

dLet Me Be Loved*

eHollywood

-b: Omit Pacheco.

-c is an instrumental version.

-d is a vocal arrangement, featuring Chet Baker voc.

See 570813 notes.

Correction

PEPPER ADAMS - CRITICS' CHOICE

570823

23 August 1957, Radio Recorders, Hollywood CA.

Pepper’s second date as a leader was done on one day, from 1-6pm. The LP cites the 22nd of August as the recording date but this is incorrect as per Jim Harrod’s American Federation of Musicians contract research in 2014.

Correction:

SOUL OF JAZZ PERCUSSION

600400

Spring 1960, Bell Sound Studios, New York: Donald Byrd tp; Pepper Adams bs; Bill Evans p; Paul Chambers b; Philly Joe Jones dm; Earl Zindars timpani, perc.

This was likely recorded between 9-18 April or in May-June.

Addition:

PEPPER ADAMS - MOTOR CITY SCENE

601115, page 107

All tracks on Bethlehem CD: BCP-6056.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS-DONALD BYRD - OUT OF THIS WORLD

610125

between 25 Jan- 5 Feb 1961, New York: Donald Byrd tp; Pepper Adams bs; Herbie Hancock p; Teddy Charles vib*; Laymon Jackson b; Jimmy Cobb dm.

Sometime between 25 January and 5 February 1961 the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet record their date for Warwick. This was Pepper Adams’ eighth date as either leader or co-leader. New research reveals that, with the exception of a 13-20 December gig at Curro’s in Milwaukee (see 601213), the Quintet worked steadily in Chicago for nearly two months (from 22 November 1960 until 22 January 1961). Assuming a long travel day back to New York on 23 January and the opening of their week run at the Five Spot on the 24th, the band likely recorded no earlier than 25 January. As yet, no known information exists on band gigs for the period 1-5 February, prior to the group embarking on their two month tour of the Midwest and Eastern Canada.

New Entry:

DONALD BYRD-PEPPER ADAMS

610616

16 June 1961, TV broadcast, Cleveland: Donald Byrd tp; Pepper Adams bs; Herbie Hancock p; Cleveland Eaton b; Teddy Robinson dm.

Addition:

DONALD BYRD-PEPPER ADAMS

610624, page 115

Also performed at Jorgie's was Out of This World (VGM unissued).

Correction:

LIONEL HAMPTON

611209

9 December 1961, Metropole Cafe, New York: Dave Gonsalves, Virgil Jones, Floyd, Richard Williams tp; Vince Prudente, Harleem Rasheed, Lester Robinson tb; Bobby Plater, Ed Pazant as; Andy McGhee, John Neely ts; Pepper Adams bs; Kenny Lowe p; Billy Mackel g; Lionel Hampton vib; Lawrence Burgan b; Wilbert Hogan dm.

aAt the MetropoleGlad-Hamp LP: GHLP-3050

bEncore (= Greasy Greens)

cAfter You've GoneGlad-Hamp LP: GHLP-1005

dThey Say It's Wonderful (1)

e It's All Right with Me

fTake My Word

gMcGhee

(1) Hampton and the rhythm section.

-c, -e, -g on Hindsight CD: HCD-242.

Correction:

JIMMY WITHERSPOON

630700

c. Summer 1963, CBC TV broadcast,Toronto: Dizzy Reece tp; John Gilmore ts; Pepper Adams bs; John Hicks p; Ali Jackson b; Charli Persip dm; Jimmy Witherspoon voc.

aEvenin'

bAin't Nobody's Business

This program was entitled Sixty Minutes with Spoon, produced by Daryl Duke. Thirty minutes of it

was broadcast on 11 February 1964 on the program "Quest."

Addition

LIONEL HAMPTON

640723

23 July 1964, probably ORTF TV broadcast, Antibes Jazz Festival, Juan-les-Pins, France: Martin Banks, Benny Bailey tp; Bobby Plater as, fl; Ed Pazant ts, cl; Pepper Adams, Cecil Payne bs; Billy Mackel g; Lionel Hampton, vib, voc; Lawrence Burgan b; Floyd Williams dm.

aHamp's Boogie Woogie

bunknown blues

cunknown blues

dStardust

eFlying Home

fOur Love Is Here to Stay

gunknown blues

hunknown blues

iAir Mail Special

jMidnight Sun

kAir Mail Special

mThe Man I Love

nSophisticated Lady

See 640707, 640724, 640725 and 611209 notes.

Correction:

AUTHOR'S NOTE, p. 145

The Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet’s first known gig took place at the Clifton Tap Room in Clifton NJ on 26-27 March 1965.

Correction

JOE ZAWINUL - MONEY IN THE POCKET

660207

This was Pepper’s only recording that day, thus the change from 660207a. Adams was not at the Village Vanguard for the opening gig of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. See Author’s Note directly below.

Author's Note

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS ORCHESTRA

660207b

Pepper Adams was not on this date. As per new research, it’s now confirmed that Marv Holladay is the baritone saxophonist. George Klavin was the engineer for the live recordings at the Village Vanguard and he still owns the tapes. Fortunately, he wrote the personnel on the tape boxes. CDs of this performance are held at the Thad Jones Archive at William Paterson University. The following are the tunes at the Archive, cross-referenced with those tunes released as a bootleg by Alan Grant on the CD "Opening Night."

aAll My Yesterdays (unissued)

bAll My Yesterdays (released by Grant)

cBack Bone (unissued)

dBig Dipper (unissued)

eBig Dipper (unissued)

fMean What You Say (released by Grant)

gMornin’ Reverend (released by Grant

hThe Little Pixie (released by Grant)

iWillow Weep for Me (released by Grant)

According to saxophonist Jerry Dodgion, the tunes hadn’t yet evolved into what they eventually became. For example, The Little Pixie became a chase for the entire saxophone section. Here, though, only Jerome Richardson solos on the tune.

Mel Lewis told Michael Bourne in Jazz Journal International (Vol 42, No. 4, April 1989, p. 14) the following about Thad Jones’ big band arrangements and the early band book:

"Thad left Basie [in 1963]. We were thrown together in the Mulligan band. We’d been friends

for years. He’d just started writing for Gerry's band. Thad was experimenting. He was going to

bring things in for Gerry's band but he never got around to finishing anything. Thad was

searching at that point. Basie commissioned Thad to write an album, 11 or 12 charts, and Thad

did them. Thad and I were still just hanging around with each other, still talking about a band of

our own. Basie rejected the arrangements. They were such a drastic change from what the Basie

band was all about. Thad called me and said, 'I’ve got some arrangements. Let’s have a

rehearsal.’ We started our band with stuff written for Basie. Basie’s name was on the charts

when we made our first rehearsal, but that became us. When we opened at the Vanguard a

month later, that first Monday night, we only had nine charts. We just hadn’t gotten around to

doing all of them. We played those nine charts and stretched them out. That’s where the whole

style with long solos and riffs happened. That was the band with Brookmeyer and Snooky Young.

We had all that experience in the band. Anything could happen."

Correction:

Pages 152, 203, 205, 253, 254, 263, 275, 287, 292, 305, 330, and 740312

According to David Demsey, Curator of the Thad Jones Archive at William Paterson University, the correct title of Thad Jones’ tune Back Bone is most likely two words, not one. See 660318, 690902, 690908, 690909, 730814, 730815, 740313, 740712, 750915, 751111, 760113, 770727.

New Entry:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

660321

aOnce AroundBMG (NZ) CD: 74321-51939-2

b Don’t Ever Leave Me

cLover Man

dA--That’s Freedom unissued

e All My Yesterdays

f Back Bone

gBig Dipper

hThe Little Pixie

iLow Down

jMornin’ Reverend

k Willow Weep for Me

The following is excerpted from a 26 April 2014 post at my blog "The Master"

(http://gc-pepperadamsblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/double-trouble-alan-grant-george-klabin.html):

Since the 2012 publication of Pepper Adams' Joy Road, the first of two books I'm doing on Pepper Adams, a controversy over what constitutes the first performance by the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra has remained. My information was based on Pepper's itinerary, interviews with musicians in the band and also what I could infer from the CD "Opening Night." At the very least I wanted to know if Pepper Adams or Marv Holladay was playing baritone, since both are listed on the cover as participating musicians. Thanks to new information from my recent interview with engineer George Klabin, plus the efforts of saxophonists Frank Basile and David Demsey, I'm able to report some changes to the historical record.

First a little background. In 2000, DJ and impresario Alan Grant released a CD called "Opening Night" that purported to be music from the incredibly important first appearance of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard on 7 February 1966. But others, such as saxophonists Jerry Dodgion and Bill Kirchner, contested that what Grant suggests (and partly what I wrote in my book) about the gig is not entirely true. Dodgion was in the band from its inception and Kirchner had been researching a book about Thad Jones with fellow saxophonist Kenny Berger. Detroit journalist Mark Stryker, too, in his research for his forthcoming book on Detroit jazz, also takes issue with Grant and some of my assump-tions. Like Dodgion and Kirchner, he disputes that all the tunes on Grant's CD are from 7 February and says there are two separate dates. The reason for the discrepancy mostly stems from all of them having heard recordings of the band made at the Village Vanguard that exist at the Thad Jones Archive at William Paterson University.

In Joy Road (pages 150-52) I discuss the situation as I saw it just prior to publication in 2012. At that time I owned the Alan Grant CD but hadn't known about the two CDs at the Archive. Moreover, based upon the excellent recording quality of Grant's CD, the fact that Grant had a show on WABC-FM that routinely broadcasted live performances in New York City clubs, and that Grant was also actively promoting at that time on his show Pepper, Thad and Mel, I felt that the music likely emanated from ABC Radio. It turns out, however, that a nineteen-year-old self-taught engineer, George Klabin – who at the time (1965-69) had an evening jazz radio show on WKCR – recorded Thad and Mel's performance at the Vanguard.

I interviewed George Klabin on 23 April 2014 to find out more about the recording's pedigree and to once and for all try to solve the riddles that remain about this great music. Klabin now lives in Los Angeles and runs Resonance Records (resonancerecords.org). His company specializes in releasing historically important jazz recordings, many that Klabin recorded live in clubs and for which he still retains legal ownership. Klabin developed a reputation around New York in the mid-60s for recording jazz musicians well and affordably. He would lug his own equipment into nightclubs, record musicians, then play some of it on his radio show. Klabin promoted these recordings to his listeners as music they'd never hear anywhere else. One of the first things he recorded was Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden for George Avakian that became an important early Jarrett demo. Another is a Bill Evans date. See the label's web-site for a roster of recordings.

Alan Grant and George Klabin were DJ colleagues in New York City. One day in early 1966 Grant called Klabin. He told him there was a new all-star big band that was playing their first gig at the Village Vanguard. Grant needed a recording. Would Klabin do it? Sure. Klabin brought six mics and was given two cocktail tables near the pole where Pepper Adams sat (at the far stage-left side of the club) to set up his Crown two-track stereo 7.5 ips recorder. He mixed everything live in his headphones. After the gig, he gave Alan Grant a copy and that was it. I doubt Klabin played any of the music on his own radio show. Klabin did confess that he was "completely blown away"by the band. He knew right away that this was a band unlike any other.

A few weeks later Grant asked Klabin to return to the Vanguard on 21 March to record the band a second time. For that gig Klabin used 10 mics. Klabin said the band sounded even better. More polished, for one thing. For both gigs Klabin ended up with several hours of music.

Fast forward 34 years. To make a fast buck Alan Grant decides to bootleg a bunch of tunes from these two nights. Although Klabin owns the rights, Grant never got permission from Klabin to release it, never credited Klabin as the engineer and never paid the musicians. Essentially, Grant did an end run and went to BMG/New Zealand to print 2,500 copies. Jason Blackhouse (from Auckland), not Klabin, is credited as the engineer, and liner note verbiage throughout only trumpets the 7 February recording date. As David Demsey, director of the Thad Jones Archive has pointed out, the implication is that Blackhouse was the engineer on hand at the Vanguard. Furthermore, misleading listeners into believing that all the material derives from the band's first gig was equally duplicitous.

When Klabin learned about the release he was furious. He hired a detective to find Grant, who was living in Florida. Klabin telephoned Grant and said bluntly, "What's going on here? How can you do this without giving anyone credit?" Grant replied contritely, "I know, it wasn't a good idea." Miffed, Klabin left it at that.

Grant's bootleg is long sold out but a copy exists at William Paterson. Two CDs worth of Klabin's original tapes, presumably given to Thad Jones by Alan Grant, have been transferred from reel-to-reel and are there as well. A third reel may be missing, says Klabin, but he believes he still might have even more material. Fortunately, personnel for each night is specified on Klabin's tape boxes.

Thanks to the work of David Demsey, who meticulously compared all the recordings, here's what's on the two Klabin CDs versus Grant's bootleg (listed as parenthetical comments):

7 February 1966

CD #1:

1. All My Yesterdays (unissued)

2. All My Yesterdays (released by Grant)

3. Back Bone (unissued)

4. Big Dipper (unissued)

5. Big Dipper (unissued)

6. Mean What You Say (released by Grant)

7. Mornin' Reverend (released by Grant

8. The Little Pixie (unissued)

9. Willow Weep for Me (released by Grant)

21 March 1966

10. Once Around (released by Grant)

CD #2:

1. A--That's Freedom (unissued)

2. All My Yesterdays (unissued)

3. Back Bone (unissued)

4. Big Dipper (unissued)

5. Don't Ever Leave Me (released by Grant)

6. The Little Pixie (released by Grant)

7. Lover Man (released by Grant)

8. Low Down (unissued)

9. Mornin' Reverend (unissued)

10. Willow Weep for Me (unissued)

What else does Klabin have and did a third reel he recorded get lost? What's the derivation of three tunes from Grant's CD – Big Dipper, Polka Dots and Moonbeams, and Low Down – that Demsey asserts is neither on Grant's or Klabin's CDs? What's the complete personnel of each date? Klabin has promised to clear up the remaining mysteries. Fortunately, since our interview he's already had the time to look at his tape boxes from 7 February and 21 March to at least confirm that Marv Holladay, not Pepper Adams, was on the 7 February date. Conversely, Pepper appears on the 21 March date in place of Holladay.

According to Jerry Dodgion, Klabin has wanted to produce these important recordings since Grant's release to correct the historical record and get the music out the right way. Hopefully Klabin will release his definitive version soon, in its original running order, especially with Thad's announcements, and maybe even with Alant Grant as emcee? For Klabin, these brilliant Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra performances remain the greatest recordings he's ever made.

Correction

JOE WILLIAMS AND THAD JONES - SOMETHING OLD, NEW AND BLUE

680423

23-27 April 1968, Los Angeles: possible personnel: Thad Jones flh; Snooky Young tp, flh; Garnett Brown, Jimmy Knepper or Benny Powell tb; Jerome Richardson as; Eddie Daniels ts; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p, org; Kenny Burrell g; Larry Bunker vib; Richard Davis b; Mel Lewis dm; Joe Williams voc; string section.

Delete Hallelujah I Love Her So, Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning, How Sweet It Is and Evil Man Blues.

New Entry:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

680720

a Lover Man

b Bachafillen

c unknown title

d Don't Git Sassy

e Back Bone

f Don't Ever Leave Me

g St. Louis Blues

-c is a solo piano feature.

According to Jerry Dodgion, Jerome Richardson made the trip and the trumpet section on the tour was Snooky Young, Jimmy Nottingham, Danny Moore and Richard Williams. Richard Davis remembered the following musicians: Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Richard Williams, Garnett Brown, Bob Brookmeyer, Cliff Heather, Eddie Daniels, Pepper Adams and Roland Hanna.

Correction:

DUKE PEARSON - NOW HEAR THIS

681203

Pearson on p and e-p.

Randy Brecker and Marvin Stamm tp and flh.

Correct title is I'm Tired Cryin' Over You. Pearson on e-p here only.

New Entry:

DUKE PEARSON

690427

aHi-FlyUptown CD: UPCD-2772

bNew Girl

cEldorado

dIn the Still of the Night

e Tones for Joan's Bones

fStraight Up and Down

gReady When You Are C.B

hNight Song

Recorded by the Left Bank Jazz Society. See 671215.

Correction

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

690909

According to historian Bert Vuijsje, the broadcast also featured the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band and Boy Edgar's Big Band, not the Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra. Video of the broadcast does still exist.

Addition:

RICHARD DAVIS

691209

Reissue on Polydor (J) CD: POCJ-2164.

Correction:

DAVID AMRAM - NO MORE WALLS

710701

George Mgrdichian, not Mrgdichian, is the proper spelling.

Correction:

ELVIN JONES, page 239

See 720713 should be deleted. Although that 13 July 1972 session produced three other tracks (Soultrane, Gee Gee, and One’s Native Place), Pepper Adams is not on them, therefore the session isn’t listed in the text.

Correction:

RICHARD ROUNDTREE

720216

16 February 1972, New York: Overdubs: Thad Jones tp, flh; Joe Dupars tp; Garnett Brown tb; Jerry Dodgion as; Sonny Fortune, Billy Harper, Andy Gadsden ts; Pepper Adams bs; Joe Farrell bcl.

aGets Hard SometimesMGM LP: SE-4836

bPeace in the Morning

cI'm Here

dStreet Brother

e Man from Shaft

fTree of Life

gLovin'

hSagitarian Lady

iThe Letter

All tracks on MGM (UK) LP: 2315-121.

New Entry:

RUBY BRAFF

19 July 1972, audience recording, Half Note, New York: Ruby Braff cornet; Pepper Adams bs; Dill Jones p; George Mraz b; Dottie Dodgion dm.

aunknown blues

This recording was discussed in Michael Steinman's blog "Jazz Lives" (http://jazzlives.wordpress.com/author/jazzlives), published on 5 August 2014:

I will close with my single Pepper Adams sighting. In 1972, several friends and I followed Ruby Braff to gigs. Although Ruby was unpredictable and unreasonably given to rage, he was always pleasant to us and allowed us to tape-record him. On July 19 of that year, my friend Stu and I came to the Half Note to record Ruby with the Welsh pianist Dill Jones, bassist George Mraz (then working with Pepper in the Thad Jones – Mel Lewis ensemble, and Dottie Dodgion on drums. About two-thirds through the evening, where the music had been very sweet, with Ruby’s characteristic leaps through the repertoire of Louis, Duke and Billie, a tall man ascended the stand with a baritone saxophone, was greeted warmly by the players, and the quintet launched into an extended blues in A-flat. I remember Dottie Dodgion being particularly enthusiastic about the unnamed musician’s playing, who packed his horn and went off into the warm Greenwich Village night. Who was that unmasked man? The subject of Carner’s book, and yes, the tape exists, although not in my possession.

Correction

PEPPER ADAMS, page 241

The correct recording date of the Oslo gig was 29 October 1972 and the rhythm section was Christian Reim p; Sture Janson b; Ole Jacob Hanson dm.

New Entry:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

aUs

b61st and Richard

cSuite for Pops:

Meetin’ Place

Only for Now

The Farewell

dThe Second Race

e Fingers

fBye Bye Blackbird*

gHow Insensitive*

Correction

PEPPER ADAMS - EPHEMERA

730910

10 September 1973, EMI Studios, London: Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; George Mraz b; Mel Lewis dm.

This account of the date was provided to the author by Tony Williams, owner of Spotlite Records, on 13 November 2014:

The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Band were working the Ronnie Scott Club at 47 Frith Street in Soho (Central London). As I was a good friend of baritonist Cecil Payne, when I went to hear the band I intro- duced myself to Pepper and he asked me if I would record him with Roland, George and Mel. I had only started Spotlite and was beginning to record American musicians – for example Joe Albany, Cecil, Duke Jordan, Red Rodney, Al Haig, Ben Webster, Jon Eardley, Dexter Gordon and Lockjaw Davis. I do recall, when Lockjaw approached me about doing an album I said I couldn’t afford him. He smiled and told me not to worry about that and things could be amicably figured out!

I agreed to fix a recording date with Pepper and got things set up at EMI Studios on Sunday, September 9th. Pepper’s Quartet made some recordings but Pepper was not satisfied with the results so the Quartet was recorded again the following day, September 10th, 1973. Pepper was well pleased with everything that was recorded that day which, apart from a few false starts, was done all in single takes. Pepper did ask me not to keep anything from the previous day which, out of respect to him, I did not. . . No photographs were taken but Pepper did get some photos to me of himself that were taken by Jill Freedman. He and I selected a couple to use on the LP sleeve. The LP was issued in 1974 and I got copies to Pepper to give to the other guys in the Quartet.

New Entry:

SADAO WATANABE

740311

c. 11 March 1974, FM-Tokyo radio broadcast, Tokyo: Sadao Watanabe as; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; Eizo Honda b; Fumio Watanabe dm.

aWistful Moment

bWhen Lights Are Low

cRide On

dEphemera

e Oleo

Correction/Addition:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

740312

12 Mar 1974, Yubin-Chokin Hall, Tokyo: Thad Jones cornet, flh; Jon Faddis, Steve Furtado, Jim Bossy, Cecil Bridgewater tp; Jimmy Knepper, Billy Campbell, Quentin Jackson tb; Cliff Heather btb; Jerry Dodgion ss, as, fl; Ed Xiques ss, as, fl, cl; Billy Harper ts, fl; Rob Bridgewater ts, cl; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; George Mraz b; Mel Lewis dm.

aMean What You SayNippon-Columbia (J) LP: YX-7557

bDon't Ever Leave MeNippon-Columbia unissued

cThe Little PixieNippon-Columbia (J) LP: YX-7557

dOnce AroundNippon-Columbia unissued

eA - That's Freedom

fWillow Tree

gBack Bone

hDon't Git Sassy

-d is likely a spliced version of this take and -a from 13 March 1974.

Takawa Isizuka should be Takao Ishizuka.

Addition

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS ORCHESTRA

740312

12 or 13 March 1974, Yubin-Chokin Hall or Toshi Center Hall, Tokyo: Add Dee Dee Bridgewater voc.

aDon't Ever Leave Me

bA-That's Freedom

cThe Little Pixie

dBye Bye Blackbird

eGet Out of My Life

funknown title

gFingers

hThe Little Pixie

Dee Dee Bridgewater on -c and -d.

According to information posted at rhythmhouse.co.jp, these are alternate tracks that were recorded by Nippon-Columbia. The site doesn't specify what tunes were performed on either night.

Correction/Addition:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

740313

13 Mar 1974, Toshi Center Hall, Tokyo: Same as 12 March 1974, add possibly Dee Dee Bridgewater voc.*

a Once AroundNippon-Columbia (J) LP: YX-7557

bKids Are Pretty PeopleNippon-Columbia unissued

cSay It Softly

d61st and Richard

eA Child Is Born

fBack BoneNippon-Columbia (J) LP: YX-7557

gBachafillenNippon-Columbia unissued

hI Love You*

iThe Farewell

jFingers

kThe Intimacy of the Blues

-a is likely a spliced version of this take and -d is from 12 March 1974.

-h might be a feature for Dee Dee Bridgewater. The band also performed it as an instrumental.

Correction:

THAD JONES

740728

Walter Norris, not Roland Hanna, is the pianist on this date. Roland Hanna's last international tour with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra band was the band's trip to Japan in February-March 1974. Hanna's last recording with the band was in New York on 8-10 May 1974. By 27 June 1974 (the beginning of the band's 1974 European summer tour) Walter Norris had permanently replaced Hanna, ending Hanna's eight year tenure with the band. Hanna was the longest serving pianist in the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra's history.

Addition

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS ORCHESTRA

751026

26 October 1975, FM-Tokyo radio broadcast, Tokyo: Add Juanita Fleming voc*.

aOnce Around

bThank You

cMean What You Say

dA Child Is Born

eBird of Beauty*

fFingers

Addition:

FRANK FOSTER - GIANT STEPS

751113

Foster also plays ss.

-a and -b on Denon (J) LP: YC-7567-AX.

Correction/Addition:

FRANK FOSTER - GIANT STEPS

751117a

See 751113 for personnel.

-a and -b on Nippon-Columbia-Denon (J) LP YX-7576 and Denon (J) LP: YC-7567-AX.

New Entry:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

751215

a Big Dipper

bKids Are Pretty People

cBachafillen

dSamba con Getchu

eGiant Steps

fThank You

gA Child Is Born

Correction:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

751217a, page 303

Love and Understanding should be Love and Harmony.

Deletion:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

760113

Ed Xiques took Pepper's place on this three-week winter tour that was intended mostly to open the new Domicile in Munich. It's likely that Adams declined going on the trip because the tour ended two weeks before his wedding on 14 February.

Deletion:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

760125

On this WDR radio broadcast from Cologne, Ed Xiques subs on baritone sax for Pepper and takes two baritone solos on tunes that are customary Adams features. It's possible that Adams didn't make this somewhat brief three-week trip to Europe to open up the new Domicile because the tour ended two weeks before his wedding on 14 February and he was needed to help with wedding arrangements.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS

770222

22 February 1977, audience recording, Restaurant La Redoute, s'Gravenwezel, Belgium: Pepper Adams bs; Tony Bauwens p; Roger Vanhaverbeke b; Freddy Rottier dm; GUESTS: Eddy House as*; Johnny Kay p+.

aPepper Adams

bA Child Is Born

cWhat Is This Thing Called Love

dOn the Sunny Side of the Street*+

eMisty*+

fScrapple from the Apple*+

-a is the first public performance of Tony Bauwen's dedication to Adams. Although it was untitled at the time of its premiere and tentatively named "P/A. . . Pepper Adams," by 1984 it was retitled "Pepper Adams" for the big band arrangement of the tune that was recorded by the BRT Jazz Orchestra.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS

770228

28 February 1977, BRT radio broadcast, Witte Hoed at the Royal Anderlecht Sporting Club Bar, Anderlecht, Belgium: Pepper Adams bs; Tony Bauwens p; Roger Vanhaverbeke b; Freddy Rottier dm.

aMean What You Say

bA Child Is Born

cEphemera

dPepper Adams

Regarding -d, see 770222 above.

Correction:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

770502

c. 2 May 1977, audience recording, West Virginia University, Morgantown WV.

Correction:

THAD JONES

7700503

c. 3 May 1977, audience recording, Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University, Youngstown OH.

Addition

JOHN SPIDER MARTIN - ABSOLUTELY

770600

According to Dave Loeb, pianist Bill Dobbins wasn't available for the date so Loeb subbed for him. At the recording session, after Martin and Adams had discussed whether a certain take was acceptable, they learned from the engineer that the take had been erased. Adams said that this was the most unprofessional thing he had ever seen in his thirty years of recording.

The day after the recording, most of the group worked a gig in Rochester. After the gig, Pepper stayed at Loeb's house rather than at a seedy hotel in downtown Rochester. Loeb and Adams stayed up all night listening to records. Except for Bud Powell, Pepper refused to listen to any jazz and would only listen to classical music. Asked whether Ellington might've been another exception, Loeb said he didn't have any Ellington in his collection at the time.

Correction

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

770625

This Carnegie Hall concert, part of the Newport Jazz Festival, took place at midnight on Saturday. It was a salute to the Jones Brothers (all three of whom performed two tunes with the addition of Rufus Reid) and Dizzy Gillespie. The final two numbers featured Gillespie with Thad-Mel and Elvin Jones replaced Mel Lewis. Because Elvin had sat in twice before with Thad-Mel and one occasion broke one of Mel's calf drum heads, it's likely that Elvin's drums were brought in to replace Mel Lewis’.

Correction:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

770730

30 July 1977, private videotape, Copenhagen: Same as 9 July 1977, omit Rully:

aOnce Around

bThe Little Pixie

cMy Centennial(1)

(1)Thad Jones and some bandmembers play various percussion instruments.

The band performed a free concert in a public square, probably near the Stroget. In the film, Dexter Gordon walks across the screen. Gordon had a gig that night at the Montmartre Jazzhus.

Correction:

THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS

770800B

29-31 July, 1-6 August, or 11 August 1977, DR TV broadcast, unknown outdoor square, Copenhagen: Thad Jones flh; Earl Gardner, Larry Moses, Jeff Davis, Frank Gordon tp; Billy Campbell, John Mosca, Clifford Adams tb; Earl McIntyre btb; Jerry Dodgion, Ed Xiques ss, as, cl, fl; Richard Perry, Dick Oatts ts, cl, fl; Pepper Adams bs; Harold Danko p; Rufus Reid b; Mel Lewis dm, Aura Rully voc.*

a Fingers

bRoute 66*

cMy Centennial (1)

(1) Thad Jones and some bandmembers play various percussion instruments.

Dexter Gordon is in the audience. This might be a public square near the Stroget.

Addition:

PEPPER ADAMS-KAI WINDING

780804

See note on 760714 regarding the HNITA Jazz Club.

Addition

VLADIMIR COSMA

771019

19 October 1977, film soundtrack, Paris.

This date has been reissued on Pomme (F) CD: 950-222. It includes an alternate take of Jalousie-Blues but does not include -f (All My Evening Birds). -f was previously issued on Larghetto (F) CD: 0015163 and has been reissued on Larghetto (F) CD: 004- 3760002133478-17CD.

Correction

HELEN MERRILL - CHASIN' THE BIRD/GERSHWIN

790306

6 Mar 1979, RCA Studios, New York: Pepper Adams bs; Dick Katz p; Rufus Reid b; Mel Lewis dm; Helen Merrill voc.

a It Ain't Necessarily So (1) Inner City LP: IC-1080

b Summertime

c I Can't Be Bothered Now (2)

d Someone to Watch Over Me

e My One and Only Trio (J) LP: PAP-9160

fBut Not For Me (3)Inner City unissued

See 790309.

(1) Reid, Lewis, Merrill only.

(2) Katz and Merrill duet.

(3) Pepper, Katz and Merrill only.

Raymond Ross photographed this session and no photos are taken of Puma in the studio with the band on 6 March. Since Puma was added on only three of nine tracks, it's likely he attended only the 9 March session. See 790309.

Correction

HELEN MERRILL - CHASIN' THE BIRD/GERSHWIN

790309

9 Mar 1979, RCA Studios, New York: Pepper Adams bs; Dick Katz p; Joe Puma g; Rufus Reid b; Mel Lewis dm; Helen Merrill voc.

a Embraceable You/Quasimodo Inner City LP: IC-1080

b I Got Rhythm/Chasin' the Bird

fI Love You, Porgy

Raymond Ross photographed this session and the first Merrill session of 790306. Ross sent me contact sheets of his work and each strip of photographs are dated. In all, 126 photos were taken. Puma only appears in photos taken on 9 March. Considering this, and the fact that Puma was added on only three of nine tracks, it's unlikely he attended the 6 March session. See 790306.

New entry

PER HUSBY

790325

25 Mar 1979, audience recording, Kristiansund, Norway: Pepper Adams bs; Per Husby p; Bjorn Alterhaug, Espen Rud dm.

a Just Friends

b Quiet Lady

c Eiderdown (1)

d Embraceable You

e Three and One

f'Tis

(1) Rhythm section only.

Sponsored by the Kristiansund Jazz Society.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS

790907

7 September 1979, audience recording, Jazz Forum, New York: Pepper Adams bs; Bob Neloms p; Wayne Dockery b; John Yarling dm.

aIt Could Happen to You

bIn Love with Night

cBlue Champagne

d'Tis

eClaudette's Way

fPent-Up House

gI Carry Your Heart

Addition:

PEPPER ADAMS - THE MASTER

800311

11 March 1980, Downtown Sound, New York City.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS

801017

The guest on this date is Marv Holladay.

Addition:

PEPPER ADAMS-AL JARREAU

820224

On 24 September 2012 historian Dan Morgenstern discussed this television broadcast at a press party held at New York's Jazz Gallery. The event was held to celebrate the publication of Pepper Adams' Joy Road and kick off the first week-long celebration of Adams' music ever organized in New York. According to Morgenstern,

I had the pleasure of getting to know Pepper a little better, other than having admired him as a player and seeing him many times. We were together for a while in the Recording Academy, and he was one of the few jazz musicians who became active in the Academy. The upshot of that was one of the finest moments in the history of the Grammy television show, which was when somehow we managed to get Pepper on the show and, not only that, he was the climactic attraction at the end. He played "Shining Hour" and it was marvelous! It will never happen again on the Grammys that jazz has such a prominent part of it.

New entry

PEPPER ADAMS

830000

c1983, audience recording, Petit Opportun, Paris: Pepper Adams bs; Georges Arvanitas p; Jackie Samson b; Charles Saudrais dm.

aPent-Up House

Correction:

DANNY D'IMPERIO

830930a

30 September 1983, audience recording, Eddie Condon's, New York: John Marshall tp*;

Pat Rebillot p; Reggie Johnson b; Danny D'Imperio dm; GUEST SOLOIST: Pepper Adams bs.

aHave You Met Miss Jones

bScrapple from the Apple

cBody and Soul

dMy Ideal*

eHellure

fStar Eyes*

gMinority*

h Lover Come Back to Me*

iJust You, Just Me

jBlues for Philly Joe/Billie's Bounce*

The band played two sets, each concluding with a blues (-e and -j). This was the club's first late Friday afternoon "Twilight Jazz" engagement. It was slotted in to precede Condon's customary 8:30 traditional jazz band set.

Correction

PEPPER ADAMS, page 448

The Gershwin medley is comprised of only two tunes: My Man's Gone Now and I Loves You, Porgy.

Addition:

DENNY CHRISTIANSON

841023a

For this CBC Studio date, Christianson hired a few subs to replace missing members of his big band. Apart from drummer Guy Nadon replacing Cisco Normand, these subs remain unknown. Delete Paul Picard perc. Otherwise, personnel (see 860224 and 860225) is mostly correct.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS, page 456

The correct name of the album is Exhilaration.

Correction

PEPPER ADAMS, page 477

-e and -f: Gary Smulyan on both tracks.

-g is more properly called The Theme and Adams doesn't solo on it.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS

851029

29 October 1985, audience recording, Pellerina Bar, Turin, Italy: Pepper Adams bs; Ricardo Zegna p; Dodo Goya b; Paolo Pellegatti dm.

aFalling in Love with Love

bAll the Things You Are

cThere Is No Greater Love (1)

dI Can't Get Started

e'Tis

f Bye Bye Blackbird

gBossallegro

hJust Friends

i'Tis

jOld Folks (1)

(1) Rhythm section only.

Correction:

ORANGE COUNTY COLLEGE BIG BAND

860320

Song for Pepper was written by saxophonist Brian Williams, not Bruce Johnstone.

New entry

PEPPER ADAMS

860321

21 March 1986, audience recording, Orange Coast College, OCC Jazz Festival, Costa Mesa CA: Pepper Adams bs; other musicians.

According to collector Andy Katell, this was a clinic that Adams did for students attending the Festival. Katell's brother, Gabe, attended the clinic then took Pepper out to lunch in nearby Garden Grove.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS

860323a

23 March 1986, private videotape, Orange Coast College, OCC Jazz Festival, Costa Mesa CA: Pepper Adams, Nick Brignola bs; Claude Williamson p; Art Davis b; Carl Burnett dm.

aAll the Things You Are

bIsn't It Romantic

cAfter You've Gone

dunknown ballad (1)

(1) Adams and rhythm section.

Correction:

PEPPER ADAMS, page 511

The August, 1982 recording date that is cited is in conflict with the session's 790716 alphanumeric code. Although the drummer believes the date took place in August, 1982, Pepper's chronology for that time makes it impossible. The original 16 July 1979 date is more likely because that's when Pepper first wrote "Binary," that they recorded at that session.

Correction:

INDEX, pages 521-552

Hundreds of changes – mostly incorrect page references – were made to the index for the paperback edition. (These are the only updates that were made to the paperback.) Due to the malfunction of my printer very late in the camera-ready-copy process, it was necessary to use a new printer after much of the manuscript was already printed. This changed the pagination of the original manuscript that had already been delivered to the indexer.

↧

Byrd-Adams Repertoire (1958-61)

November 14, 2014, 12:47 pm

≫ Next: Korean War Gigs, 1953

≪ Previous: Joy Road Updates

Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

Who wrote all those great tunes for the Byrd-Adams Quintet? I always knew Donald Byrd wrote a bunch and that Duke Pearson wrote a few. When I began assessing their book recently I was surprised to see the degree to which Byrd's writing dominated the amount of original material written for 1958-61 band. 33 original compositions were written to perform during that period. Of that, 70% of the oeuvre was written by Donald Byrd or (in the case of “Each Time I Think of You”) co-written by Byrd and Duke Pearson.

Listen to Each Time I Think of You: http://youtu.be/g0GpidUEMYo

Nine of the tunes were written by various pianists in the band: Walter Davis Jr., Duke Pearson and Herbie Hancock. Pepper Adams wrote his two compositions for Motor City Scene, the 1960 Bethlehem date under his leadership. It seems doubtful that either of Adams' tunes were ever played by the Quintet in club dates. Herbie Hancock's first recorded composition, “Requiem,” can be heard on Royal Flush, the Quintet's last studio date while still a touring band.

Listen to Requiem here: http://youtu.be/RmfEbgoovQ8

“Jeannine,”* written by Duke Pearson, was recorded by Cannonball Adderley about six months before the November, 1960 Live at the Half Note date. Although not written for the Byrd-Adams Quintet, it's included below, albeit an outlier, because Byrd-Adams helped make the tune part of the standard jazz repertoire. That's in part due to the fact that their seminal Blue Note recording never went out of print in the U.S.

Listen to Jeannine here: http://youtu.be/bovferybdb8

What about the rest of the book? Judging from the data, 28 other tunes were either recorded or performed in clubs. A few of these tunes were standards but most were tunes that few performed. Even some of the standards were modified in creative ways, such as the ballad “That's All” and the novelty number “I'm an Old Cowhand” being made into uptempo flag-wavers. See the Byrd-Adams repertoire list below.

Pepper Adams:

Libeccio

Philson

Donald Byrd:

Bird House

The Cat Walk

Cecile

Devil Whip

Down Tempo

Curro's

Great God

Here Am I

Hush

The Injuns

Jorgie's

Kimyas

The Long Two/Four (= Off to the Races)

Pure D. Funk

Shangri-La

6M's

Soulful Kiddy

Sudwest Funk

When Your Love Has Gone

Yourna

You're Next

Yourna

Donald Byrd-Duke Pearson:

Each Time I Think of You

Walter Davis Jr.:

Bronze Dance

Clarion Calls

Herbie Hancock:

Requiem

Duke Pearson:

Chant

Child's Play

Duke's Mixture

Hello Bright Sunflower

Jeannine*

My Girl Shirl

Say You're Mine

Other tunes recorded and performed by Byrd-Adams:

Amen (Donald Byrd)

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Harold Arlen)

Bitty Ditty (Thad Jones)

Cute (Neal Hefti)

Day Dream (Billy Strayhorn)

Hastings Street Bounce (traditional)

I'm a Fool to Want You (Jack Wolf-Joel Herron-Frank Sinatra)

I'm an Old Cowhand (Johnny Mercer)

I Remember Clifford (Benny Golson)

It's a Beautiful Evening (Raymond Rasch)

Like Someone in Love (Jimmy Van Heusen)

Little Girl Blue (Richard Rodgers)

Lover Come Back to Me (Richard Rodgers)

Mr. Lucky (Henry Mancini)

One More for the Road (Harold Arlen)

Out of This World (Harold Arlen)

Paul's Pal (Sonny Rollins)

A Portrait of Jennie (J. Russel Robinson)

Sophisticated Lady (Duke Ellington)

Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael)

Stuffy (Coleman Hawkins)

That's All (Bob Haymes-Alan Brandt)

'Tis (Thad Jones)

Trio (Errol Garner)

When Sunny Gets Blue (Marvin Fisher-Jack Segal)

You're My Thrill (Jay Gorney)

Witchcraft (Cy Coleman)

↧

Korean War Gigs, 1953

November 22, 2014, 4:54 am

≫ Next: Body and Soul, Sonny Rollins and Pepper Adams

≪ Previous: Byrd-Adams Repertoire (1958-61)

Here's my 4 July 2014 interview with Al Gould, co-author of Boots on the Ground with Music in My Hands, Korea 1952-1953. Buy the book here:

http://www.amazon.com/Boots-Ground-Music-My-Hands/dp/1935089455

Along with Pepper Adams, Gould was a member of the elite Second Platoon of the U.S. Army's 10th Special Services Company. At one point in the conversation co-author Jackie Gould answers a question.

GARY CARNER: First, thank you for this photograph. (See below). The picture of band, playing in Korea with that rugged backdrop: It really paints a perfect picture of exactly what you guys did. Right out of the truck, surrounded by sand bags, with a makeshift stage. It's an amazing document!

AL GOULD: That makeshift stage thing we did most of the time. We very rarely wore our special show uniforms. We were wearing our fatigues and so forth. We'd pitch in an open area someplace, or anywhere near where these different groups were. Where there was 50 men or more we'd put on a show. It could be the Turks, it could be the English, whatever. Actually, we did a lot of Americans. That's typical, the picture that you see.

C: Do you know where it was shot? What approximate date and location?

G: I wish I did.

C: The Bulldozer Bowl. (See photo below.) Do you know what that is?

G: We played there several times but the first time could've been in mid-January of '53. It looks like they've got on heavy wraps. That would've been probably early- to mid-January.

C: You've got a picture of the audience. That's a big audience! What show is that for?

G: That would be one that we played before Pepper left in May, 1953. The cease fire didn't happen until June.

C: All the shows that you played with your platoon, Platoon #2, Pepper was on, correct?

G: Yes, that's right. Now, he left for home before I did. We can get to that later but we were definitely together.

C: You guys were traveling, packing up, doing sometimes two shows a day, living in a tent when you could; a very intimate relationship with thirty guys, particularly the guys in the band. You must've had a chance to know Pepper very well.

G: I'm going to give a qualified "yes," but it's not too clear. I was talking to a lot of the guys all the time. He was fantastic, but I can't say we were bosom buddies, just us two together hanging out or whatever. I was with all of them.

C: Did he have particular friends, maybe Mack Saunders? Was he closest with a few of them?

G: Not really.

C: Tell me what Pepper was like? What were your impressions of him?

G: The impression was what a fantastic musician! You couldn't help but have that rub off at all times. Let me make one correction right now. You were referring to the Eighth Army Band. I don't think it should be referred to that way at all. There was an Eighth Army Band at Eighth Army Headquarters that had no connection with the Tenth Special Services Company. We usually referred to them by the platoons. We were the show band in the Second Platoon. There was a show band in three platoons. There were four platoons but the Headquarters Platoon, which was Platoon #4, didn't go do shows at all.

C: Yeah, they didn't tour. So you were the show band. What were the other two platoons doing?

G: They were doing identically the same thing, but we were on the road 24/7. We had passes signed by [General] Maxwell Taylor that got us through checkpoints any time of day, which was fantastic! One of the most important things which we haven't discussed was that the U.S.O. shows had civilians in them. They couldn't play closer that twenty miles from the front lines (MLR). Consequently, that's the reason the Tenth Special was so darn important because we could play within 500 yards. But the Bob Hope shows and so forth, which were fantastic, couldn't get any closer that twenty miles of the front line. They weren't trained to defend themselves.

C: The front line is not the same thing as the MLR is it?

G: I would say it's different nomenclature for the same thing: The Main Line of Resistance is the front line.

C: There wasn't a Demilitarized Zone, a DMZ that separated the two countries, like there was in Vietnam?

G: No, that came at the cease fire. I think it was for a mile in both directions.

C: Getting back to Pepper, do you remember anything at all about him, traveling with him, in the tent, any habits, any humorous anecdotes?

G: He was not a driver. Some of the members were drivers. He would probably be riding shotgun with one of the drivers. We had thirteen vehicles. We'd vary from maybe 28 to 33 men, depending on who was rotating home. The one vehicle that was the main one that we carried a lot of our uniforms and that kind of stuff kind looked like a metal-covered two-and-a-half-ton Army truck. We would always throw a tarp over it which said "R&R." R&R stood for the name of the show: Road to Ruin.

C: Who came up with that name?

G: It might've been Skippy Lynn. She was a "battle ax" but we have to respect her highly. She was fantastic! If you didn't cut the mustard, she'd take you right out of the platoon and you'd be in the infantry or something!

C: They didn't cut your band when Pepper was there?

G: No, not at all.

C: In this picture he's playing baritone. I assume it was his instrument from home?

G: It could've been his instrument.

C: My hunch is that he at least took his own instrument to Ft. Leonard Wood.

G: I'm positive he would've done that.

C: I'm wondering if he might've brought it home, left it there, then just got a horn in the military and used his own mouthpiece?

G: He could've had his own in Korea. There's a timeline that bothers me. You had said that he left for Korea on October 10th. I left for Korea on October 25th. There wasn't time for that ship to leave on the 10th, go to Korea, and get back for me to load on the 25th. He would've been on the ship ahead of me but it couldn't have been October 10th. He was on the USS Walker and so was I. It would have to be at least a week before the 10th. Pepper was probably earmarked to go to the Tenth Special but they weren't ready for him when he reached [Camp] Drake so he stayed there. Pepper would've played there from when he got there in early October until he left in November and would go to Incheon. He would've been playing pickup shows identically the same as I was. I was blessed that they needed an accordion player the first part of the year or I never would've made it. Pepper probably played at the Ernie Pyle Theater, same as I did. He probably played at the Rocker Four Club, which was called the "Showplace of Japan," for people who were there on R&R (relax and recuperation). [Both were in Tokyo.]

C: Was there access to cigarettes?

G: Yes, very definitely, and we'd stop along the road occasionally when they yelled, "Pot!" Pot was growing wild. Marijuana was growing all over the place. They'd run out and get whatever they wanted to get. I didn't smoke so I didn't do it. We had cigarette rations all the time.

C: You said you were the second person to enlist directly into the Army band in February of 1952.

G: Yeah, right, that was a brand new thing. As I took my infantry training on detached service, I never pulled guard duty or KP, because I didn't get on the roster and I sure never told anybody.

C: Pepper enlisted in 1951, in July, and he said that he was hoping to get into the band. So I guess at that point he wasn't sure.

G: The Sixth Armored Division Band; let's touch upon that at this time. There were three bands at Ft. Leonard Wood: the 6th Armored Division, the Headquarters was "326" (that I was in), and there was an all-black band also. I don't remember what number that was. You had actually written that, while at Ft. Leonard Wood, he made a little band that played later in Korea?

C: That can't be true?

G: That would be impossible, for the central reason that we were sent over individually, not as any unit at all. How would they know who would've ended up in Tenth Special? They wouldn't have known at that time.

C: It was up to Skippy Lynn to actually put them into groups and organize them, correct?

G: Yes, right. A lot of the guys were from the main bands of the day. He was probably already earmarked that, if he went to Korea, he would in the Tenth Special, whereas I got in by an audition.

C: Do you think he was very far ahead musically from everyone else in the band?

G: Yes, there were other excellent guys from main bands but Pepper stood out. Even though we had written arrangements, I'm quite sure what he was playing wasn't written. There was just the background, where the band was backing it up, so he was probably doing his own ad lib completely.

C: Did Pepper have a chance to write any arrangements for the band or were all the arrangements pretty stock?

G: I do know that we had a couple of guys writing arrangements for the band. He might've been one of them who was writing the arrangements.

C: What was the typical performance? Walk me through. If I was in the audience, tell me what I'd see?

G: A typical show was an hour long. They'd always open up with some fantastic uptempo arrangement of the band and maybe even play a couple of them before getting to any of the specialty acts. It was really trying to get the guys excited right off the bat. Then the specialty acts varied between the different platoons. We had this hypnotist, Bob Weiss. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. I know he had no way of getting any shills in the audience. He would make a post-somatic suggestion: He would say a certain word and they would do something. I couldn't believe that a hypnotist was that good to do it. The Country Western player was from Nashville. He was playing the hit songs of the day. He went over extremely well. We did have a number of singers that were quite good.

C: So the band would break into small groups and you'd have little performances, singing or whatever it was?

G: Right. The band would still be sitting there but we'd be playing in front of the band. The band would back up the singers or the things of that nature. I'd play some solos, but the band would also be backing me up. The band varied from maybe twelve to fifteen members, depending on who was rotating in. The band was fantastic! I would've never had the opportunity to play with that high a quality of group if I hadn't been in the service.

C: You had the comedian Al Lamo?

G: He was very, very good! All of the specialty acts had different outfits.

C: Did you ever get a chance to record the band?

G: I'm going to give a qualified "no." I wish I did.

C: You had a three year tour of duty, correct?

G: Right. I got out a little early because I served overseas. I was what they called an "RA." I enlisted. That's the reason I was three years. If you were drafted, you were only two years.

C: I'm trying to figure out Pepper's tour of duty. Do you think it was shortened because of his service overseas?

G: It could've been. He went in '51 and he came out . . . ?

C: He enlisted on July 12, 1951 and he got discharge papers at Fort Custer, Michigan on June 5, 1953.

G: OK, then he was drafted, but he could've been earmarked for Tenth Special when they needed one. He left [Korea] in May and they pulled the shows off the road at the cease fire in June.

C: Where was Pepper based in Incheon? What was there?

G: He wasn't based there. He landed there.

C: Where would he have gone then?

G: He would've gone to Seoul, and from Seoul they would've gotten him as soon as possible into the second platoon.

C: In Seoul he would've been in a bunk somewhere?

G: He would've been in Seoul probably no more that one or two days at that time.

C: What was that place called?

G: Eighth Army Headquarters. Actually, the Tenth Special Service Company was a member of the Adjutant General Corp. of the Eighth Army Headquarters. On our collars we wore a shield that stood for the Eighth Army Adjutant General Corp.

JACKIE GOULD: "Adjutant General," in today's nomenclature, are the lawyers. It's the legal arm of the Army.

G: I think it's important that you do mention Tenth Special as a member of the Adjutant General Corp. of the Eighth Army Headquarters because that's very high on the hog.

C: Who were some of the guys doing logistics?

G: There were usually about 18-19 players or entertainers. The others were in charge of keeping the trucks in shape. They were the ones that put the tents up and took them down. They helped set up the props if we were using them. They were very, very important people, especially when we were on the road and we weren't using our trunks. When we were at MASH Units they already had tents there. I'm quite sure Pepper would say the same thing: We really enjoyed playing the MASH Units because here's where the guys were that were severely wounded right off the front lines. They sure needed morale boosters.

C: How often did you doing that?

G: We were doing that fairly often. We were going back and forth from the MLR to the MASH Unit. We probably did MASH shows maybe twenty times.

C: You did basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood? How long was basic training?

G: Eight weeks.

C: What was that like to get through?

G: That was actually very interesting because they were giving you all kinds of training: On bazookas, going through obstacle courses, all kind of things. I was one of the top sharpshooters since I had been a rifle instructor before being in the Service. But I never did any shooting at all in Korea.

C: Did Pepper or any of these guys do any fighting?

G: Not in Korea, to my knowledge. When the enemy broke through at times at night, we were there but I don't think you could say we did any actual fighting. We were riding with the infantry guys at the time. We were prepared. We carried M-1s or M-2s--whatever it was with us--but I don't think we ever did.

C: The great drummer Mel Lewis said that Pepper picked up a really nasty foot fungus in Korea and he still had it three years later when he toured with Kenton in 1956. What was it like with personal hygiene and traveling?

G: It was a little bit rough because it wasn't too often that you had the ability to take a shower. If you did, it might even be a cold one. We sometimes would play an extra show--it wasn't on schedule--for officers, who would have their own shower and all that kind of stuff. They were at the front lines. By doing it, they would maybe allow us to use their shower facilities.

C: Normal things like going to the bathroom. Did you go outside?

G: Sometimes there'd be latrines at different areas but you'd stop along the road and take a leak. You had toilet paper. They provided it for you.

C: Did you eat mostly cold food or did you have a designated cook?

G: Actually, we did have what they call "C Rations" (canned food) occasionally, but we would quite often eat with whatever group we were playing shows with. We played for the British, which was in the wintertime, where you cleaned your utensils afterwards. It was frozen over. You couldn't even clean your utensils. It was the most filthy I'd ever seen.

C: Pepper left before you got re-assigned?

G: He left before the shows were off the road. He only started playing shows maybe six weeks before I did but he would've still played in a heck of a lot of shows. I never kept track of it but when I was in Korea, when they awarded me that special medal, they said I played in 268 shows in front of an estimated 189,000 troops in less than a year.

C: Wow! That basically averaged one a day.

G: The highest we ever did, and it only happened once, we played four shows in one day. We very often played two shows in one day.

C: Was that because you were playing two shows in one spot and then you'd play another two shows in another spot?

G: We did four shows. We did some traveling that day, so we played two shows in one area and two shows in another. But four shows in one day is tremendous because the roads that we had to travel through in the MLR were so terrible, you couldn't go more than ten, fifteen--twenty miles an hour would be fast! We couldn't go very fast at all.

C: How about flat tires and breakdowns? Did that happen a lot?

G: That did happen. We had one truck that was terrible. When went to a motor pool one day to do some work on it. Ultimately, we exchanged the hood of the truck with a brand new one, putting our hood on a new truck so it had all our information on it.

C: Was Pepper part of the command performance for President Rhee at the Presidential Palace?

G: Yes he was, very definitely.

C: Have any photographs or any information about that surfaced?

G: I have heard that there was a recording made of the Tenth Special, all the way through.

C: Where?

G: That would've been around the time that the recording was made of Jerry [Lehmeier, in April 1953]. It was on the road.

C: Did a performance ever stop because of an insurgency or artillery or anything?

G: There were times when shows were cancelled, yes.

C: How about in the middle of a show? Did you have to stop because you had to duck and take cover?

G: That didn't actually happen. I didn't know until after I published the book, but there were three people killed from the Second Platoon.

C: That was before Pepper and you?

G: Right. One was killed by a sniper and two were from land mines.

C: About those dud mortars that had "We enjoyed the show too" in English, Pepper was in the band at that time?

G: Yeah, very definitely.

C: There were two mortars that said, "We enjoyed the show?"

G: Yes. They probably wanted to make sure that at least one of them came through OK.

C: That's hilarious! You were on the road almost the entire time, but tell me about the time with the house boy and where you would've been staying then. That was in Seoul, right?

G: That was in Seoul. When we were on the road, not very often, we'd be in Seoul just a day or two while we were redoing different supplies or things changed. I was actually stationed at Fort Headquarters after the shows came off the road and that's when I got to know Kim Byong Joo. I didn't know him earlier when we were there for a day or two at a time. That's only when Pepper would've gotten to know him because [Pepper] wasn't there after the show came off the road.

C: Regarding the chronology, where would you've gone from Seoul to do your very first show?

G: I think there was one rehearsal and then I went.

C: You have a map in your book but I'm trying to get a sense of how all this flowed. The first stop was the British Commonwealth UN Unit. A lot of this was in territory that was barely marked, right? How did you guys get around? Who navigated?

G: We had thirteen vehicles. One was a Jeep. One was a three-quarter-ton truck, and then there was this one special, large truck that was the same size as what they call a "Deuce-and-a-Half." And all the rest were Deuce-and-a-Halfs. Our trucks were pretty well filled with all the stuff we had to carry.

C: What does Deuce-and-a-Half mean?

G: Two and a half tons.

C: Were you traveling a lot at night or in the dusk?

G: It could be any time. If you were traveling at night, you didn't use much of any headlights. We tried to travel during the day if we could but at times we definitely were traveling at night.

C: There's a picture of Able Battery in the book. It's on page 20. Did you guys perform there?

G: Before the cease fire we definitely did play there. Able Battery is the farthest north we ever played.

C: The Bulldozer Bowl? Do you know where that was?

G: That would've been back about twenty miles from the front lines.

C: Do you remember any of the shows or locations when you were doing two a day for ten straight days? You said that week was especially grueling.

G: That would have been near the MLR to do that many that often. We played in Pusan, which was sort of near the end. They brought all of our thirteen vehicles and us back on flatbeds aboard a train. It took us two days to get back up to Seoul. On the front of it, while we were on the flatbeds, we were playing and going through these little towns where the Koreans were. They were rather amazed. It was like a circus. These weren't scheduled as performances. We were just playing for ourselves, goofing around. That would've been on our way home from Pusan. We were eating "C" Rations only.

C: What kind of horrors did you see? I'm trying to understand what kind of horrors Pepper would've seen on the battlefield.

G: We would've seen that when we were at MASH. We would've seen people with limbs missing. Around the countryside things were bombed out. Seoul was virtually 100% bombed out. The Chosen Hotel was still there, because the military used it for their high brass. What they called the Dak Soon Mansion (or Blue Roof Mansion), where President Syngman Rhee lived, they never touched that. Otherwise, it was really almost completely a bombed out area.

C: Pepper told me that the Koreans were absolutely terrified of the Chinese invading their country.

G: That's true.

↧

Body and Soul, Sonny Rollins and Pepper Adams

November 29, 2014, 6:39 am

≫ Next: Further Definitions: Pepper Adams with the Per Husby Trio, 1979

≪ Previous: Korean War Gigs, 1953

We know that the 1939 Coleman Hawkins recording of Body and Soul is an iconic masterpiece of the jazz canon but don't we lose sight of how it influenced a generation of musicians? I recently read a piece by Marc Myers and was struck by how Sonny Rollins' experience as a young musician paralleled Pepper Adams'. Here's what Sonny Rollins recently told Marc Myers in the Wall Street Journal about Coleman Hawkins' recording:

"It's hard today to fully appreciate how different Coleman Hawkins' Body and Soul sounded when it hit Harlem jukeboxes in late 1939. On that three-minute record, Coleman took a popular torch song and, with his tenor saxophone, turned it into a personal statement without ever losing track of the original melody. Wow, that was completely new and it really changed me.

I first heard Body and Soul when I was 10 years old. I was standing outside the Big Apple Bar on the corner of 135th Street and Seventh Avenue, across from Small's Paradise, and heard it on the jukebox through an open window. Back then, I was playing alto saxophone and idolized Louis Jordan — and still do. But when I heard Coleman's Body and Soul, a light went off in my head. If he could personalize a popular song like that without lyrics, any song was possible if you had that intellectual capacity.

People in Harlem know their music, and I remember marveling at how many of them were touched by his record. Coleman went beyond what musicians were doing then by creating new harmonic inventions. Right after hearing the record, I bought a tenor reed and began using it on my alto mouthpiece to get that big Coleman Hawkins sound. Some years later, after much pleading on my part, my mother bought me a tenor sax and I was on my way."

For Pepper Adams, Hawkins' recording also propelled him to get a tenor saxophone and emulate Hawkins' big sound and more aggressive style. Up until that time Adams was playing clarinet, imitating the melismatic and lighter New Orleans playing of Jimmy Noone and Johnny Dodds. Here's a touching excerpt from my book, Pepper's Adams' Joy Road, as told to me by the noted Eastman School educator Everett Gates. I interviewed Gates about Pepper and Pepper's March, 1978 performance at Eastman:

"Adams dedicated Body and Soul to Everett Gates, a professor at Eastman and an early mentor to Adams who was in the audience. Regarding Adams’ performance of Body and Soul, Gates said, “That completely floored me!” In 1942, when Pepper Adams was eleven years old, Adams started visiting Gates on a regular basis at Gates’ home in Rochester, New York. They used to listen to music and discuss jazz and music theory. “He came to the house,” Gates continued, “and one day he said,

“Do you know Body and Soul?” I said, “Sure.” “Well,” he said, “could you write it out for me?” I said, “Sure.” At that time he was going to get a saxophone. So I wrote it out in D-flat, which of course was the key we always used, rather than any other when we’re playing. When we were improvising, it was always D-flat. And, so I wrote it out with the chords. He said, “There’s a record by Coleman Hawkins.” I said, “Yes, he made that a couple of years ago.” He said, “Well, he’s all over the place.” I said, “Yes, it’s very complicated and he gets up even to the high harmonics on the saxophone, like high G, so you have to be pretty advanced to control those.” So he said, “I wonder: Could you write me out a little improvisation that’s simple? Something simple I can play?” I said, “Sure. You can play this either on tenor, or you can play it on a clarinet.” So he got so he could play that, [and] this is what [he began his solo with] when he played at the Eastman Theater with the Eastman Jazz Ensemble. (He played this just with a rhythm section, and the other things he had played with a big band.) And, unbelievably, he played that, and then, of course, he went into his own [thing]. Well, of course, I was just overcome with what he had done there!"

Portrait of Everett Gates that hangs in a gallery at the Eastman School: http://instagram.com/p/t20Ku4pnv3/?modal=true

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Further Definitions: Pepper Adams with the Per Husby Trio, 1979

July 19, 2014, 4:43 am

≫ Next: Shopping with Harry Carney

≪ Previous: Body and Soul, Sonny Rollins and Pepper Adams

Thanks to drummer Espun Rud, who located his 1979 appointment book, I now have definitive information on Pepper Adams' 1979 tour of Norway with pianist Per Husby. Thanks too to Husby for forwarding me the data. Gaps below indicate venues that still remain unknown. It's also not known if the gigs of 23-24 March were done at the same place. A photo of the band is linked from the Chronology at pepperadams.com and can be seen at pepperadams.com's Photos section.

Mar 12: Queens NY: Adams flies to Norway by way of Stockholm.

Mar 13: Stavanger, Norway: Per Husby gig at __________with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 14: Stord, Norway: Per Husby gig at the Jazzforum, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 15: Bergen, Norway: Per Husby gig, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 16-18: Voss, Norway: Per Husby gig at the Voss Jazz Festival, with Atle Hammer, Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 19: Gjovik, Norway: Per Husby gig at Torvetten, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 20: Lillehammer, Norway: Per Husby gig at the Blue Note, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 21: Oslo: Per Husby gig at Club 7, with Atle Hammer, Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 22: Bodo: Per Husby gig at ____________, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 23: Tromso: Per Husby gig at ____________, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 24: Tromso: Per Husby gig at ____________, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 25: Trondheim, Norway: Per Husby gig at the Trubadur, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 26: Trondheim: Off day.

Mar 27: Kristiansund, Norway: Per Husby gig at _________, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 28: Molde, Norway: Per Husby gig at Storyville, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud.

Mar 29: Orsta: Per Husby gig at Porse Jazzklubb, with Bjorn Alterhaug and Espen Rud. (Photo from Orsta)

Mar 30: Bergen, Norway: Travel day. Adams flies to Stockholm.

Mar 31: Stockholm: Unknown event or off day.

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Shopping with Harry Carney

December 6, 2014, 6:47 am

≫ Next: Ephemera to be Reissued in 2015!

≪ Previous: Further Definitions: Pepper Adams with the Per Husby Trio, 1979

Not long after Pepper Adams' death on 10 September 1986, his old college roomate from Wayne, Bob Cornfoot, prepared a remembrance for radio play of almost an hour in length to commemorate both Pepper and Thad Jones. Both Detroiters died within three weeks of each other. One of the things that Cornfoot discussed was the time when Adams replaced his student model Bundy baritone sax with a Balanced Action B-Flat Selmer. The Bundy was Adams' first baritone saxophone. He discovered it by chance while working as a Christmas extra at Grinnell's in 1947. His Selmer is what he used on all of his historic recordings from 1956-1978. Ultimately, metal fatigue made some of the keys unfixable.

Cornfoot pointed out that Adams brought Harry Carney with him to Ivan C. Kay so the master could check out the instrument for the acolyte. Who better to check it out? The Duke Ellington Orchestra was in Detroit, playing the Paradise Theater from 15-30 October, 1948. Some of you would've read in an earlier post my account of Rex Stewart befriending Pepper in early March, 1944 at the RKO Temple Theatre. Pepper also met Carney at that time and it's presumed that Pepper stayed in close contact with the Ellingtonians.

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Ephemera to be Reissued in 2015!

December 13, 2014, 5:50 am

≫ Next: A Word About Mean What You Say

≪ Previous: Shopping with Harry Carney

Just a few minutes ago I awoke to an email from Tony Williams, owner of Spotlite Records. Williams wanted to let me know that he transferred from the original master all seven of the magical tracks from Pepper Adams' date Ephemera that he produced 41 years ago. Williams is mailing me a copy of the CD today. What a Christmas gift!

Many of you know that Ephemera is one of Adams' greatest achievements. It was recorded at a time when Pepper was out of fashion and couldn't get a recording date as a leader. It had been five years since his Encounter session was recorded. Even though that date was eventually sold to Prestige, it was independently produced by Fred Norsworthy and funded by Norsworthy's girlfriend. The intent was to sell it to an interested party but no one was interested! Eventually, Don Schlitten at Prestige took it, which of course meant for virtually nothing and with limited distribution.

If you consider the stretch of time between Ephemera and when Adams was last recorded by a commerical entity, it had been eight years since the Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet date Mean What You Say was done for Milestone and eleven years since Adams' last date for Motown. That one remains unreleased and in Universal's vaults.

Ephemera is significant on several levels. For one thing it includes four original compositions by Pepper Adams. He had never written more than two tunes for any of his previous dates. Those tunes--Patrice, Hellure, Ephemera and Civilization and Its Discontents--stand as some of Pepper's greatest achievements as a composer. In fact, Adams felt that Ephemera was his greatest piece. I'm inclined to agree, though Patrice and Civ is right up there with it. Additonally, the quartet plays the standards Bouncing with Bud and Jitterbug Waltz, plus the Thad Jones ballad Quiet Lady. The playing is outstanding!

The date, recorded in London on 9-10 September 1973, uses the extraordinary rhythm section of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra: Roland Hanna, George Mraz and Mel Lewis. All tracks are from the 10th because the first day was marred by all sorts of bizarre technical difficulties. Because of that, Adams asked Williams to destroy everything from the 9th.

Jones-Lewis was on tour of Europe at the time. As some of you know, Adams was right at home with the rhythm section and visa versa. Pepper and Mel were very close musical buddies since 1956. Mraz was Pepper's all-time favorite bass player. And Roland was a Detroiter. Need I say more?

How can it be that this date has never been issued on CD? Well, saxophonist Dale Fielder and I are correcting that injustice. Fielder, based in Los Angeles, operates Clarion Jazz. He'll be putting the date out, we hope in early September in time to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the recording and in time for Christmas sales. Fielder will be repackaging and mastering the recording, possibly with the help of engineer Jim Merod (a passionate Pepper Adams fan). I'll be writing a new essay and providing photographs, never before seen, that were taken by Jill Freedman at the London photo shoot.

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A Word About Mean What You Say

December 20, 2014, 1:32 pm

≫ Next: Looking Ahead to 2015

≪ Previous: Ephemera to be Reissued in 2015!

On a long drive this morning I listened to Mean What You Say, the only studio recording ever made by the Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet. Although the group (with Mel Lewis) continued to work throughout the '60s and '70s, much to Pepper's disappointment the group was eclipsed by the establishment of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.

Mean What You Say is a record that I've always held in very high esteem, one that I've heard thirty or more times though not recently. What struck me today is just how spectacular a recording it is, how fresh it still seems, how original Thad Jones' small group arrangements are, how wonderful the tunes are (with two waltzes and no ballads) and how great Thad's soloing is throughout. Actually, everyon e plays brilliantly, including Duke Pearson, who, despite his Blue Note A&R gig was still a very strong soloist in mid-1966.

This is a recording of historic proportions on so many levels. It's one that should be dissected in jazz texts and wildly appreciated as one of the seminal recordings of the 1960s and in jazz history, just as Kind of Blue or A Love Supreme are discussed. Woefully, it's completely overlooked by critics, authors, jazz fans and even musicians.

First, the personnel: Thad Jones flh; Pepper Adams bs; Duke Pearson p; Ron Carter b; Mel Lewis dm.

Three Detroiters plus one honorary Detroiter in Mel Lewis (though from Buffalo, but with that wide Elvin Jones kind of beat). Add Atlanta's Duke Pearson, a close friend of Pepper's. What a band, all playing at their best! In fact, for those very familiar with Thad Jones' playing, has he ever sounded better? It's certainly the best Thad playing I've heard! With his performance it's easy to understand how revered he is by brass players, who have placed him firmly in the trumpet lineage right in there after Dizzy, Clark Terry and Miles, and before Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw.

The next thing that struck me about Mean What You Say is Thad and Pepper's phrasing. Their dynamics and time feel lock up as if they were together for many years. In fact, the band was only playing gigs on and off for about a year, but it shows.

The tunes? The title tune should be a standard of the jazz repertoire. Why aren't musicians besides Peter Leitch and Gary Smulyan playing it? Thad's "Bossa Nova Ova," one of the hippest bossas I've ever heard, is a spectacular Thad arrangement with a dazzling soli. Why isn't this being played? Can you believe Mel Lewis' amazing Latin playing on this tune?

The uptempo Burt Bacharach waltz "Wives and Lovers?" What a great tune. Musicians are asleep on this one too. Duke Pearson's great tune "Chant," better know and which Pepper had recorded twice before with the Byrd-Adams Quintet (once with Pearson at Live at the Half Note), is another tune that should be a standard. How about Thad's outlandish arrangement on this version?

For those who think Pepper was an extreme double-time player who couldn't play with sensitivity, check out his (and Thad's) beautiful, behind-the-beat, amazingly poignant solos on Ron Carter's "Little Waltz?" So much for that stereotype.

Thad's hip "H and T Blues?" (Does that stand for Hank and Thad, by any chance?) Thad's swinging "No Refill." Que pasa? Why aren't musicians playing these tunes?

And how can you top the wonderful slapstick rendition of "Yes Sir, That's My Baby?" Here Thad and Pepper hilariously deconstruct the tune as if they're 11-year-old struggling jazz soloists, then re-equilibrate, as a startling contrast, and completely tear it up. Dick Katz, who was Milestone's A&R man, told me that Thad's solo is "historic." Milestone's Orrin Keepnews was horrified by the band's approach but what a way to evoke musical satire!

The only flaw I can speak to on this dazzling landmark recording is Pepper's sound on the Fantasy digital remaster. Like the original it still has far too much reverb. I'm surprised it's not repaired but, again, another lame decision made about the date without understanding its real significance.

Significance? Yes, five of the greatest musicians of their time playing absolutely unique and brilliant arrangements by one of jazz's greatest arrangers, with soloists all at the top of their game. I want to hear from you about this recording. Isn't it a "dessert island recording" and one that's been completely overlooked?

Photo by Rick Mattingly

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Looking Ahead to 2015

December 27, 2014, 3:48 pm

≫ Next: Michael Steinman Review and Discovery

≪ Previous: A Word About Mean What You Say

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas (that ever so conveniently rolled into the weekend). 2015 looks like an exciting year for my Pepper Adams work. As always, I continue to revise the pepperadams.com Chronology and Discography whenever new information presents itself. As it turns out, some new data has surfaced recently. Now that all the databases are in PDF format, I'll be updating quarterly. The next update will take place in January.

I continue to look for lecture opportunities. If anyone works at a college and is interested in having me give a talk on Pepper, please let me know. Since the 2012 publication of Pepper Adams'Joy Road I've done about fifty such talks. I love doing them because most students don't know anything about Pepper. Such is the state of jazz history survey courses and textbooks to this day. Because Pepper remains an historical footnote, I always get out to spread the word.

The biggest project of 2015 is the CD issue of Ephemera. Although available on iTunes, it's amazing that the date has never been issued on CD. Tony Williams of Spotlite recently sent the original master to Robin Springall at Repeat Performance in London and the date sounds magnificent! I think it will sound even better if Mel Lewis' drums are brought up in volume. His brushwork is too low and his toms need more definition.

As I wrote a few weeks back, Pepper asked that all alternates from the first day be destroyed, due to some ridiculous antics that took place in the studio. Hence, everything on the date is a first take from Day Two. I hadn't heard Bouncing with Bud, Jitterbug Waltz, Quiet Lady or Hellure in years. What a joy to hear this great music again, especially Quiet Lady. I completely forgot what a brilliant performance this is, right up there perhaps with Day Dream and I've Just Seen Her as one of Pepper's greatest studio ballad performances. Roland Hanna steals the show with his unaccompanied intro, solo, and spectacular unaccompanied coda and Pepper really lays way back in his time on the theme and in his solo.

Bouncing with Bud brings tears to my eyes. It so perfectly captures the language of the 1950s and is played so well by the ensemble. Adams' arrangement of the tune is quite daring. Mel Lewis takes an unaccompanied solo after Hanna's, then George Mraz solos before Pepper. The delay of Adams' solo builds tension, released by Pepper's dramatic entrance. The tune, almost eleven minutes long, feels like a club date performance.

Ah, how about that Adams ballad atmosphere? Is there anything else like it? Civilization and Its Discontents is such an amazing thing, isn't it?

Mel Lewis' driving percussion on Jitterbug Waltz is just wonderful. How about his unaccompanied intro to the tune? What a fine arranging decision on Pepper's part, as is the terraced dynamics in the theme. As I wrote a few weeks ago, Ephemera is one of Pepper's masterpieces. I eagerly look forward to writing new liner notes.

I'll let you know about the timeline of Clarion Jazz reissue. Early September still looks reasonable at this point but no word yet about that from Dale Fielder. Happy New Year everybody!

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Michael Steinman Review and Discovery

August 5, 2014, 8:26 am

≫ Next: Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra Early Personnel

≪ Previous: Looking Ahead to 2015

Michael Steinman gave me a terrific review in his influential blog Jazz Lives (http://jazzlives.wordpress.com/author/jazzlives/, see below). At the end of his August 5, 2014 post he tantalized me with the discovery of an audience recording he made on July 19, 1972 at the Half Note in New York. Ruby Braff was leading a quartet with Dill Jones, George Mraz and Dottie Dodgion. Toward the end of the evening Pepper sat in on a blues. It's not known why Pepper traveled in from Brooklyn on a Wednesday.

PEPPER ADAMS’ JOY ROAD: AN ANNOTATED DISCOGRAPHY by GARY CARNER

Posted on August 5, 2014 | 4 Comments

I had not known much about baritone saxophonist / composer Pepper Adams before a friend lent me a copy of Gary Carner’s book on him (now in paperback from Scarecrow Press) but I commend both Pepper and the book to you.

First, some music — an excerpt from an uptempo STRAIGHT, NO CHASER with Clark Terry, recorded in 1978:

The book is well-researched, rather than opinion. Not only did its author speak with Pepper and JOY ROAD is introduced by the eminent Dan Morgenstern, but no other book I know has enthusiastic blurbs from both Phil Woods (alto) and Philip Levine (poetry).

JOY ROAD is an annotated discography. To those not deeply involved in the music, such a work may seem a collection of marginally-useful pieces of arcane information, suitable only to those strange creatures, “record collectors,” concerned with whether that Charlie Parker solo recorded on a cardboard disc was issued on a Bolivian compact disc. I am exaggerating, but not that much.

But as an annotated bibliography would tell us a great deal about the artistic life of a writer and her relations with the marketplace, an annotated listing of a musician’s recordings would map an artistic journey. The book does not purport to be a biography — Carner is working on one now and hopes it will be finished by Adams’ centennial — but it is full of information about Adams’ life and music from 1947 to his death in 1986. And that information is more than listings of songs, original compositions, recording data, issued or unissued performances. What makes Carner’s book more than a useful reference work is the interviews he conducted with Pepper and the people who knew and worked with him.

When I received a copy of JOY ROAD, I opened it at random, out of curiosity. I had not been terribly involved in Adams’ work — coming from a long immersion in Harry Carney and Ernie Caceres, among others. But I stood in the middle of the living room, reading eagerly for a half hour, before remembering that a) I could sit down, and b) other tasks had to be taken care of. If a book can “stop me in my tracks,” it is one I will read, keep, and value.

Many jazz musicians, so eloquent as creators, grow reticent when asked to speak about their art and their colleagues. Much of what is published as treasured narrative is frankly insubstantial: “Oh, she liked her drink after the set was through!” “Did I ever tell you the story of X at the diner and what he said to the waiter?” “Y couldn’t stand Z, and always called Z names, but when they got on the stand, they blew!” If we didn’t feel that our heroes were so precious that any scrap of anecdotage, no matter how thin, brought us a step closer, no one would retell such stories. But JOY ROAD is not a collection of shards and detritus important only because they connect with someone we value. Carner’s musicians have been unsually articulate, and their stories have shape and heft.

We read about a bizarre and satisfying gig (even televised) where Pepper, David Amram, and Elvin Jones played at a Horn and Hardart automat in midtown Manhattan; Hank Jones tells Carner, “I never felt I was up to his standards, to tell you the truth. I was reaching to play along with him”; we learn of Adams’ early work with Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman; encounters with Alfred Lion, Joihn Hammond, and Rudy Van Gelder; concert performances with Mingus and Monk; encounters with younger European musicians and elders of the tribe including Fess Williams, Cozy Cole, Joe Wilder, Benny Carter, Milt Hinton; the birth and development of the Thad Jones – Mel Lewis Orchestra; an informal session in Eugene H. Smith’s loft with Adams playing piano to Zoot Sims’ tenor; recordings with Donald Byrd, Oliver Nelson, Duke Pearson, Blue Mitchell, Jimmy Rowles, Joshua Breakstone, and a hundred other notables.

Equally intriguing are glimpses into the life of a valued New York session player, for Adams was understandably in-demand for pop recordings, often as an uncredited member of the ensemble, with Aretha Franklin, Dakota Staton, Sonny and Cher, The Cowsills, The Nice, The Rascals, Brook Benton, Jon Lucien, Esther Phillips, film soundtracks, industrial films, and more.

Ultimately, JOY ROAD did a number of things for me, even though my first reading of this 550-plus page book was of necessity quick rather than deep. I found recordings I’d known nothing about — Carner has had access to Adams’ personal appointment book, and has spoken with more than a hundred musicians. But more than that, I have a sense of Adams as an individual — reading Dostoevsky, listening to Berg, encouraging younger musicians, fierce when he felt unjustly treated — and I look forward to the biography, which Carner is tentatively calling In Love with Night.

I will close with my single Pepper Adams sighting. In 1972, several friends and I followed Ruby Braff to gigs. Although Ruby was unpredictable and unreasonably given to rage, he was always pleasant to us and allowed us to tape-record him. On July 19 of that year, my friend Stu and I came to the Half Note to record Ruby with the Welsh pianist Dill Jones, bassist George Mraz (then working with Pepper in the Thad Jones – Mel Lewis ensemble, and Dottie Dodgion on drums. About two -thirds through the evening, where the music had been very sweet, with Ruby’s characteristic leaps through the repertoire of Louis, Duke, and Billie, a tall man ascended the stand with a baritone saxophone, was greeted warmly by the players, and the quintet launched into an extended blues in Ab. I remember Dottie Dodgion being particularly enthusiastic about the unnamed musician’s playing, who packed his horn and went off into the warm Greenwich Village night. Who was that unmasked man? The subject of Carner’s book, and yes, the tape exists, although not in my possession.

To learn more about Adams, JOY ROAD, and Carner, visit his Pepper Adams website and his Pepper Adams blog, THE MASTER

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Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra Early Personnel

January 3, 2015, 6:31 am

≫ Next: Pepper's Good Groove

≪ Previous: Michael Steinman Review and Discovery

When Thad Jones and Mel Lewis first began drawing up who they most wanted to hire for their new big band, the choices weren't necessarily the same as those who eventually made it to the first rehearsals or the first gig at the Village Vanguard. In the left column are those who were originally slated for the band. The right column are those who made the first Vanguard gig on 7 February 1966. Who thinks Nick Travis would've taken the concertmaster chair over Snooky Young? Who laments the fact that neither Phil Woods nor Clark Terry made it to the band? Phil Woods did sub for Jerome Richardson occasionally but is there any record of Clark Terry playing in the orchestra? On the Chuck Stewart photo below, who can identify the personnel (other than Thad, Mel, Dodgion, Richardson, Herman)? Is that Eddie Jones on bass?

Thad Jones +

trumpettrumpet

Snooky Young (lead?)Snooky Young (lead)

Nick Travis (lead?)Jimmy Nottingham (Travis deceased)

Jimmy MaxwellBill Berry (subbing for Maxwell)

Clark TerryJimmy Owens (Terry's absence unexplained)

trombonetrombone

Bob Brookmeyer (lead) Bob Brookmeyer (lead)

Willie Dennis Garnett Brown (Dennis deceased)

choice not knownJack Rains

choice not knownCliff Heather

saxophone

Phil Woods (lead)Jerome Richardson (lead)

choice not knownJerry Dodgion

Wayne ShorterJoe Farrell

choice not knownEddie Daniels

Pepper AdamsMarv Holladay (subbing for Adams)

rhythm

Hank JonesHank Jones

guitar not planned Sam Herman

choice not knownRichard Davis

Mel Lewis Mel Lewis

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Pepper's Good Groove

January 10, 2015, 5:31 am

≫ Next: Pepper Adams Biography

≪ Previous: Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra Early Personnel

A few months ago I came to the conclusion that the best approach to my second volume on Pepper Adams was to write the biography in two separate sections. The first, I explained in a blog entry a few months back, would be a 100-page biography and the second would be a 100-page discussion of his saxophone style and compositions. I still like the way this approach frees me to write a shorter but more focused biography, then get deeply into his playing and composing.

Two days ago, on a long drive from Atlanta to Orlando, however, it occurred to me that it might be quite some time before I'm able to write this book. When would I finish it? I turn sixty this year.

My assessment of the book project has taken sharper focus recently because I've just changed careers. Or, you could say, I've returned to a previous one. Twenty years ago I worked in the financial services industry. I did quite well but left to work with a wellness company and then the wine industry. A few months ago I decided that the wine industry was going through too much of a contraction to ever give me the kind of gig I need. I began getting licenses and I'm now working for three separate insurance agencies in Georgia.

My career shift is taking me farther away from the Pepper book project, with little end in sight. Though I've been busy building out the Instagram page, this blog, pepperadams.com and other projects, what about the book? I first conceptualized doing Pepper's biography in the summer of 1984, when I interviewed him at length. The discographical first volume took a little heat off but the biography has always been very dear to my heart and a life-long goal. When would I do it?

Somewhere after I crossed the Georgia-Florida line I started listening to Pepper's magical playing on Red Garland's Red's Good Groove. It's always been a favorite of mine. How perfect Pepper's playing is on the date, I thought, and how beautifully the engineer captured his sound! I started thinking about my friend John Vana and I thought I should give him a call to tell him about the recording.

John's an alto player on the faculty at Western Illinois University in Macomb IL (Al Sears' hometown). I first met John when he invited me to speak at WIU in 2013. That's when I toured the Eastern half of the U.S. and Canada for a month with British arranger Tony Faulkner.

John is a huge Pepper fan. Soon after my visit he agreed to write a major piece on Pepper's early style (to 1960) for a possible Pepper anthology. Soon after that, he started asking me to send him, bit by bit, every tape, LP or videotape of Pepper Adams that I own or that's listed in Pepper Adams' Joy Road. Up to 1960 wasn't enough for him. He's now up to 1977 and he wants to hear it all.

Not only is it my mandate to support anyone's work on Pepper, but it's been a good deal for me too. John has converted (and preserved) so much of my precious Pepper stuff onto CD. It's vitally important to save all my Pepper audience tapes for future generations.

At first I thought I'd just catch up with John on the telephone. I could tell him why the last batch of LPs and cassettes hasn't been mailed out and I could tell him how relaxed and perfect Pepper's playing is on the Garland LP. But before I called him it occurred to me that John's piece on Pepper's style would likely cover much of the same terrain that I'd be exploring in the second half of my Pepper book. Considering the demands of my day job, perhaps it would be better for me to write the bio and have John (with my input, additions and editorial oversight) write the second section? Wouldn't it move up the timetable? Yes, I thought it might.

I got John on the phone and he agreed with me. He thought it was a really good idea. The anthology might not even happen, I pointed out, so what better place than in the "definitive" Pepper biography?

That's where the Pepper Adams biography stands at the moment. I've yet to see John's work on Pepper in any tangible form but I'm encouraged by his passion for Pepper and the long phone conversations we've already had. I'll let you know how it's going as things move ahead. I think he still has at least six months of listening to go.

One thing I reiterated to John was my feeling that maybe Pepper went through more than just an early, middle and late period in his stylistic evolution. We're in agreement that everything leading up to the 1960 Live at the Half Note date amounts to the flowering and maturation of him as a soloist. That could be construed as "Early." His playing in the early 1960s is so majestic and soulful. He still has a very bluesy and lyrical style, using a wail as a stylistic element, using space to great effect and pulling back the time. At what point, I asked John, did Pepper move into such a dense way of playing and become such a diminished freak? Perhaps the transition to that is his "Pre-Late" period? Any thoughts, dear listener?

When things settle down a little for me, I'll start to pull together my thoughts for the biography. Just the other day I thought what a kick it would be to listen again to all those interviews I did about Pepper with so many musicians and friends. Only a fraction of them was transcribed for the first book. I've already decided to start the book with Pepper meeting Rex Stewart in 1944 at the RKO Temple Theater. So I can set the stage, I need info about the theater, particularly its interior. Upward and onward!

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Pepper Adams Biography

January 17, 2015, 12:26 pm

≫ Next: Prologue to Pepper Adams Biography

≪ Previous: Pepper's Good Groove

I've begun writing the second volume. I've modified and signed off on the Epigraph, Prologue and first chapter and I continue to build the Recommended Listening section. Perhaps some of you have noticed that every few days I've been sneaking in my listening choices on my Facebook page? So far, I've posted around seven tunes and videos. Many more are to come, of course. It's been fun listening again and adding them. Today I listened twice to one of Pepper's great masterpieces: Pepper Adams Plays Charlie Mingus.

As for the biography, I'll post the Epigraph below, then the Prologue next week and Chapter 1 in two weeks. After that, you'll just need to wait and read the book! Chapter 1 sets things in motion with a rationale for why Pepper is an important figure. It's intended to entice those not faamiliar with him and his work. It leads into Chapter 2, something I'm developing, which might be a discussion of his father or other father figures, such as Rex Stewart. The Prologue discusses when I met Pepper and how my work on Pepper came to be.

Here's the Epigraph, stated to me in a Thelonious Monk seminar I took many years ago in Blake's Brookline, Massachusetts apartment:

How many musicians out there are really different?

- Ran Blake

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Prologue to Pepper Adams Biography

January 24, 2015, 6:11 am

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Prologue: I Carry Your Heart

On September 28, 1986 I drove three hours from Boston to New York to attend Pepper Adams’ memorial service at St. Peter’s Church. Adams had waged a courageous battle against an aggressive form of lung cancer that was first diagnosed in early March, 1985 while touring in northern Sweden. St. Peter’s, with its modern ash-paneled interior and large multi-tiered sanctuary, is tucked under the enormous 915-foot-tall Citicorp Center at East 54th Street and Lexington Avenue. On that somber but bright Sunday afternoon, St. Peter’s chapel was packed with musicians, friends and admirers. Reverend John Garcia Gensel presided over the service and many jazz greats—Tommy Flanagan, Elvin Jones, Frank Foster, George Mraz, Roland Hanna, Barry Harris, Louis Hayes, Sheila Jordan, Gerry Mulligan and others—performed and paid their final respects.

For over a year Adams’ plight had galvanized the jazz community, who heard varying stories about his wife leaving him, his declining health and his dire financial situation. Between September, 1985 and March, 1986 two benefits had been organized to raise funds for Pepper’s medical care. One at the 880 Club in Hartford, Connecticut was organized by alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and Adams was able to attend. The other took place at the Universal Jazz Coalition on Lafayette Street in New York and featured performances by Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Tommy Flanagan, Louis Hayes, Frank Foster, Kenny Burrell, Jerry Dodgion and the entire Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Pepper, gaunt and bald from chemotherapy treatments, was out of town for that one, working a weekend gig in Memphis. He sent a letter of gratitude that was read to the audience by singer Lodi Carr.

At Pepper’s memorial service it seemed ironic that this brilliant musician’s musician, so admired by his peers, was receiving such a fond farewell. He had fans, I was sure, but you’d never know it by the indifference he received from the jazz press, the few gigs he did in New York or the small audiences I was fortunate to be a part of near the end of his life. While his predicament likely drew more attention to him than previously, I had the impression that an accreted, long overdue realization of Adams’ musical accomplishments had finally coalesced in the public’s mind. How strange it was that, at his death, it felt like his ascendant hour.

I’ve been wanting to tell Pepper’s story since June 28, 1984, the memorable day I conducted the first of several lengthy interviews with him. I promised Pepper that I would complete his biography and a 350-page transcript of my interviews was stacked high on his nightstand the morning he died. After his death, I interviewed many of his peers. For them, Pepper Adams was a complex figure: a hero, a model of grace, a virtuoso musician and stylist, a composer, an intellectual. Adams was also an unworldly looking sophisticate; a public person yet emotionally guarded; a full-throated, exuberant saxophonist who was mild-mannered and soft-spoken. In short, a brilliant artist full of interesting ambiguities and contradictions.

After so many years of living with his music and researching his life, in 2012 I produced a five-volume CD box set of Adams compositions that was co-branded and released with my book Pepper Adams’ Joy Road: An Annotated Discography. Now, with this companion work, I fulfill my promise to him and myself.

I’m especially pleased that John Vana agreed to co-author the book. John’s an alto player on the faculty at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. I first met him when he invited me to speak at WIU in late 2013. That’s when I toured the Eastern half of the U.S. and Canada for a month with British arranger Tony Faulkner.

John is a huge Pepper Adams fan. Soon after my visit he agreed to write a major piece on Pepper’s early style (to 1960) for a possible Adams anthology. Not long after that, John started asking me to send him, bit by bit, every Pepper Adams tape, LP and videotape that’s listed in Pepper Adams’ Joy Road. Clearly, “Up to 1960” wasn't enough for him. He wanted to hear it all and consider Pepper’s entire oeuvre.

Eventually, it occurred to me that John’s piece on Pepper’s style would likely cover much of the same terrain that I’d be exploring in the second half of this book. Considering the demands of my day job, perhaps it would be better for me to write the biography and have John (with my input, additions and editorial oversight) write the second section? Wouldn’t it move up the timetable? I got John on the phone and he agreed. He thought it was a really good idea. The anthology might not even happen, I pointed out, so what better place for his study?

For those either already hip to Adams’ life and recordings or encountering him for the first time, it’s our sincere hope that we convey his extraordinary contribution to the history of Twentieth Century music and inspire readers everywhere to listen anew to his glorious work.

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Two as One: New Prologue to Pepper Adams Biography

January 31, 2015, 7:26 am

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OK, everybody. I've rewritten and reformulated the Prologue since last week, pulling together two pieces about Pepper. The first is Pepper in crisis and its aftermath. The second is how I met Pepper and what it was like for me. I encourage you to please let me know if you think this is a good opening to the book. I'll take your suggestions to heart, thanks.

Prologue

In the Summer of 1977 Pepper Adams was at a crossroads. For twelve years he had anchored the reed section of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, one of jazz’s greatest big bands, but at age 46 desperately needed to reinvent himself. Adams never wanted to be in the group in the first place. After too many years of accepting section work with big bands, he was eager to break free and work exclusively with small ensembles so he could stretch as a soloist. But Thad Jones—one of his dearest friends, whom he admired more than anyone—needed him in his newly formed orchestra, leaned on him, reminded him of all the things his mother did for him back in Pontiac, Michigan in the old days and convinced him to stay. That was in 1966. Now, after hundreds of Monday nights at the Village Vanguard and countless tours of the U.S., Europe and Japan, Adams was more restive than ever.

Pepper had voiced his frustration at least a year prior to the ’77 summer tour. He told Thad and Mel that he was unhappy with his lack of solos, citing the baseball expression, “Play me or trade me!” as some indication of his discontentment. Pepper’s clever use of the phrase, so characteristic of his understated sense of humor, has since become part of the band’s mythology. When it was uttered, they laughed and ignored it. This time around Adams wasn’t joking.

Pepper’s situation came to a head in Stockholm at the midpoint of the band’s two-month European tour. Before their August 1 evening performance at Tivoli Gardens, Adams met privately with Jones and Lewis. He told them that he wanted a pay raise and star billing as a featured soloist. Adams, though, was unaware that it was band policy to never give inordinate solo space, nor pay any musician, more than anyone else. Even if he had known, Pepper still would’ve felt entitled to it because of his tenure and longstanding friendship with both of them. Nevertheless, much to his Pepper’s surprise, Thad and Mel turned down his request, steadfastly adhering to band protocol. An aggrieved Pepper Adams, left with no alternative, said he’d be leaving the band at the end of the month when the tour concluded. The news of Pepper’s imminent departure saddened everyone in the band, but none more than Thad Jones and Mel Lewis. That night at Tivoli, Adams again had no solos to play. Adams had sublimated his feelings by getting so drunk before the gig that he could barely comport himself onstage.

Adams’ close friend Ron Ley traveled with the orchestra part of the way through Scandinavia that summer and witnessed Pepper’s sad turn of events. A day or so after Adams submitted his resignation, Ley and Thad Jones had a moment alone. Jones reminded Ley that Pepper was jazz’s greatest living baritone saxophonist. Later on, said Ley, “Mel shared Thad’s opinion of Pepper’s playing and added that his opinion was shared by all fellow musicians of the period. It may have been that Thad and Mel made a point of telling me this because they knew that Pepper and I were close, and wanted to express their feelings so that I wouldn’t be left with an impression that they were indifferent to Pepper’s feelings of disappointment.”

After the tour concluded, Adams returned to New York and began forging his identity as an itinerant soloist. Although it was a courageous decision for Adams to go out on his own after twelve years with the band, it was extraordinarily propitious both for him and jazz history. Adams already possessed an international reputation based on more than twenty years of commercial recordings with many of the greatest musicians, including Phil Woods, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones, Stan Kenton, Chet Baker, Duke Pearson, Kenny Clarke, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Heath, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Benny Goodman, Andre Previn, Paul Chambers, Chick Corea, David Amram, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and so many others. In no time he found himself in demand throughout Europe and North America. Then, in 1978 and 1980 Adams recorded two of his greatest albums, Reflectory and The Master, featuring his original compositions. Both were nominated for Grammy Awards as the best instrumental albums of the year by a jazz soloist. Building a book of originals he could perform had finally pushed him to put his mind to composition. Between 1977 and 1983 Adams wrote nearly half his oeuvre of 42 tunes.

At last, success was coming his way from all directions. His 1979 project with singer Helen Merrill, Chasin’ the Bird/Gershwin, was nominated for a Grammy Award (his third in three years) as the best jazz recording of the year by a vocalist. He received yet another Grammy nomination for his 1983 album Live at Fat Tuesday’s and, clad in a tuxedo, Adams appeared on the 1982 nationally broadcast Grammy Awards telecast, performing (appropriately enough) the jazz standard “My Shining Hour.” Adams was working steadily, winning all the readers and critics polls as the world’s best baritone saxophonist and had the ongoing support of a record company. A younger generation of musicians was seeking him out for their gigs and, due to numerous radio and television appearances, the public was becoming familiar with this soft-spoken gentle man who let his big horn and bigger sound speak for him.

Then, like a sand castle at high tide, it all washed away. With so much forward momentum propelling him, in December, 1983 Adams had a bizarre car accident that forced him to cancel seven months of work, including a week at Lush Life, his first high-profile New York City club date in years. His marriage, already on shaky ground, ended during his convalescence, then lung cancer was discovered half a year later, leaving him with only eighteen months to live.

Adams’ life can be measured by a long, slowly ascending arc of success that increased logarithmically once he left the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Without a doubt, his first six years as a traveling soloist were triumphant—a time when he burnished his legacy as a virtuoso performer and composer—making his dramatic three-year fall that much more lamentable. Nevertheless, Adams had a rich, influential 40-year musical career. Consider for a moment the most notable jazz musicians of Adams’ post-Charlie Parker generation. How many bonafide stylists are there among them who are instantaneously identifiable on their instrument and have had a profound effect on the art form? John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Wes Montgomery spring to mind. Clifford Brown? Cannonball Adderley and Phineas Newborn perhaps? Equally noteworthy in his own way is Pepper Adams, the father of modern baritone sax playing. Just like Wes, Trane and the others on their instruments, Pepper’s unique sound and innovative melodic and harmonic concept, just as surely as his dazzling technical mastery, have shaped all baritone saxophonists to follow. This book is an attempt to contextualize Pepper Adams’ accomplishments and reveal the man who revolutionized the baritone saxophone and forever changed music.

On September 28, 1986, our first wedding anniversary, my wife and I attended Pepper Adams’ memorial service at St. Peter’s Church. Adams had waged a courageous battle against an aggressive form of lung cancer that was first diagnosed in early March, 1985 while touring in northern Sweden. St. Peter’s, with its modern ash-paneled interior and large multi-tiered sanctuary, is tucked under the enormous 915-foot-tall Citicorp Center at East 54th Street and Lexington Avenue. On that somber but bright Sunday afternoon, St. Peter’s chapel was packed with musicians, friends and admirers. Reverend John Garcia Gensel presided over the service and many jazz greats—Tommy Flanagan, Elvin Jones, Frank Foster, George Mraz, Roland Hanna, Barry Harris, Louis Hayes, Sheila Jordan, Gerry Mulligan and others—performed and paid their final respects.

For over a year Adams’ plight had galvanized the jazz community, who heard varying stories about his wife leaving him, his declining health and his dire financial situation. Between September, 1985 and March, 1986 two benefits were organized to raise funds for Pepper’s medical care. One at the 880 Club in Hartford, Connecticut was organized by alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and Adams was able to attend. The other took place at the Universal Jazz Coalition on Lafayette Street in New York and featured performances by Milt Jackson, Louis Hayes, Frank Foster, Dizzy Gillespie, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Jerry Dodgion and the entire Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Pepper, gaunt and bald from chemotherapy treatments, was out of town for that one, working a weekend gig in Memphis. He sent a letter of gratitude that was read to the audience by singer Lodi Carr.

Pepper Adams was a friend of mine, but, sadly, I knew him only during the last two tumultuous years of his life. During that time, only partly recovered from a horrible leg accident that had kept him immobilized 22 hours a day for six months, Adams was separated from his wife and had been diagnosed with the cancer that would in short order kill him. Although it was an utterly miserable time for him, it was a fascinating and complex ride for me. I was a 28-year-old grad student; a passionate jazz fan and record collector who was trying to interest a jazz musician just enough to work with me on their memoir. As fate would have it, because of his leg injury Pepper had some time on his hands. He was so gracious, so prepared, so articulate and engaging. I felt honored to work with him.

Then, seven months later his cancer was diagnosed. I visited him at St. Luke’s Hospital when he started his medical treatments. I saw him perform whenever he had a gig around New York. On one occasion, between sets at the Blue Note, I saw him bark at a pianist whom he misperceived was harassing him for a gig. Another time, in New Jersey, I heard the pain pour out of him during a magnificent ballad performance that brought me to tears. I spent time with Pepper at his home in Canarsie, eating pizza, watching football games and dubbing copies of his tapes. Although I was trying to gather as much information as I could in the little time that was left, I always had to reign in my curiosity and not push too hard. Things had changed drastically since the summer and I had to make the shift with him. Mostly, I had to respect that he was fighting for his life and that the cancer treatments made him feel awful. It was simply inappropriate to think that every time we got together Pepper would feel like analyzing aspects of his life. Instead, I did what any friend would do. I tried to help out whenever possible.

In January, 1986, Pepper worked a four-night stint in bitterly cold Minneapolis. I urged a friend of mine to attend as some show of support. During intermission Dan Olson said hello for me, bought Pepper a beer and the two had a chance to talk at the bar. Afterwards, Dan told me that my gesture meant a lot to Pepper, that he was obviously quite fond of me. That’s when I started to learn how much Pepper valued our work together. My final experience with Pepper was equally poignant. A month before his death, bedridden at home and under the care of a hospice nurse, I called to see if there was anything I could do. His nurse asked me to hold. I waited anxiously for at least five minutes while Pepper somehow found the energy to drag himself to the telephone. In a sentence or two he acknowledged that time was short, thanked me for calling, said a final goodbye and hung up the phone. That would’ve been in August, 1986, right around the time that Dizzy Gillespie called him to say that Thad Jones had died in Copenhagen.

About a year later, once I began interviewing Adams’ colleagues, I spent a very memorable afternoon in Cambridge, Massachusetts with Tommy Flanagan. I was meeting him for the first time and I was completely starstruck. Flanagan was one of the last people to see Pepper alive. Flanagan wanted me to know that transcripts of my interviews were stacked high on Pepper’s nightstand just before he died. At one point, while sitting next to Pepper on the edge of his bed, Flanagan explained, Pepper awoke and tried feebly to push my manuscript towards him. As you can imagine, I was completely stunned by Flanagan’s story and it had a profound effect on me once I comprehended its full implications. At first I was very touched that my work possibly gave Pepper some small measure of comfort at the end of his life. Then I began to take my role a lot more seriously, knowing how important it was to Pepper for his work to carry on after him. Of course my resolve to do this book and all the other work that’s preceded it was strengthened. But, truth be told, I’ve wanted to tell Pepper’s story since June 28, 1984, the memorable day I conducted the first of several lengthy interviews with him. His recollections of his childhood and early career (see pepperadams.com) were stunning in their depth and historical sweep. I knew right away that I had something very special.

Flanagan’s interview was one of more than 100 I conducted, mostly in the late 1980s before my daughter was born. For them, Pepper was a complex figure: a hero, an intellectual, a composer, a model of grace, a virtuoso musician and stylist, yet someone also very hard to calibrate. Their remembrances revealed a brilliant artist full of interesting ambiguities and contradictions: an unworldly looking sophisticate, a engaging raconteur in public who was emotionally guarded in private, a full-throated exuberant saxophonist who was mild-mannered and soft-spoken. What a fascinating subject! After so many years researching his life and living with his music, in 2012 I produced a five-volume box set of Adams’ complete compositions that was co-branded with my book Pepper Adams’ Joy Road: An Annotated Discography. Now, with this companion work, I at long last fulfill my promise to him and myself.

I’m especially pleased that John Vana agreed to co-author the book. John’s an alto player on the faculty at Western Illinois University. We first met when he invited me to speak at WIU in late 2013. John’s an ardent Pepper Adams fan. Soon after my visit he agreed to write a major piece on Pepper’s early style (to 1960) for a possible Adams anthology. Not long after that, John started asking me to send him, bit by bit, every Pepper Adams LP, cassette and videotape in my collection. Clearly, listening only to Adams’ early work wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to consider Pepper’s entire oeuvre. Eventually, it occurred to me that John’s piece would likely cover much of the same terrain I’d be exploring in the second half of this book. Considering the demands of my day job, wouldn’t it be better for me to write the biography and have John (with my input, additions and editorial oversight) write the second section? I got John on the phone and he thought it was a really good idea. The anthology might not even happen, I pointed out, so what better place for his study? For those either already hip to Adams’ life and recordings or encountering him for the first time, it’s our sincere hope that we convey his extraordinary contribution to the history of Twentieth Century music and inspire readers everywhere to listen anew to his glorious work.

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Reader Survey

February 7, 2015, 3:03 pm

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Today I'm taking a break from supplying content to ask you what it is you'd like to see in this blog? Are there certain things you'd like me to cover? Are there specific question you have about Pepper you'd like me to answer? A blog without happy readers and threads that spur discussion is little more than narcissism so please fire away and let me know how I can upgrade this space.

Thanks,

Gary Carner

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I Remember Pepper

February 14, 2015, 6:25 am

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Baritone saxophonist and arranger Kenny Berger is our guest blogger today. He was Pepper Adams' personally anointed sub in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra in the early 1970s. Berger has performed and recorded with Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, the Duke Pearson Big Band, the Lee Konitz Nonet, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, the Bill Holman Big Band, the Gil Evans Orchestra, the Phil Woods Little Big Band, the Dave Brubeck Big Band and many others. Berger is currently freelancing in New York and teaching at New Jersey City University. See kennybergermusic.com for more information on his life and career.

My introduction to the music of Pepper Adams came as a complete surprise one evening around 1962 or '63 while I was a jazz obsessed high school student in Brooklyn. I began playing alto sax in Fifth Grade but a couple of years later in Junior High I fell in love with the baritone. Since the school owned one and I didn’t I would use every spare moment in the school day to sneak into the band room and mess around with it. At that point the only baritone soloist I was familiar with was Gerry Mulligan. I especially dug his playing on the first Concert Jazz Band album, though I longed to take my own playing in a harder-swinging direction.

There was plenty of jazz on the radio in New York in those days. One evening, while listening to the Alan Grant Show on WABC-FM, I heard a track from a recent Donald Byrd album called The Cat Walk. Following Byrd’s trumpet solo came a baritone solo which approached the instrument in a manner that, until that moment, I had perhaps only dreamed was possible but had never actually heard anyone attempt. The tone was hard-edged but deep and resonant, the ideas poured forth in powerful torrents, the sense of swing was irresistible and it felt as though the player was literally eating up the changes. Here, finally, was someone playing the instrument that was to become my voice--and absolutely tearing it up, backed by a relentless Philly Joe Jones-led rhythm section. The player of course was none other than Park “Pepper Adams.

I don’t recall precisely the first time I heard Pepper play live, but with Manhattan just a subway ride away I had plenty of chances to do so. All the qualities I had admired in his recorded work were of course present in his live playing. But hearing Pepper in person brought out some qualities in his playing that records failed to capture. The very presence of his sound and rhythmic energy right there in the room was something that no recording could fully capture, which is true of all great musicians regardless of style or context. The other outstanding quality was his ability to play extremely long solos that built logically and never let up in terms of invention or rhythmic drive.

After I made the switch to being a full-time baritone player, and as my knowledge and understanding of music increased--I later attended a classical conservatory as a bassoon major, though I remain a proudly self-taught improviser, a dying breed if ever there was one--I began to appreciate other notable qualities in Pepper’s playing. It seemed to me that the playing of almost all the other well known jazz baritone players sounded in some way or other to be an application of ideas and general approaches to the horn that would sound equally appropriate on alto or tenor, whereas Pepper seemed to have developed a distinctive style that I could not imagine being used on any other instrument. Unlike almost all the other influential baritone players, Pepper employed the entire range of the horn, really enjoying all the noise it could make and refused to either dance around or totally avoid the lower register as almost everyone else did. This was no mean feat, as the register the baritone is in scares many players away from employing all but the most basic harmonic and melodic ideas and forces others to approach the horn as though they wished it were a tenor or alto, using only the upper register and/or employing an inappropriately bright and edgy sound. Pepper’s style was a good deal more harmonically and rhythmically complex than those of his peers while maintaining a true baritone sound. For proof of this, check out my personal favorite of all his recorded solos on Reflectory from the album of the same name on the Muse label. The solo unfolds logically, swings like mad and builds to an intense climax that he plays in the bottom register. Listen to this solo and try to imagine it having the same impact played on any other instrument and you’ll hear what I mean. He used to say that the baritone required more use of articulation than the higher saxes and if you played a complex run on the baritone without slightly tonguing every note it would sound like someone playing a glissando on a piano with the sustain pedal held down.

As far as the actual musical content of Pepper’s playing, it reflected his intelligence, open-mindedness and diverse listening habits. His harmonic ear, understanding of motivic development and complete command of devices such as diminished scales was on a par with those of the greatest soloists in jazz, period. His concept of sound was rooted in Harry Carney and his harmonic and rhythmic approaches were heavily influenced by Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker. In typically unpredictable Adams fashion, his favorite soloist among the Ellingtonians was not Carney but the great cornetist Rex Stewart, whose quirky, idiosyncratic style (a term Pepper used to describe his own style) appealed to Pepper’s sense of humor and appreciation for players who spoke in a personal voice. This may help to explain his affinity for and compatibility with his old Detroit homey Thad Jones, whose only detectable influences to my ears were Rex and Dizzy. Pepper was also quite well versed in Twentieth Century classical music and was especially partial to the symphonies of Arthur Honegger. This, combined with a storehouse of knowledge of older jazz and pop tunes, as well as songs and themes from film scores and all sorts of corny operettas, plus works by Stravinsky, Shostakovich and others, provided Pepper with a huge database to draw on for his seemingly inexhaustible supply of musical quotes (speaking of lost arts) that allowed his incomparable sense of humor to express itself through his music. More on Pepper Adams the man in Part Two.

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