Pepper Adams in the U.S. Army
While reconstructing the contours of Pepper Adams' life, I've found that researching his time in the U.S. Army has been one of my biggest challenges. When I interviewed him at length in 1984 he didn't...
View ArticleRoad to Ruin
Happy Independence Day everyone! Yesterday, on the Fourth of July, I conducted a groundbreaking interview with Al Gould, the author of Boots on the Ground with Music in My Hands. I wrote about his book...
View ArticleWhat's New: The Latest on Pepper Adams' Joy Road
I got my annual royalty statement from Scarecrow Press. It covers the period through December 31, 2013. Even though 600 copies of Pepper Adams' Joy Road have been sold and the hardcover is nearly sold...
View ArticleFurther Definitions: Pepper Adams with the Per Husby Trio, 1979
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...
View ArticleEphemera
I'm happy to report that Glenn Wilson at the University of Illinois is currently working with engineer Paul Wickliffe to reinstate a few solos, edit one extra track (Doctor Deep) and master the big...
View ArticlePacific Jazz Puzzles Solved
© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.I'm excited to report that jazz researcher James Harrod has discovered the actual recording dates of the James Dean Story and Critics' Choice,...
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Michael Steinman Review and Discovery
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...
View ArticleOtra Vez: Thad's Second Joe Williams Date Reassessed
I'm finally getting a chance to listen closely to the recording Something Old, New and Blue, originally recorded by Solid State in late April, 1968. It was billed as "Joe Williams and the Thad...
View Articleinstagram.com/pepperadamsblog
I've spent the last week putting together a very cool gallery of 112 pictures from a wide range of sources. It includes photographs of Pepper Adams and his family, ads for gigs and all sorts of things....
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Reissuing The Master and Ephemera
Happy Labor Day Weekend to all those reading this in the U.S. I've made some progress trying to get The Master and Ephemera reissued. The main imperative for reissuing The Master is to release four...
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The Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet: New Discoveries
I was startled this week to discover a file of magazine ads for Pepper Adams gigs that Frank Basile sent me on 20 December 2011. Maybe he sent it as a Christmas gift? I completely forgot about the file...
View ArticleI Remember Pepper: Per Husby Remembers Pepper Adams
Norwegan pianist Per Husby worked with Pepper Adams from 1975 until 1984 and stayed in touch with him until the end of Pepper's life in 1986. In 1988, while on vacation in Australia, Husby tape...
View ArticleI Remember Pepper: Ron Ley Remembers Pepper Adams and Thad Jones
Psychology professor Ron Ley was one of Pepper’s closest friends. They were neighbors in New York City in the mid-1960s and they stayed in touch throughout the years after Ley first relocated to Puerto...
View ArticleI Remember Pepper: Gunnar Windahl Remembers Pepper Adams
© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.Swedish psychoanalyst Gunnar Windahl was one of Pepper's dearest friends. His recollection below gives an extraordinarily rich and detailed...
View ArticlePepper's Dry Sense of Humor
© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.This amusing anecdote is from Gunnar Windahl ("Doctor Deep"). He sent it to me in an email on 19 August 2014. The gig he references took place on...
View ArticleWardell Gray and Pepper Adams
© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.How many have heard Wardell Gray's playing? How many know how big an influence he was on Pepper Adams? For the last year I've been thinking a lot...
View ArticleMotor City Scene
© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.Pepper Adams' seventh date as a leader, Motor City Scene, has been reissued on CD and vinyl by Bethlehem. It's great to hear the music again,...
View ArticleCircular Breathing and Pepper's Greatest Hits
© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.First, my apologies for any repetitive posts. I was doing an overhaul of the blog today and some inadvertent errors occurred. Going forward I'll...
View ArticlePepper the Amusing Paraphraser
Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.Here's a priceless anecdote from Earl McIntyre via Nate Cabana. Nate wrote me about Pepper Adams' Joy Road and pepperadams.com:"My first job in the...
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Rex Stewart and Young Pepper Adams
© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.On March 3-5, 1944 thirteen year old Park Adams skipped school three nights in a row to attend Duke Ellington's entire run at the Temple Theatre...
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