Finished Su 2/19/23
This is a trade paperback that I bought for my birthday. Art Pepper was a jazz sax player that was featured on the album that was supposed to be 'faves' of Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly novels.
This is one of the best biographies that I've ever read. It was really a 'warts & all' portrait. I was surprised to read his very racist worldview, but you could see how he got there.
Patti- First wife who left him for another jazz artist when Art was in jail
Diane- A woman from the Philippines who was a fan. She was very loyal, but crazy.
Christine- This woman fancied herself a jazz singer and once she punched Art and almost killed him.
Laurie- Another 'fan', but this woman stuck with him.
SYNANON- a crazy 'therapy/ religion' that is based on Alcoholics Anonymous, but once you join the group, you never leave. They believe that once you are an addict you can never be strong enough to live unassisted. This group is no longer allowed in the US, but it's pretty big in Germany.
When he made 'ART PEPPER MEETS THE RHYTHM SECTION' he was strung out and his horn had not been disassembled after he last used it and the cork seal was crumbling. Red Garland/ Philly Joe Jones/ Paul Chambers.
The picture on the cover of the book was taken when he was junk sick.
The best book I've ever read about what it would be like to do hard time in prison (San Quentin).
The most realistic portrayal of what it's like to be an addict.
From the book's page at GoodReads:
"American jazz musician noted for the beauty of his sound and his improvisations on alto saxophone, and a major figure in the 1950s in West Coast jazz.
Pepper in his teens played in Los Angeles bands led by Lee Young and Benny Carter, then joined the Stan Kenton band briefly before serving in the U.S. Army (1944–46). He returned to Kenton in 1947 and remained until 1952, the year he began leading recording groups. Narcotics addiction and drug-related prison terms interrupted his freelance career in the 1950s; after a remarkably productive period of recording, 1956–60, he spent most of 1961–67 in prison. Physical ailments and a three-year period of rehabilitation in Synanon resulted in only intermittent performing until the late 1970s, when he resumed frequent recording and touring.
Pepper had been influenced by both swing musicians, especially Carter, and bop-era musicians such as Charlie Parker and Lee Konitz. He played alto saxophone with a brilliant, pure tone, stating even small note values with clarity, and he also played clarinet and tenor saxophone on occasion. He constructed his solos with broken phrases and asymmetric accents and formed melodic lines with rare, compelling tension. In contrast to the cool jazz aesthetic that prevailed among other white West Coast jazz musicians, Pepper’s improvising was intensely emotional at all tempos, and he was a sensitive interpreter as well, as in Hoagy Carmichael’s 1956 recording of “Winter Moon.”
Among his major recordings are his 1956 “Besame Mucho” and the albums Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section (1957), The Way It Was (1960), and Smack Up (1960). Influenced by John Coltrane’s music by the 1970s, Pepper recurringly incorporated modal material, cyclic forms, and dissonant, sheets-of-sound elements into his soloing, which continued to be outstanding at the end of his career."
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