Art Pepper Hollywood All-Star Sessions CD

This five-CD box of studio material was originally released in Japan on the tiny Atlas label. Until now it has never been available in the United States. Impeccably recorded between 1979 and 1982, the year Art Pepper's horn was silenced -- at least as a mortal -- these sides were the brainchild of Yasuyuki Ishihara. His vision was for Pepper to lead a number of bands comprised of his old cohorts on the West Coast jazz scene for a West Coast "super session" series that would sell in Japan like hotcakes. There were only two problems: First, Pepper was under exclusive contract to Galaxy worldwide and could not appear as a leader on any other label. The second problem related to Pepper himself; he wanted to give Ishihara what he wanted but wasn't necessarily interested in returning to old ground, so he wanted a say in who was in these bands -- since a new one had to be selected for every session. The solutions were fairly simple: Pepper would always appear as a sideman even though he was really the session leader, and he, his wife and manager Laurie Pepper (who should win a Grammy Award for her liner notes here), and Ishihara would come to consensus on the bands. Laurie Pepper points out that when Art was playing as a sideman, he could relax, just play, and have fun; technically, since he wasn't the leader here, he did just that. Her point is borne out in the recordings: Pepper is blowing his ass off in his usual lilting and lyrical style, full of knotty runs up the registers of the horn, light and easy but no less driven. His playing here is free of tension, yet contains without question the very passion that made him such a melodic improviser and individual stylist -- the only member of his generation that didn't cop the style of Charlie Parker.

And what bands they are. "All-Star" doesn't even begin to get at it when the lineup on one date is Art Pepper on alto, Bill Watrous on trombone, Russ Freeman on piano, Bob Magnuson on bass, and Carl Burnett on drums, and then on another the group consists of Jack Sheldon on trumpet, Milcho Leviev on piano, Tony Dumas on bass, and Burnett again. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. As these sessions stretched on over time, other giants such as drummer Shelly Manne (who had played with Pepper in the early days of the West Coast scene -- as had Sheldon and Freeman), Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, and Pete Jolly hopped on board. Noted sidemen such as Monte Budwig, Bob Cooper, John Heard, Lou Levy, Roy McCurdy, Bob Magnuson, John Dentz, Mike Lang, and Chuck Domanico also joined the various sessions.

The first disc has all of session one -- with Watrous, Freeman, Burnett, and Magnuson -- and a third of the session with Sheldon. The gig starts easily enough with "Just Friends," which is an easy communication builder, especially between Pepper and Freeman; there's the gentleness set by Burnett's

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Recorded at Sage & Sound Studios, Hollywood, California between 1979 & 1982. Includes liner notes by Laurie Pepper.

Compilation producer: Laurie Pepper.

Personnel: Art Pepper (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Lee Konitz, Sonny Stitt, Bob Cooper (alto saxophone); Jack Sheldon (trumpet); Bill Watrous (trombone); Lou Levy, Mike Lang, Milcho Leviev, Pete Jolly (piano); Carl Burnette, John Dentz, Roy McCurdy, Shelly Manne (drums).

Audio Remasterer: Joe Tarantino.

Liner Note Author: Laurie Pepper.

Recording information: Sage & Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA (1979-1982).

Photographer: Joe Shimada.

Personnel: Art Pepper (alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet); Sonny Stitt (alto & tenor saxophones); Lee Konitz (alto saxophone); Bob Cooper (tenor saxophone); Jack Sheldon (trumpet); Bill Watrous (trombone); Russ Freeman, Micho Leviev, Pete Jolly, Lou Levy, Mike Lang (piano); Bob Magnusson, Tony Dumas, Chuck Domanico, John Heard, Monty Budwig (bass); Carl Burnett, Roy McCurdy, Shelly Manne, John Dentz (drums).

Producers: Tadao Shimo, Masahido Yoshida, Yasuyuki Ishihara.Down Beat (9/01, p.70) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...designed to re-create '50s cool but go way beyond that....Pepper aggressively employs eruptive register squawks, wiggle-the-fingers effusions and short, gritty bursts in characteristically edgy solos..."
JazzTimes (9/01, pp.103-4) - "...Bright tempos, many chord changes, 4/4 meters and mostly a 1950s West Coast jazz atmosphere and repertoire....Pepper's work with these friends adds a wealth of warmth and creativity to the documents of his 2nd career; this box is certainly music to raise the spirits..."