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Unreleased Art Pepper, Vol. 1​—​The Complete Abashiri Concert

by Art Pepper

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    for heaven's sake, DO view Art's other albums and tunes available at https://artpepper.bandcamp.com/ This Bandcamp purchase includes PDF of THE ARTWORK & NOTES THAT ARE INCLUDED WITH THE PHYSICAL CD.This double-cd album was released by Widow's Taste (Laurie Pepper) in 2006 .
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1.
Landscape 10:47
2.
Besame Mucho 15:10
3.
Red Car 12:43
4.
Goodbye 10:39
5.
6.
Road Waltz 12:52
7.
8.
9.
10.
Body & Soul 13:29
11.
Talking 00:32
12.

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REVIEWS
But the new 1981 recording is all but unprecedented. (The album begins with pianist George Cables's solo already in progress and with the instruments momentarily offmic, and there are occasional audio artifacts of the whole concert having come from a cassette source; after the first minute, though, the sound is fine.) Just when you think Pepper is prepared to stretch the melody as far as it will go, he abandons the rest of the tune and slips effortlessly into an improvisation, returning to Jenkins's tune at the end of the first chorus. He inserts a Tatum-like chromatic run here, a darting phrase there (as does Mr. Cables, the only other soloist on the 11-minute track), but mostly he plays long blobby lines that don't seem to have anything to do with the tune, yet have everything to do with the idea of Goodbye. Pepper is continually recontextualizing himself and the song; this is his answer to Hamlet's soliloquy, the debate over the advantages of being and not being. On the album, he plays increasingly intense phrases, both soul-searing and sentimental. Like the spirits at the end of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, he is looking back and reflecting on what he will miss when he leaves the world behind: Farewell to hot dinners and hot chicks, farewell to girls with bad attitudes in tight dresses, farewell to one-night stands of both the musical and personal kind, farewell to forging checks, farewell to fixing with fellow convicts, farewell to practicing and practicing, to studying and absorbing everything he could from Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Benny Carter, to bad pianos and squeaky reeds, farewell to drug clinics and rehabs, farewell to Stan Kenton and Buddy Rich, farewell to groupies and roadies, farewell to the Los Angeles County Jail and to San Quentin. The other 10 tracks from the 1981 concert include some wonderful boppers (Monk's Rhythm-ANing ), blues, and one samba ( Besame Mucho ). There's also another killer ballad, a transcendent version of Body and Soul (another very rare tune in the Pepper canon), in which he also seems to be taking the title literally and contemplating the metaphysical. He describes it afterward as one of the nicest things I think I've ever played in my life ... I'm sober and happy because of music. But it's the Jenkins tune that stays with us: Here, in Abashiri, a town that few non-Japanese have ever heard of (can it be a coincidence that Abashiri is best known as the site of the Abashiri Prison?), a great musician is saying goodbye. --Will Friedwald/NY Sun

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Laurie Pepper, the widow of the great jazz saxophonist, Art Pepper, has started putting out some of his excellent unreleased recordings on her label, Widow's Taste. …Compulsively self revealing… Saxophone notes fly, piano chords are dense, cymbal sounds carpet the rhythm. Jazz was still in the era of the heroic statement. --Ben Ratliff/NY Times

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This is one of the most powerful, emotion-laden live performances I've ever hear
Thanks to the Herculean efforts of Pepper’s widow, Laurie Pepper, this two-disc gem is comprised of previously unreleased material from a live Abashiri, Japan performance in 1981, not long before the saxophonist’s death.

Arguably, the most beautiful tune on either disc is the standard Body & Soul. Pepper pours his lyrical soul out on this track and reminds listeners why he was often considered one of jazz’s most passionate lyricists. As well, Cables’ solo is absolutely spellbinding and contributes to the tune’s passionate and emotional currents. At the tune’s conclusion, Pepper states, “That was one of the nicest things I think I’ve played in my life… “ Indeed, and the live audience shows its appreciation with a rousing applause that leaves Pepper and crew giddy with ebullient chuckling.

Pepper also pays tribute to one of his most favorite composers, pianist Thelonious Monk. Pepper, who long admired Monk masters a version of Rhythm-A-Ning. This spirited piece captures Monk’s mood thanks to yeoman’s work by George Cables on piano and a bombastic performance by Carl Burnett on drums.

Another well-done piece is the soothing yet fiery Besame Mucho where the band again demonstrates its penchant for cohesive harmony and perfectly executed lines. Hell, even the volcanic introduction is worth the price of admission.

This is not only a “must have” for its historical significance as being previously unreleased. But, even more important, this is a “must have” because it is simply Pepper at his best. Since this two-disc set is comprised of Volume 1 tunes, undoubtedly Pepper fans’ hearts will smile as they salivate at the notion of ensuing volumes.

Eddie Becton - All About Jazz-Los Angeles, Producer/Host - KXLU

credits

released October 1, 2006

ABASHIRI, JAPAN, NOVEMBER 22, 1981: Art Pepper, George Cables, David Williams, Carl Burnett

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Some rights reserved. Please refer to individual track pages for license info.

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Art Pepper Los Angeles, California

Born in 1925 in Gardena, CA, and raised in San Pedro, CA. Incredible life can't be summarized here! Read all about it in STRAIGHT LIFE at Amazon. Read what it was like being married to him in ART: Why I Stuck with a Junkie Jazzman. Amazon ditto.

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