Chet Baker always gets the nod when the whole West Coast Cool scene gets talked about. He could play, had a distinctive voice, was movie star pretty, and his self-destructive mythology makes for good copy. Never mind that Baker actually loved the myth and loved being a junkie even more.Art Pepper was a different cat. He was as cool, but his self-destruction was not his delight. He didn't like being a junkie, fought his addiction and its negative affects with on and off success throughout his life. And unlike Baker, he became a better musician by the end.
After a couple of stints in the clink in the mid 50s, he was really trying to get clean when he got the chance to record this piece, a comeback of sorts. It was arranged for him by his wife, though she kept it a secret from him so as not to send him spiraling down. He was only informed of the session the morning of.
He hadn't played in 6 months. His horn was broken and he had to fashion a working instrument from borrowed pieces. Packing a dried-out cork taped to his sax with a bandaid he stepped into the studio shaking like a leaf. It only got worse for him. The sidemen were Miles' guys, men he had idolized, but never met (and had not been told would be there): Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. They were the epitome of East Coast Hot. The first number they laid down, You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, Pepper literally forgot the melody and was forced to figure it out as tape ran. Everything said this session would be a disaster.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is precisely the looseness/tension. the Cool/Hot, the desperation/ahh, fuck it feeling that makes this Pepper's best recording from his early years. He grows and gains confidence throughout the record. You can hear his bandmates challenging him on, popping him forward. It is at times dazzling as in Tin Tin Deo when he rips away the cool and swings it hard before dropping it back into an ocean of ease.
Out of context it's a stand out recording, but with its history this record is a testament to brilliant musicianship, courage under fire, and a man beating back his demons, if only for a while.
Hear
2 comments:
Nice!! Glad to know you're a Pepper, too. I've only got a couple recordings by the guy and was curious to hear more. This is great.
In the mid 90's I lived in Los Angeles and on Sunday nights would walk the block down Riverside from my house to a little bar. It was a regular neighborhood place (if there is such a thing in LA), which was nice, but the reason I made the trip was because Jack Sheldon had a regular gig there on Sunday nights with a drummer and bass player. He could still play - the years had softened his sound but not his chops.
Even though it was never very crowded Sheldon would tell little stories between numbers - some ribald, some insightful, some just nostalgiac - but that was part of his shtick.
One night, in between sets, I introduced myself and asked if I could buy him a drink. He said sure and as we sipped, I asked him about Baker and Pepper - what did he think of them? He said Baker was amazing, that he really envied his gift and was always blown away by how smooth he could be. But he said Pepper was different. Pepper earned his respect because, Sheldon said, Pepper meant it. I didn't get his drift so he explained. He said when he played with Pepper every note was sincere, there was nothing that was "designed" for affect. It just came out because Pepper cared about the note - every single note.
Sheldon was part of Pepper's quintet when he recorded Smack Up, the last great record of his early period before doing serious prison time in the 60's and hardening his sound ala Coltrane. I highly recommend that record too - Sheldon and Pepper are great together.
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