Art Pepper - 'Unreleased Art, Vol.11: Atlanta'

 

Laurie Pepper, who was the manager, accountant, booking agent, factotum, and wife of the late saxophonist Art Pepper, has been releasing concert albums from tapes of her husband under the appropriately named label "Widow's Taste".

Today's freeload, 'Unreleased Art, Vol.11: Atlanta' comes from a tour in May 1980, when Art and his quartet visited Atlanta.  The group consists of long time collaborators, pianist Milcho Leviev, bassist Bob Magnusson, and drummer, Carl Burnett.  Art loved playing with this grouping, as they were all fully locked in with his repertoire, and for their ability to improvise on the spot. 

Laurie dedicated the album to Micho Leviev, who sadly, the jazz world lost in October 2019, and this 2 CD set helps document his brilliant work, as well as his ability to inspire and sometimes infuriate Art, who thought he sometimes overplayed.  One thing that was certain, is that Milcho kept Art on his toes.

Laurie has included more onstage song intros, and banter from Art, than on any other previous "Unreleased Art" release.  Art addresses what had been noticed by his audiences at the time and has become glaringly obvious to his fans decades later; he rarely, if ever, plays other artist's work.

"A lot of people have asked me...how come I play so much of my own tunes? And I just tell them that the only way to present a person is, really is to have them write their own music and play their own music."

This certainly was to the benefit of those of us who sat in the smoke-filled jazz clubs he headlined during the late seventies and early eighties, as it allowed Art to delve deeper into his own catalog of work on a nightly basis.

There's lots to like here, with gorgeous readings of "Blues for Blanche", "The Trip" and "Landscape".  But the two standout tracks are "Song For Richard" and a rare performance of "Patricia".  "Song For Richard" which receives a treatment here unlike any it has previously, with a surprising and pleasantly unconventional avant-garde introduction and a structure that is far from predictable.  Then there's the sublime "Patricia", which Art wrote daughter in the mid 50s, and largely did not return to playing this tender tune to near the end of his life (perhaps this was due to the emotions it brought up?).  For thirteen minutes, Art's saxophone speaks to us, sharing his personal anguish of conceiving a daughter whose love and respect would elude the troubled artist permanently.  Art, as always, plays with his heart on his sleeve.

As you will hear, a good time was had by all, which was certainly always the case when Art Pepper was inspired and accompanied by a group fully in sync with his musical vision.  Add one more to the list of superb late period recordings of the iconic Art Pepper…

Laurie documented the May 1980 Atlanta gig on a Sony TCD 5 recorder, using a high end Sony condenser mic.  The recording quality is remarkably decent, and the remastering by Wayne Peet certainly helps the acoustic quality.

For the freeload, tell us what is your favorite piece of Fine Art and Artist (and by fine art, I mean: sculpture, painting, photography, drawing etc.)?