Art Pepper - 'Unreleased Art, Vol.8: Live at the Winery September 6, 1976'

 

'Live At The Winery, September 6, 1976' is made up of six songs inner-dispersed with Pepper's grateful and sincere stage banter.  The disc opens with possibly Art's most passionate reading of the Juan Tizol classic "Caravan".  Written for the Duke Ellington orchestra, "Caravan" was composed with a Middle Eastern flavor in mind, but in the hands of Art and local pianist Smith Dobson, it is a samba bullet shot from a Latin jazz gun.  Art gives a long introduction before steering into the familiar theme, fighting a guerrilla war for the next ten minutes of exhilarating performance.

Art follows with an angular original composition, "Ophelia" from his 'Living Legend' album, that would show up many more times in his live performances.  Art, always the master of ballads, presents "Here's That Rainy Day" also from 'Living Legend' and earlier, displaying the complete command of the form that would reach its pinnacle on the 'Winter Moon' album from 1980. The band follows with "What Laurie Likes," a blues-funk piece suggesting Pepper's future masterpiece "Red Car" from his next studio recording.  Art closes with his be bop-infused "Straight Life" and "Saratoga Blues" demonstrating that he is a master of that idiom also.

Art Pepper on alto saxophone
Smith Dobson on piano
Jim Nichols on bass
Brad Bilhorn on drums

1. Caravan
2. Talk: Band Intros
3. Ophelia
4. Here's That Rainy Day
5. Talk: About Smith Dobson; Intro to What Laurie Likes
6. What Laurie Likes
7. Straight Life
8. Saratoga Blues
   

This recording was made from the soundboard at a jazz festival held at the Paul Masson Winery on the afternoon of September 6, 1976, and released by Laurie Pepper, on her label, Widow's Taste Records.

For the freeload, what was the hottest (spicy) thing you have ever eaten?