Wednesday, June 9, 2021

THE MANY MOODS OF ART PEPPER


I'm halfway through reading Art Pepper's autobiography The Straight Life (co-written with his wife Laurie). If you know anything about Pepper, you know he's a West Coast jazz guy, saxophone. If you know anything else about Pepper you know that he was a junkie, for years. He did time in a number of facilities, the most notorious San Quentin. I'm only halfway through the book (up to the mid-sixties) and I can tell you just from that that he makes Keith Richards look like a dabbler. Nothing is glossed over in the book. Not the crimes he committed, not the extent he went through to get a fix, not the lovers he treated like shit, or the dark thoughts running around in his head. It is heavy.

So I started browsing, A couple links in, I'm already distracted. There's a shitload about Pepper online. These are tonights detours.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Art Pepper - Caravan mp3 at Rubber City Review
Art Pepper - 'Round Midnight mp3
at Space Age Pop
Art Pepper - Straight Life mp3
at Rubber City Review From Meets the Rhythm Section
Art Pepper - Birks Works mp3
at Rubber City Review Ditto
Art Pepper - More songs and excellent profile
at Rubber City Review
Video:
Art Pepper Quartet - Jazz Casual
at YouTube Three songs, 29 minutes.1964
Art Pepper - Jazz Survivor
at YouTube Documentary, 46 minutes, 1982
Visit:
Their Unique Love Affair
at Perfect Sound Forever Profile of Art and Laurie Pepper, 2014
Laurie Pepper, Wife of Late Saxophonist Art Pepper
at Fresh Air, PBS Interview podcast, 27 minutes, 2001

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