Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section [Import]

This is arguably the best recording of one of the greatest alto players that ever lived. Don't take my word for it, countless Down Beat magazine Polls, musicians of the calibre of Marty Paich and Sonny Stitt will testify to this.

Art was from LA, and from humble beginnings. He played with Benny Carter's and Stan Kenton's Big Bands from an early age. He struggled throughout his relatively short life with drugs and drink. He was in and out of prison. Most of the 60's was wasted musically through these other activities.

Art was slightly different to other "cool" west coast players in that he played with a high degree of emotional intensity. He always committed himself totally to a performance, and it shows.

Art had the most wonderful tone, it can make you cry one minute, and have you on the edge of your seat the next. His melody lines were inventive (he admits he didn't remember half the tunes on this session, so he weaved his way in and out of the melody)

This session consists of the Miles Davis rhythm section, serious players from the East Coast. His then wife kept this recording date a secret from him, as he was a mess at the time and she felt he couldn't cope with the pressure. He turned up totally unprepared, he had to use a plaster to repair the cork on his alto.

Despite these problems they produced a true classic. Listen to the way he develops the ballad "Imagination", his playing always rhythmical, yet full of emotion.

"Straight Life" is his signature tune, a fast bebop number, sinewy and melodic. He has recorded this many times, and I would say this is the best.

There is not one weak track on this CD. It is an essential purchase for any jazz fan. Forget the West Coast stereotyping, this stuff is pure magic.

I would say one of the top 10 jazz recordings of all time..... not many would disagree.

This album is one of Pepper's masterworks. Astonishingly, Pepper didn't find out about the session until the morning of the recording, and his saxophone was reportedly in a poor state, with some of the stops taped up. The Rhythm Section in question is of course Miles Davis' regular band of the time, and they put on a predictably excellent show, despite not meeting Art until the day of the recording. Indeed, Paul Chambers on bass is on exceptionally fine form.

Pepper of course displays the influence of fellow alto-ist, Charlie Parker, who had died earlier in the decade, but who still exerted a huge influence. Pepper, though, developed his own style from that foundation, and by 1957 - when this album was recorded - was associated with the West Coast movement. He recorded a run of excellent albums at this time for Lester Koenig's Contemporary Records, of which "Meets the Rhythm Section" is recognised as the finest.

Along with Winter Moon, (recorded towards the end of his sadly foreshortened life), it is a pinnacle of his career, and regularly features in the charts of the top all time greatest jazz albums, selected by fans and critics alike. The album has three originals by the band and Pepper, which are bewitching and belie their hasty birth. The rest of the tracks are standards, although according to legend Pepper had not previously heard several of these. This is certainly not apparent. Pepper's treatment of Dizzy Gillespie's Birks Works is particularly striking, and for me the best track of the session.

If you are looking for a place to start exploring Art Pepper, there could be no better introduction. If you want a library featuring the best of 1950s jazz, then you will want this record. If you are merely a music fan exploring some of the by-ways of jazz, then I urge you, too, to consider this record. You won't be disappointed; it is one of the finest of its kind.

This release, from the Original Jazz Classics Remasters series, is a 24-bit remastering by Joe Tarantino, and has newly written liner notes. A track recorded at the session - The Man I Love - which was not included on the original album is included.

This was the first Art Pepper record I ever bought, and to my ears it remains the best. Whether the legend surrounding the circumstances in which this recording was made is completely true I dont know, but if Art was in poor shape, and the session was not well prepared, there is no evidence here to suggest that there was anything amiss. Art Pepper was not my favourite alto player but this record helped in no small way by the Miles Davis rhythm section demands to be in the very top rank of jazz recordings