Saturday, December 27, 2014

Looking Ahead to 2015

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas (that ever so conveniently rolled into the weekend). 2015 looks like an exciting year for my Pepper Adams work. As always, I continue to revise the pepperadams.com Chronology and Discography whenever new information presents itself. As it turns out, some new data has surfaced recently. Now that all the databases are in PDF format, I'll be updating quarterly. The next update will take place in January.

I continue to look for lecture opportunities. If anyone works at a college and is interested in having me give a talk on Pepper, please let me know. Since the 2012 publication of Pepper Adams'Joy Road I've done about fifty such talks. I love doing them because most students don't know anything about Pepper. Such is the state of jazz history survey courses and textbooks to this day. Because Pepper remains an historical footnote, I always get out to spread the word.


The biggest project of 2015 is the CD issue of Ephemera. Although available on iTunes, it's amazing that the date has never been issued on CD. Tony Williams of Spotlite recently sent the original master to Robin Springall at Repeat Performance in London and the date sounds magnificent! I think it will sound even better if Mel Lewis' drums are brought up in volume. His brushwork is too low and his toms need more definition.

As I wrote a few weeks back, Pepper asked that all alternates from the first day be destroyed, due to some ridiculous antics that took place in the studio. Hence, everything on the date is a first take from Day Two. I hadn't heard Bouncing with Bud, Jitterbug Waltz, Quiet Lady or Hellure in years. What a joy to hear this great music again, especially Quiet Lady. I completely forgot what a brilliant performance this is, right up there perhaps with Day Dream and I've Just Seen Her as one of Pepper's greatest studio ballad performances. Roland Hanna steals the show with his unaccompanied intro, solo, and spectacular unaccompanied coda and Pepper really lays way back in his time on the theme and in his solo.

Bouncing with Bud brings tears to my eyes. It so perfectly captures the language of the 1950s and is played so well by the ensemble. Adams' arrangement of the tune is quite daring. Mel Lewis takes an unaccompanied solo after Hanna's, then George Mraz solos before Pepper. The delay of Adams' solo builds tension, released by Pepper's dramatic entrance. The tune, almost eleven minutes long, feels like a club date performance.

Ah, how about that Adams ballad atmosphere? Is there anything else like it? Civilization and Its Discontents is such an amazing thing, isn't it?

Mel Lewis' driving percussion on Jitterbug Waltz is just wonderful. How about his unaccompanied intro to the tune? What a fine arranging decision on Pepper's part, as is the terraced dynamics in the theme. As I wrote a few weeks ago, Ephemera is one of Pepper's masterpieces. I eagerly look forward to writing new liner notes.

I'll let you know about the timeline of Clarion Jazz reissue. Early September still looks reasonable at this point but no word yet about that from Dale Fielder. Happy New Year everybody! 

Saturday, December 20, 2014

A Word About Mean What You Say

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

On a long drive this morning I listened to Mean What You Say, the only studio recording ever made by the Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet. Although the group (with Mel Lewis) continued to work throughout the '60s and '70s, much to Pepper's disappointment the group was eclipsed by the establishment of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.

Mean What You Say is a record that I've always held in very high esteem, one that I've heard thirty or more times though not recently. What struck me today is just how spectacular a recording it is, how fresh it still seems, how original Thad Jones' small group arrangements are, how wonderful the tunes are (with two waltzes and no ballads) and how great Thad's soloing is throughout. Actually, everyon e plays brilliantly, including Duke Pearson, who, despite his Blue Note A&R gig was still a very strong soloist in mid-1966.

This is a recording of historic proportions on so many levels. It's one that should be dissected in jazz texts and wildly appreciated as one of the seminal recordings of the 1960s and in jazz history, just as Kind of Blue or A Love Supreme are discussed. Woefully, it's completely overlooked by critics, authors, jazz fans and even musicians.

First, the personnel: Thad Jones flh; Pepper Adams bs; Duke Pearson p; Ron Carter b; Mel Lewis dm.
Three Detroiters plus one honorary Detroiter in Mel Lewis (though from Buffalo, but with that wide Elvin Jones kind of beat). Add Atlanta's Duke Pearson, a close friend of Pepper's. What a band, all playing at their best! In fact, for those very familiar with Thad Jones' playing, has he ever sounded better? It's certainly the best Thad playing I've heard! With his performance it's easy to understand how revered he is by brass players, who have placed him firmly in the trumpet lineage right in there after Dizzy, Clark Terry and Miles, and before Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw.

The next thing that struck me about Mean What You Say is Thad and Pepper's phrasing. Their dynamics and time feel lock up as if they were together for many years. In fact, the band was only playing gigs on and off for about a year, but it shows.

The tunes? The title tune should be a standard of the jazz repertoire. Why aren't musicians besides Peter Leitch and Gary Smulyan playing it? Thad's "Bossa Nova Ova," one of the hippest bossas I've ever heard, is a spectacular Thad arrangement with a dazzling soli. Why isn't this being played? Can you believe Mel Lewis' amazing Latin playing on this tune? 

The uptempo Burt Bacharach waltz "Wives and Lovers?" What a great tune. Musicians are asleep on this one too. Duke Pearson's great tune "Chant," better know and which Pepper had recorded twice before with the Byrd-Adams Quintet (once with Pearson at Live at the Half Note), is another tune that should be a standard. How about Thad's outlandish arrangement on this version? 

For those who think Pepper was an extreme double-time player who couldn't play with sensitivity, check out his (and Thad's) beautiful, behind-the-beat, amazingly poignant solos on Ron Carter's "Little Waltz?" So much for that stereotype.

Thad's hip "H and T Blues?" (Does that stand for Hank and Thad, by any chance?) Thad's swinging "No Refill." Que pasa? Why aren't musicians playing these tunes? 

And how can you top the wonderful slapstick rendition of "Yes Sir, That's My Baby?" Here Thad and Pepper hilariously deconstruct the tune as if they're 11-year-old struggling jazz soloists, then re-equilibrate, as a startling contrast, and completely tear it up. Dick Katz, who was Milestone's A&R man, told me that Thad's solo is "historic." Milestone's Orrin Keepnews was horrified by the band's approach but what a way to evoke musical satire!

The only flaw I can speak to on this dazzling landmark recording is Pepper's sound on the Fantasy digital remaster. Like the original it still has far too much reverb. I'm surprised it's not repaired but, again, another lame decision made about the date without understanding its real significance. 

Significance? Yes, five of the greatest musicians of their time playing absolutely unique and brilliant arrangements by one of jazz's greatest arrangers, with soloists all at the top of their game. I want to hear from you about this recording. Isn't it a "dessert island recording" and one that's been completely overlooked?


Photo by Rick Mattingly
Mel Lewis

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Ephemera to be Reissued in 2015!

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

Just a few minutes ago I awoke to an email from Tony Williams, owner of Spotlite Records. Williams wanted to let me know that he transferred from the original master all seven of the magical tracks from Pepper Adams' date Ephemera that he produced 41 years ago. Williams is mailing me a copy of the CD today. What a Christmas gift!



Many of you know that Ephemera is one of Adams' greatest achievements. It was recorded at a time when Pepper was out of fashion and couldn't get a recording date as a leader. It had been five years since his Encounter session was recorded. Even though that date was eventually sold to Prestige, it was independently produced by Fred Norsworthy and funded by Norsworthy's girlfriend. The intent was to sell it to an interested party but no one was interested! Eventually, Don Schlitten at Prestige took it, which of course meant for virtually nothing and with limited distribution.

If you consider the stretch of time between Ephemera and when Adams was last recorded by a commerical entity, it had been eight years since the Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet date Mean What You Say was done for Milestone and eleven years since Adams' last date for Motown. That one remains unreleased and in Universal's vaults.

Ephemera is significant on several levels. For one thing it includes four original compositions by Pepper Adams. He had never written more than two tunes for any of his previous dates. Those tunes--Patrice, Hellure, Ephemera and Civilization and Its Discontents--stand as some of Pepper's greatest achievements as a composer. In fact, Adams felt that Ephemera was his greatest piece. I'm inclined to agree, though Patrice and Civ is right up there with it. Additonally, the quartet plays the standards Bouncing with Bud and Jitterbug Waltz, plus the Thad Jones ballad Quiet Lady. The playing is outstanding!

The date, recorded in London on 9-10 September 1973, uses the extraordinary rhythm section of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra: Roland Hanna, George Mraz and Mel Lewis. All tracks are from the 10th because the first day was marred by all sorts of bizarre technical difficulties. Because of that, Adams asked Williams to destroy everything from the 9th. 

Jones-Lewis was on tour of Europe at the time. As some of you know, Adams was right at home with the rhythm section and visa versa. Pepper and Mel were very close musical buddies since 1956. Mraz was Pepper's all-time favorite bass player. And Roland was a Detroiter. Need I say more? 

How can it be that this date has never been issued on CD? Well, saxophonist Dale Fielder and I are correcting that injustice. Fielder, based in Los Angeles, operates Clarion Jazz. He'll be putting the date out, we hope in early September in time to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the recording and in time for Christmas sales. Fielder will be repackaging and mastering the recording, possibly with the help of engineer Jim Merod (a passionate Pepper Adams fan). I'll be writing a new essay and providing photographs, never before seen, that were taken by Jill Freedman at the London photo shoot.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Shopping with Harry Carney

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.


Not long after Pepper Adams' death on 10 September 1986, his old college roomate from Wayne, Bob Cornfoot, prepared a remembrance for radio play of almost an hour in length to commemorate both Pepper and Thad Jones. Both Detroiters died within three weeks of each other. One of the things that Cornfoot discussed was the time when Adams replaced his student model Bundy baritone sax with a Balanced Action B-Flat Selmer. The Bundy was Adams' first baritone saxophone. He discovered it by chance while working as a Christmas extra at Grinnell's in 1947. His Selmer is what he used on all of his historic recordings from 1956-1978. Ultimately, metal fatigue made some of the keys unfixable. 

Cornfoot pointed out that Adams brought Harry Carney with him to Ivan C. Kay so the master could check out the instrument for the acolyte. Who better to check it out? The Duke Ellington Orchestra was in Detroit, playing the Paradise Theater from 15-30 October, 1948. Some of you would've read in an earlier post my account of Rex Stewart befriending Pepper in early March, 1944 at the RKO Temple Theatre. Pepper also met Carney at that time and it's presumed that Pepper stayed in close contact with the Ellingtonians. 








Saturday, November 29, 2014

Body and Soul, Sonny Rollins and Pepper Adams

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

We know that the 1939 Coleman Hawkins recording of Body and Soul is an iconic masterpiece of the jazz canon but don't we lose sight of how it influenced a generation of musicians? I recently read a piece by Marc Myers and was struck by how Sonny Rollins' experience as a young musician paralleled Pepper Adams'. Here's what Sonny Rollins recently told Marc Myers in the Wall Street Journal about Coleman Hawkins' recording:

"It's hard today to fully appreciate how different Coleman Hawkins' Body and Soul sounded when it hit Harlem jukeboxes in late 1939. On that three-minute record, Coleman took a popular torch song and, with his tenor saxophone, turned it into a personal statement without ever losing track of the original melody. Wow, that was completely new and it really changed me.

I first heard Body and Soul when I was 10 years old. I was standing outside the Big Apple Bar on the corner of 135th Street and Seventh Avenue, across from Small's Paradise, and heard it on the jukebox through an open window. Back then, I was playing alto saxophone and idolized Louis Jordan — and still do. But when I heard Coleman's Body and Soul, a light went off in my head. If he could personalize a popular song like that without lyrics, any song was possible if you had that intellectual capacity.

People in Harlem know their music, and I remember marveling at how many of them were touched by his record. Coleman went beyond what musicians were doing then by creating new harmonic inventions. Right after hearing the record, I bought a tenor reed and began using it on my alto mouthpiece to get that big Coleman Hawkins sound. Some years later, after much pleading on my part, my mother bought me a tenor sax and I was on my way."

For Pepper Adams, Hawkins' recording also propelled him to get a tenor saxophone and emulate Hawkins' big sound and more aggressive style. Up until that time Adams was playing clarinet, imitating the melismatic and lighter New Orleans playing of Jimmy Noone and Johnny Dodds. Here's a touching excerpt from my book, Pepper's Adams' Joy Road, as told to me by the noted Eastman School educator Everett Gates. I interviewed Gates about Pepper and Pepper's March, 1978 performance at Eastman:

"Adams dedicated Body and Soul to Everett Gates, a professor at Eastman and an early mentor to Adams who was in the audience. Regarding Adams’ performance of Body and Soul, Gates said, “That completely floored me!” In 1942, when Pepper Adams was eleven years old, Adams started visiting Gates on a regular basis at Gates’ home in Rochester, New York. They used to listen to music and discuss jazz and music theory. “He came to the house,” Gates continued, “and one day he said,

“Do you know Body and Soul?” I said, “Sure.” “Well,” he said, “could you write it out for me?” I said, “Sure.” At that time he was going to get a saxophone. So I wrote it out in D-flat, which of course was the key we always used, rather than any other when we’re playing. When we were improvising, it was always D-flat. And, so I wrote it out with the chords. He said, “There’s a record by Coleman Hawkins.” I said, “Yes, he made that a couple of years ago.” He said, “Well, he’s all over the place.” I said, “Yes, it’s very complicated and he gets up even to the high harmonics on the saxophone, like high G, so you have to be pretty advanced to control those.” So he said, “I wonder: Could you write me out a little improvisation that’s simple? Something simple I can play?” I said, “Sure. You can play this either on tenor, or you can play it on a clarinet.” So he got so he could play that, [and] this is what [he began his solo with] when he played at the Eastman Theater with the Eastman Jazz Ensemble. (He played this just with a rhythm section, and the other things he had played with a big band.) And, unbelievably, he played that, and then, of course, he went into his own [thing]. Well, of course, I was just overcome with what he had done there!"

Portrait of Everett Gates that hangs in a gallery at the Eastman School: http://instagram.com/p/t20Ku4pnv3/?modal=true

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Korean War Gigs, 1953

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

Here's my 4 July 2014 interview with Al Gould, co-author of Boots on the Ground with Music in My Hands, Korea 1952-1953. Buy the book here: 

http://www.amazon.com/Boots-Ground-Music-My-Hands/dp/1935089455 

Along with Pepper Adams, Gould was a member of the elite Second Platoon of the U.S. Army's 10th Special Services Company. At one point in the conversation co-author Jackie Gould answers a question.



GARY CARNER: First, thank you for this photograph. (See below). The picture of band, playing in Korea with that rugged backdrop: It really paints a perfect picture of exactly what you guys did. Right out of the truck, surrounded by sand bags, with a makeshift stage. It's an amazing document!

AL GOULD: That makeshift stage thing we did most of the time. We very rarely wore our special show uniforms. We were wearing our fatigues and so forth. We'd pitch in an open area someplace, or anywhere near where these different groups were. Where there was 50 men or more we'd put on a show. It could be the Turks, it could be the English, whatever. Actually, we did a lot of Americans. That's typical, the picture that you see.

C: Do you know where it was shot? What approximate date and location?

G: I wish I did. 

C: The Bulldozer Bowl. (See photo below.) Do you know what that is?

G: We played there several times but the first time could've been in mid-January of '53. It looks like they've got on heavy wraps. That would've been probably early- to mid-January.

C: You've got a picture of the audience. That's a big audience! What show is that for?

G: That would be one that we played before Pepper left in May, 1953. The cease fire didn't happen until June.

C: All the shows that you played with your platoon, Platoon #2, Pepper was on, correct?

G: Yes, that's right. Now, he left for home before I did. We can get to that later but we were definitely together. 

C: You guys were traveling, packing up, doing sometimes two shows a day, living in a tent when you could; a very intimate relationship with thirty guys, particularly the guys in the band. You must've had a chance to know Pepper very well.

G: I'm going to give a qualified "yes," but it's not too clear. I was talking to a lot of the guys all the time. He was fantastic, but I can't say we were bosom buddies, just us two together hanging out or whatever. I was with all of them.

C: Did he have particular friends, maybe Mack Saunders? Was he closest with a few of them?

G: Not really.

C: Tell me what Pepper was like? What were your impressions of him?

G: The impression was what a fantastic musician! You couldn't help but have that rub off at all times. Let me make one correction right now. You were referring to the Eighth Army Band. I don't think it should be referred to that way at all. There was an Eighth Army Band at Eighth Army Headquarters that had no connection with the Tenth Special Services Company. We usually referred to them by the platoons. We were the show band in the Second Platoon. There was a show band in three platoons. There were four platoons but the Headquarters Platoon, which was Platoon #4, didn't go do shows at all.

C: Yeah, they didn't tour. So you were the show band. What were the other two platoons doing?

G: They were doing identically the same thing, but we were on the road 24/7. We had passes signed by [General] Maxwell Taylor that got us through checkpoints any time of day, which was fantastic! One of the most important things which we haven't discussed was that the U.S.O. shows had civilians in them. They couldn't play closer that twenty miles from the front lines (MLR). Consequently, that's the reason the Tenth Special was so darn important because we could play within 500 yards. But the Bob Hope shows and so forth, which were fantastic, couldn't get any closer that twenty miles of the front line. They weren't trained to defend themselves.

C: The front line is not the same thing as the MLR is it?

G: I would say it's different nomenclature for the same thing: The Main Line of Resistance is the front line.

C: There wasn't a Demilitarized Zone, a DMZ that separated the two countries, like there was in Vietnam?




G: No, that came at the cease fire. I think it was for a mile in both directions.

C: Getting back to Pepper, do you remember anything at all about him, traveling with him, in the tent, any habits, any humorous anecdotes?

G: He was not a driver. Some of the members were drivers. He would probably be riding shotgun with one of the drivers. We had thirteen vehicles. We'd vary from maybe 28 to 33 men, depending on who was rotating home. The one vehicle that was the main one that we carried a lot of our uniforms and that kind of stuff kind looked like a metal-covered two-and-a-half-ton Army truck. We would always throw a tarp over it which said "R&R." R&R stood for the name of the show: Road to Ruin.

C: Who came up with that name?

G: It might've been Skippy Lynn. She was a "battle ax" but we have to respect her highly. She was fantastic! If you didn't cut the mustard, she'd take you right out of the platoon and you'd be in the infantry or something!

C: They didn't cut your band when Pepper was there?

G: No, not at all. 

C: In this picture he's playing baritone. I assume it was his instrument from home?

G: It could've been his instrument.

C: My hunch is that he at least took his own instrument to Ft. Leonard Wood.

G: I'm positive he would've done that.

C: I'm wondering if he might've brought it home, left it there, then just got a horn in the military and used his own mouthpiece?

G: He could've had his own in Korea. There's a timeline that bothers me. You had said that he left for Korea on October 10th. I left for Korea on October 25th. There wasn't time for that ship to leave on the 10th, go to Korea, and get back for me to load on the 25th. He would've been on the ship ahead of me but it couldn't have been October 10th. He was on the USS Walker and so was I. It would have to be at least a week before the 10th. Pepper was probably earmarked to go to the Tenth Special but they weren't ready for him when he reached [Camp] Drake so he stayed there. Pepper would've played there from when he got there in early October until he left in November and would go to Incheon. He would've been playing pickup shows identically the same as I was. I was blessed that they needed an accordion player the first part of the year or I never would've made it. Pepper probably played at the Ernie Pyle Theater, same as I did. He probably played at the Rocker Four Club, which was called the "Showplace of Japan," for people who were there on R&R (relax and recuperation). [Both were in Tokyo.]


C: Was there access to cigarettes?

G: Yes, very definitely, and we'd stop along the road occasionally when they yelled, "Pot!" Pot was growing wild. Marijuana was growing all over the place. They'd run out and get whatever they wanted to get. I didn't smoke so I didn't do it. We had cigarette rations all the time. 

C: You said you were the second person to enlist directly into the Army band in February of 1952.

G: Yeah, right, that was a brand new thing. As I took my infantry training on detached service, I never pulled guard duty or KP, because I didn't get on the roster and I sure never told anybody.

C: Pepper enlisted in 1951, in July, and he said that he was hoping to get into the band. So I guess at that point he wasn't sure.

G: The Sixth Armored Division Band; let's touch upon that at this time. There were three bands at Ft. Leonard Wood: the 6th Armored Division, the Headquarters was "326" (that I was in), and there was an all-black band also. I don't remember what number that was. You had actually written that, while at Ft. Leonard Wood, he made a little band that played later in Korea?

C: That can't be true?

G: That would be impossible, for the central reason that we were sent over individually, not as any unit at all. How would they know who would've ended up in Tenth Special? They wouldn't have known at that time.

C: It was up to Skippy Lynn to actually put them into groups and organize them, correct?

G: Yes, right. A lot of the guys were from the main bands of the day. He was probably already earmarked that, if he went to Korea, he would in the Tenth Special, whereas I got in by an audition.

C: Do you think he was very far ahead musically from everyone else in the band?

G: Yes, there were other excellent guys from main bands but Pepper stood out. Even though we had written arrangements, I'm quite sure what he was playing wasn't written. There was just the background, where the band was backing it up, so he was probably doing his own ad lib completely.

C: Did Pepper have a chance to write any arrangements for the band or were all the arrangements pretty stock?

G: I do know that we had a couple of guys writing arrangements for the band. He might've been one of them who was writing the arrangements.

C: What was the typical performance? Walk me through. If I was in the audience, tell me what I'd see?

G: A typical show was an hour long. They'd always open up with some fantastic uptempo arrangement of the band and maybe even play a couple of them before getting to any of the specialty acts. It was really trying to get the guys excited right off the bat. Then the specialty acts varied between the different platoons. We had this hypnotist, Bob Weiss. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. I know he had no way of getting any shills in the audience. He would make a post-somatic suggestion: He would say a certain word and they would do something. I couldn't believe that a hypnotist was that good to do it. The Country Western player was from Nashville. He was playing the hit songs of the day. He went over extremely well. We did have a number of singers that were quite good. 

C: So the band would break into small groups and you'd have little performances, singing or whatever it was?

G: Right. The band would still be sitting there but we'd be playing in front of the band. The band would back up the singers or the things of that nature. I'd play some solos, but the band would also be backing me up. The band varied from maybe twelve to fifteen members, depending on who was rotating in. The band was fantastic! I would've never had the opportunity to play with that high a quality of group if I hadn't been in the service. 

C: You had the comedian Al Lamo?

G: He was very, very good! All of the specialty acts had different outfits.

C: Did you ever get a chance to record the band?

G: I'm going to give a qualified "no." I wish I did. 

C: You had a three year tour of duty, correct?

G: Right. I got out a little early because I served overseas. I was what they called an "RA." I enlisted. That's the reason I was three years. If you were drafted, you were only two years.

C: I'm trying to figure out Pepper's tour of duty. Do you think it was shortened because of his service overseas?

G: It could've been. He went in '51 and he came out . . . ?

C: He enlisted on July 12, 1951 and he got discharge papers at Fort Custer, Michigan on June 5, 1953. 

G: OK, then he was drafted, but he could've been earmarked for Tenth Special when they needed one. He left [Korea] in May and they pulled the shows off the road at the cease fire in June. 

C: Where was Pepper based in Incheon? What was there?

G: He wasn't based there. He landed there.

C: Where would he have gone then?

G: He would've gone to Seoul, and from Seoul they would've gotten him as soon as possible into the second platoon.

C: In Seoul he would've been in a bunk somewhere? 

G: He would've been in Seoul probably no more that one or two days at that time. 

C: What was that place called?

G: Eighth Army Headquarters. Actually, the Tenth Special Service Company was a member of the Adjutant General Corp. of the Eighth Army Headquarters. On our collars we wore a shield that stood for the Eighth Army Adjutant General Corp. 

JACKIE GOULD: "Adjutant General," in today's nomenclature, are the lawyers. It's the legal arm of the Army.

G: I think it's important that you do mention Tenth Special as a member of the Adjutant General Corp. of the Eighth Army Headquarters because that's very high on the hog.

C: Who were some of the guys doing logistics?

G: There were usually about 18-19 players or entertainers. The others were in charge of keeping the trucks in shape. They were the ones that put the tents up and took them down. They helped set up the props if we were using them. They were very, very important people, especially when we were on the road and we weren't using our trunks. When we were at MASH Units they already had tents there. I'm quite sure Pepper would say the same thing: We really enjoyed playing the MASH Units because here's where the guys were that were severely wounded right off the front lines. They sure needed morale boosters.

C: How often did you doing that?

G: We were doing that fairly often. We were going back and forth from the MLR to the MASH Unit. We probably did MASH shows maybe twenty times. 

C: You did basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood? How long was basic training?

G: Eight weeks.

C: What was that like to get through? 

G: That was actually very interesting because they were giving you all kinds of training: On bazookas, going through obstacle courses, all kind of things. I was one of the top sharpshooters since I had been a rifle instructor before being in the Service. But I never did any shooting at all in Korea.

C: Did Pepper or any of these guys do any fighting?

G: Not in Korea, to my knowledge. When the enemy broke through at times at night, we were there but I don't think you could say we did any actual fighting. We were riding with the infantry guys at the time. We were prepared. We carried M-1s or M-2s--whatever it was with us--but I don't think we ever did.

C: The great drummer Mel Lewis said that Pepper picked up a really nasty foot fungus in Korea and he still had it three years later when he toured with Kenton in 1956. What was it like with personal hygiene and traveling?

G: It was a little bit rough because it wasn't too often that you had the ability to take a shower. If you did, it might even be a cold one. We sometimes would play an extra show--it wasn't on schedule--for officers, who would have their own shower and all that kind of stuff. They were at the front lines. By doing it, they would maybe allow us to use their shower facilities. 

C: Normal things like going to the bathroom. Did you go outside?  

G: Sometimes there'd be latrines at different areas but you'd stop along the road and take a leak. You had toilet paper. They provided it for you.

C: Did you eat mostly cold food or did you have a designated cook?

G: Actually, we did have what they call "C Rations" (canned food) occasionally, but we would quite often eat with whatever group we were playing shows with. We played for the British, which was in the wintertime, where you cleaned your utensils afterwards. It was frozen over. You couldn't even clean your utensils. It was the most filthy I'd ever seen.

C: Pepper left before you got re-assigned?

G: He left before the shows were off the road. He only started playing shows maybe six weeks before I did but he would've still played in a heck of a lot of shows. I never kept track of it but when I was in Korea, when they awarded me that special medal, they said I played in 268 shows in front of an estimated 189,000 troops in less than a year. 

C: Wow! That basically averaged one a day.

G: The highest we ever did, and it only happened once, we played four shows in one day. We very often played two shows in one day. 

C: Was that because you were playing two shows in one spot and then you'd play another two shows in another spot?

G: We did four shows. We did some traveling that day, so we played two shows in one area and two shows in another. But four shows in one day is tremendous because the roads that we had to travel through in the MLR were so terrible, you couldn't go more than ten, fifteen--twenty miles an hour would be fast! We couldn't go very fast at all.


C: How about flat tires and breakdowns? Did that happen a lot?

G: That did happen. We had one truck that was terrible. When went to a motor pool one day to do some work on it. Ultimately, we exchanged the hood of the truck with a brand new one, putting our hood on a new truck so it had all our information on it.

C: Was Pepper part of the command performance for President Rhee at the Presidential Palace?

G: Yes he was, very definitely.

C: Have any photographs or any information about that surfaced?

G: I have heard that there was a recording made of the Tenth Special, all the way through.

C: Where?

G: That would've been around the time that the recording was made of Jerry [Lehmeier, in April 1953]. It was on the road.

C: Did a performance ever stop because of an insurgency or artillery or anything?

G: There were times when shows were cancelled, yes.

C: How about in the middle of a show? Did you have to stop because you had to duck and take cover?

G: That didn't actually happen. I didn't know until after I published the book, but there were three people killed from the Second Platoon. 

C: That was before Pepper and you?

G: Right. One was killed by a sniper and two were from land mines.

C: About those dud mortars that had "We enjoyed the show too" in English, Pepper was in the band at that time?

G: Yeah, very definitely.

C: There were two mortars that said, "We enjoyed the show?"

G: Yes. They probably wanted to make sure that at least one of them came through OK.

C: That's hilarious! You were on the road almost the entire time, but tell me about the time with the house boy and where you would've been staying then. That was in Seoul, right?

G: That was in Seoul. When we were on the road, not very often, we'd be in Seoul just a day or two while we were redoing different supplies or things changed. I was actually stationed at Fort Headquarters after the shows came off the road and that's when I got to know Kim Byong Joo. I didn't know him earlier when we were there for a day or two at a time. That's only when Pepper would've gotten to know him because [Pepper] wasn't there after the show came off the road. 

C: Regarding the chronology, where would you've gone from Seoul to do your very first show?

G: I think there was one rehearsal and then I went.

C: You have a map in your book but I'm trying to get a sense of how all this flowed. The first stop was the British Commonwealth UN Unit. A lot of this was in territory that was barely marked, right? How did you guys get around? Who navigated?

G: We had thirteen vehicles. One was a Jeep. One was a three-quarter-ton truck, and then there was this one special, large truck that was the same size as what they call a "Deuce-and-a-Half." And all the rest were Deuce-and-a-Halfs. Our trucks were pretty well filled with all the stuff we had to carry. 

C: What does Deuce-and-a-Half mean?

G: Two and a half tons. 

C: Were you traveling a lot at night or in the dusk?

G: It could be any time. If you were traveling at night, you didn't use much of any headlights. We tried to travel during the day if we could but at times we definitely were traveling at night.

C: There's a picture of Able Battery in the book. It's on page 20. Did you guys perform there?

G: Before the cease fire we definitely did play there. Able Battery is the farthest north we ever played.

C: The Bulldozer Bowl? Do you know where that was?

G: That would've been back about twenty miles from the front lines.

C: Do you remember any of the shows or locations when you were doing two a day for ten straight days? You said that week was especially grueling.

G: That would have been near the MLR to do that many that often. We played in Pusan, which was sort of near the end. They brought all of our thirteen vehicles and us back on flatbeds aboard a train. It took us two days to get back up to Seoul. On the front of it, while we were on the flatbeds, we were playing and going through these little towns where the Koreans were. They were rather amazed. It was like a circus. These weren't scheduled as performances. We were just playing for ourselves, goofing around. That would've been on our way home from Pusan. We were eating "C" Rations only.

C: What kind of horrors did you see? I'm trying to understand what kind of horrors Pepper would've seen on the battlefield.

G: We would've seen that when we were at MASH. We would've seen people with limbs missing. Around the countryside things were bombed out. Seoul was virtually 100% bombed out. The Chosen Hotel was still there, because the military used it for their high brass. What they called the Dak Soon Mansion (or Blue Roof Mansion), where President Syngman Rhee lived, they never touched that. Otherwise, it was really almost completely a bombed out area.

C: Pepper told me that the Koreans were absolutely terrified of the Chinese invading their country.

G: That's true.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Joy Road Updates

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.


Here's new updates to Joy Road. In discographies, as many of you know, things are always changing! This update will post at pepperadams.com sometime this weekend.




I've been amassing corrections and additions since the August 2012 publication of Pepper Adams’ Joy Road. As you will see, there are some very exciting new Pepper Adams discoveries. The 2013 paperback edition gave me a chance to overhaul the Index. For reasons I explain below, it’s vastly superior to the index in the hardcover version. But those are static changes, fixed in the manuscript. Discographers know that their databases are instantly obsolete upon publication. New commercial recordings continue to get released or reissued. Audience recordings are continually discovered. Errors are unmasked and missing information slowly but surely gets supplanted by new data. That’s why discographies in book form are now a rarity. With the steady stream of updates that are needed to keep a discography current, the internet is the ideal medium. When Joy Road goes out of print, in fact, my entire book with updates will be posted right here. In the meantime, please send any corrections or additions to info@pepperadams.com.



Correction:
STAN KENTON - VOICES IN MODERN
570304, page 32

Personnel should reference 17 January 1957, not 17 January 1956.


Correction:
DAVE PELL - A PELL OF A TIME
570320, page 34

The two-line note about Walter Bruyninckx should be deleted.


Addition:
BOB KEENE - SOLO FOR SEVEN
570321, page 34

The tune Solo (from Andex LP: A-4001) should be added.


Correction:
AUTHOR'S NOTE, page 52

See 731216 should be See 731217.



Correction
BUD SHANK - THE JAMES DEAN STORY
570813
13 August 1957, Radio Recorders,Hollywood CA: Charlie Mariano, Herbie Steward as; Bill Holman, Richie Kamuca ts; Pepper Adams bs, bcl; Claude Williamson p; Monty Budwig b; Mel Lewis dm; Mike Pacheco bongos; FEATURED SOLOISTS: Chet Baker tp; Bud Shank as, fl.

a Lost Love
b People
c Rebel at Work

Regarding Bill Holman and Johnny Mandel’s participation, on July 29, 2104 researcher James Harrod emailed me this: "The [AFM] contracts just list the musicians. Holman might have retained the charts that he arranged. I believe that he has placed most of his archive with the LOC. He received arranger credit on the 14th only. Mandel is not listed as arranger on the 13th. He might have had a direct agreement with Dick Bock for his services. The back liner of P-2005 notes that Mandel arranged The Search, Jimmy's Theme, and Success; with Holman arranging the other selections. Mandel might have retained his charts as well." Harrod also told me that Chet Baker was listed on the LP as co-leader merely as a marketing strategy to boost sales. Also, Johnny Mandel likely functioned as a conductor at both sessions.


Correction
BUD SHANK - THE JAMES DEAN STORY
570814
14 August 1957, Radio Recorders, Hollywood CA: Same as 13 August, add Ray Linn, Don Fagerquist tp; Milt Bernhart tb; Mike Pacheco bongos; Chet Baker voc*.

a Jimmy's Theme
b Fairmount, Indiana
c Let Me Be Loved
d Let Me Be Loved*
e Hollywood

-b: Omit Pacheco.
-c is an instrumental version.
-d is a vocal arrangement, featuring Chet Baker voc.
See 570813 notes.


Correction
PEPPER ADAMS - CRITICS' CHOICE
570823
23 August 1957, Radio Recorders, Hollywood CA.

Pepper’s second date as a leader was done on one day, from 1-6pm. The LP cites the 22nd of August as the recording date but this is incorrect as per Jim Harrod’s American Federation of Musicians contract research in 2014.


Correction:
SOUL OF JAZZ PERCUSSION
600400
Spring 1960, Bell Sound Studios, New York: Donald Byrd tp; Pepper Adams bs; Bill Evans p; Paul Chambers b; Philly Joe Jones dm; Earl Zindars timpani, perc.

This was likely recorded between 9-18 April or in May-June.


Addition:
PEPPER ADAMS - MOTOR CITY SCENE
601115, page 107

All tracks on Bethlehem CD: BCP-6056.


Correction:
PEPPER ADAMS-DONALD BYRD - OUT OF THIS WORLD
610125
between 25 Jan- 5 Feb 1961, New York: Donald Byrd tp; Pepper Adams bs; Herbie Hancock p; Teddy Charles vib*; Laymon Jackson b; Jimmy Cobb dm.

Sometime between 25 January and 5 February 1961 the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet record their date for Warwick. This was Pepper Adams’ eighth date as either leader or co-leader. New research reveals that, with the exception of a 13-20 December gig at Curro’s in Milwaukee (see 601213), the Quintet worked steadily in Chicago for nearly two months (from 22 November 1960 until 22 January 1961). Assuming a long travel day back to New York on 23 January and the opening of their week run at the Five Spot on the 24th, the band likely recorded no earlier than 25 January. As yet, no known information exists on band gigs for the period 1-5 February, prior to the group embarking on their two month tour of the Midwest and Eastern Canada.


New Entry:
DONALD BYRD-PEPPER ADAMS
610616
16 June 1961, TV broadcast, Cleveland: Donald Byrd tp; Pepper Adams bs; Herbie Hancock p; Cleveland Eaton b; Teddy Robinson dm.

The Quintet appeared on the program The One O'Clock Club while in town working at Algiers. The show was broadcast by WEWS (Channel 5), hosted by Dorothy Fuldheim. It isn't clear if either the audio or video still exists.


Addition:
DONALD BYRD-PEPPER ADAMS
610624, page 115

Also performed at Jorgie's was Out of This World (VGM unissued).


Correction:
LIONEL HAMPTON
611209
9 December 1961, Metropole Cafe, New York: Dave Gonsalves, Virgil Jones, Floyd, Richard Williams tp; Vince Prudente, Harleem Rasheed, Lester Robinson tb; Bobby Plater, Ed Pazant as; Andy McGhee, John Neely ts; Pepper Adams bs; Kenny Lowe p; Billy Mackel g; Lionel Hampton vib; Lawrence Burgan b; Wilbert Hogan dm.

a At the Metropole Glad-Hamp LP: GHLP-3050
b Encore (= Greasy Greens)
c After You've Gone Glad-Hamp LP: GHLP-1005
d They Say It's Wonderful (1)
e It's All Right with Me
f Take My Word
g McGhee

(1) Hampton and the rhythm section.
-c, -e, -g on Hindsight CD: HCD-242.


Correction:
JIMMY WITHERSPOON
630700
c. Summer 1963, CBC TV broadcast,Toronto: Dizzy Reece tp; John Gilmore ts; Pepper Adams bs; John Hicks p; Ali Jackson b; Charli Persip dm; Jimmy Witherspoon voc.

a Evenin'
b Ain't Nobody's Business
This program was entitled Sixty Minutes with Spoon, produced by Daryl Duke. Thirty minutes of it
was broadcast on 11 February 1964 on the program "Quest."


Addition
LIONEL HAMPTON
640723
23 July 1964, probably ORTF TV broadcast, Antibes Jazz Festival, Juan-les-Pins, France: Martin Banks, Benny Bailey tp; Bobby Plater as, fl; Ed Pazant ts, cl; Pepper Adams, Cecil Payne bs; Billy Mackel g; Lionel Hampton, vib, voc; Lawrence Burgan b; Floyd Williams dm.

a Hamp's Boogie Woogie
b unknown blues
c unknown blues
d Stardust
e Flying Home
f Our Love Is Here to Stay
g unknown blues
h unknown blues
i Air Mail Special
j Midnight Sun
k Air Mail Special
m The Man I Love
n Sophisticated Lady

See 640707, 640724, 640725 and 611209 notes. 


Correction:
AUTHOR'S NOTE, p. 145

The Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet’s first known gig took place at the Clifton Tap Room in Clifton NJ on 26-27 March 1965.


Correction
JOE ZAWINUL - MONEY IN THE POCKET
660207

This was Pepper’s only recording that day, thus the change from 660207a. Adams was not at the Village Vanguard for the opening gig of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. See Author’s Note directly below.


Author's Note
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS ORCHESTRA
660207b

Pepper Adams was not on this date. As per new research, it’s now confirmed that Marv Holladay is the baritone saxophonist. George Klavin was the engineer for the live recordings at the Village Vanguard and he still owns the tapes. Fortunately, he wrote the personnel on the tape boxes. CDs of this performance are held at the Thad Jones Archive at William Paterson University. The following are the tunes at the Archive, cross-referenced with those tunes released as a bootleg by Alan Grant on the CD "Opening Night."

a All My Yesterdays (unissued)
b All My Yesterdays (released by Grant)
c Back Bone (unissued)
d Big Dipper (unissued)
e Big Dipper (unissued)
f Mean What You Say (released by Grant)
g Mornin’ Reverend (released by Grant
h The Little Pixie (released by Grant)
i Willow Weep for Me (released by Grant)

According to saxophonist Jerry Dodgion, the tunes hadn’t yet evolved into what they eventually became. For example, The Little Pixie became a chase for the entire saxophone section. Here, though, only Jerome Richardson solos on the tune.

Mel Lewis told Michael Bourne in Jazz Journal International (Vol 42, No. 4, April 1989, p. 14) the following about Thad Jones’ big band arrangements and the early band book:

"Thad left Basie [in 1963]. We were thrown together in the Mulligan band. We’d been friends
for years. He’d just started writing for Gerry's band. Thad was experimenting. He was going to
bring things in for Gerry's band but he never got around to finishing anything. Thad was 
searching at that point. Basie commissioned Thad to write an album, 11 or 12 charts, and Thad
did them. Thad and I were still just hanging around with each other, still talking about a band of
our own. Basie rejected the arrangements. They were such a drastic change from what the Basie
band was all about. Thad called me and said, 'I’ve got some arrangements. Let’s have a 
rehearsal.’ We started our band with stuff written for Basie. Basie’s name was on the charts 
when we made our first rehearsal, but that became us. When we opened at the Vanguard a
month later, that first Monday night, we only had nine charts. We just hadn’t gotten around to
doing all of them. We played those nine charts and stretched them out. That’s where the whole
style with long solos and riffs happened. That was the band with Brookmeyer and Snooky Young.
We had all that experience in the band. Anything could happen."

Correction:
Pages 152, 203, 205, 253, 254, 263, 275, 287, 292, 305, 330, and 740312 

According to David Demsey, Curator of the Thad Jones Archive at William Paterson University, the correct title of Thad Jones’ tune Back Bone is most likely two words, not one. See 660318, 690902, 690908, 690909, 730814, 730815, 740313, 740712, 750915, 751111, 760113, 770727.


New Entry:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
660321
21 Mar 1966, private recording, Village Vanguard: Thad Jones flh; Snooky Young, Jimmy Nottingham, Bill Berry, Jimmy Owens tp; Bob Brookmeyer vtb; Garnett Brown, Jack Rains tb; Cliff Heather btb; Jerome Richardson as, ss, cl fl; Jerry Dodgion ss, as, fl; Joe Farrell fl, ts, ss; Eddie Daniels ts, ss, cl; Pepper Adams bs, cl; Hank Jones p; Sam Herman g; Richard Davis b; Mel Lewis dm.

a Once Around BMG (NZ) CD: 74321-51939-2
b Don’t Ever Leave Me
c Lover Man
d A--That’s Freedom   unissued
e All My Yesterdays
f Back Bone
g Big Dipper
h The Little Pixie
i Low Down
j Mornin’ Reverend
k Willow Weep for Me

The following is excerpted from a 26 April 2014 post at my blog "The Master" 
(http://gc-pepperadamsblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/double-trouble-alan-grant-george-klabin.html):

Since the 2012 publication of Pepper Adams' Joy Road, the first of two books I'm doing on Pepper Adams, a controversy over what constitutes the first performance by the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra has remained. My information was based on Pepper's itinerary, interviews with musicians in the band and also what I could infer from the CD "Opening Night." At the very least I wanted to know if Pepper Adams or Marv Holladay was playing baritone, since both are listed on the cover as participating musicians. Thanks to new information from my recent interview with engineer George Klabin, plus the efforts of saxophonists Frank Basile and David Demsey, I'm able to report some changes to the historical record.

First a little background. In 2000, DJ and impresario Alan Grant released a CD called "Opening Night" that purported to be music from the incredibly important first appearance of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard on 7 February 1966. But others, such as saxophonists Jerry Dodgion and Bill Kirchner, contested that what Grant suggests (and partly what I wrote in my book) about the gig is not entirely true. Dodgion was in the band from its inception and Kirchner had been researching a book about Thad Jones with fellow saxophonist Kenny Berger. Detroit journalist Mark Stryker, too, in his research for his forthcoming book on Detroit jazz, also takes issue with Grant and some of my assump-tions. Like Dodgion and Kirchner, he disputes that all the tunes on Grant's CD are from 7 February and says there are two separate dates. The reason for the discrepancy mostly stems from all of them having heard recordings of the band made at the Village Vanguard that exist at the Thad Jones Archive at William Paterson University. 

In Joy Road (pages 150-52) I discuss the situation as I saw it just prior to publication in 2012. At that time I owned the Alan Grant CD but hadn't known about the two CDs at the Archive. Moreover, based upon the excellent recording quality of Grant's CD, the fact that Grant had a show on WABC-FM that routinely broadcasted live performances in New York City clubs, and that Grant was also actively promoting at that time on his show Pepper, Thad and Mel, I felt that the music likely emanated from ABC Radio. It turns out, however, that a nineteen-year-old self-taught engineer, George Klabin – who at the time (1965-69) had an evening jazz radio show on WKCR – recorded Thad and Mel's performance at the Vanguard. 

I interviewed George Klabin on 23 April 2014 to find out more about the recording's pedigree and to once and for all try to solve the riddles that remain about this great music. Klabin now lives in Los Angeles and runs Resonance Records (resonancerecords.org). His company specializes in releasing historically important jazz recordings, many that Klabin recorded live in clubs and for which he still retains legal ownership. Klabin developed a reputation around New York in the mid-60s for recording jazz musicians well and affordably. He would lug his own equipment into nightclubs, record musicians, then play some of it on his radio show. Klabin promoted these recordings to his listeners as music they'd never hear anywhere else. One of the first things he recorded was Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden for George Avakian that became an important early Jarrett demo. Another is a Bill Evans date. See the label's web-site for a roster of recordings.

Alan Grant and George Klabin were DJ colleagues in New York City. One day in early 1966 Grant called Klabin. He told him there was a new all-star big band that was playing their first gig at the Village Vanguard. Grant needed a recording. Would Klabin do it? Sure. Klabin brought six mics and was given two cocktail tables near the pole where Pepper Adams sat (at the far stage-left side of the club) to set up his Crown two-track stereo 7.5 ips recorder. He mixed everything live in his headphones. After the gig, he gave Alan Grant a copy and that was it. I doubt Klabin played any of the music on his own radio show. Klabin did confess that he was "completely blown away" by the band. He knew right away that this was a band unlike any other. 

A few weeks later Grant asked Klabin to return to the Vanguard on 21 March to record the band a second time. For that gig Klabin used 10 mics. Klabin said the band sounded even better. More polished, for one thing. For both gigs Klabin ended up with several hours of music.

Fast forward 34 years. To make a fast buck Alan Grant decides to bootleg a bunch of tunes from these two nights. Although Klabin owns the rights, Grant never got permission from Klabin to release it, never credited Klabin as the engineer and never paid the musicians. Essentially, Grant did an end run and went to BMG/New Zealand to print 2,500 copies. Jason Blackhouse (from Auckland), not Klabin, is credited as the engineer, and liner note verbiage throughout only trumpets the 7 February recording date. As David Demsey, director of the Thad Jones Archive has pointed out, the implication is that Blackhouse was the engineer on hand at the Vanguard. Furthermore, misleading listeners into believing that all the material derives from the band's first gig was equally duplicitous.

When Klabin learned about the release he was furious. He hired a detective to find Grant, who was living in Florida. Klabin telephoned Grant and said bluntly, "What's going on here? How can you do this without giving anyone credit?" Grant replied contritely, "I know, it wasn't a good idea." Miffed, Klabin left it at that.

Grant's bootleg is long sold out but a copy exists at William Paterson. Two CDs worth of Klabin's original tapes, presumably given to Thad Jones by Alan Grant, have been transferred from reel-to-reel and are there as well. A third reel may be missing, says Klabin, but he believes he still might have even more material. Fortunately, personnel for each night is specified on Klabin's tape boxes. 
Thanks to the work of David Demsey, who meticulously compared all the recordings, here's what's on the two Klabin CDs versus Grant's bootleg (listed as parenthetical comments):

7 February 1966
CD #1:
1. All My Yesterdays (unissued)
2. All My Yesterdays (released by Grant)
3. Back Bone (unissued)
4. Big Dipper (unissued)
5. Big Dipper (unissued)
6. Mean What You Say (released by Grant)
7. Mornin' Reverend (released by Grant
8. The Little Pixie (unissued)
9. Willow Weep for Me (released by Grant)

21 March 1966

10. Once Around (released by Grant)

CD #2:
1. A--That's Freedom (unissued)
2. All My Yesterdays (unissued)
3. Back Bone (unissued)
4. Big Dipper (unissued)
5. Don't Ever Leave Me (released by Grant)
6. The Little Pixie (released by Grant)
7. Lover Man (released by Grant)
8. Low Down (unissued)
9. Mornin' Reverend (unissued)
10. Willow Weep for Me (unissued)

What else does Klabin have and did a third reel he recorded get lost? What's the derivation of three tunes from Grant's CD – Big Dipper, Polka Dots and Moonbeams, and Low Down – that Demsey asserts is neither on Grant's or Klabin's CDs? What's the complete personnel of each date? Klabin has promised to clear up the remaining mysteries. Fortunately, since our interview he's already had the time to look at his tape boxes from 7 February and 21 March to at least confirm that Marv Holladay, not Pepper Adams, was on the 7 February date. Conversely, Pepper appears on the 21 March date in place of Holladay. 

According to Jerry Dodgion, Klabin has wanted to produce these important recordings since Grant's release to correct the historical record and get the music out the right way. Hopefully Klabin will release his definitive version soon, in its original running order, especially with Thad's announcements, and maybe even with Alant Grant as emcee? For Klabin, these brilliant Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra performances remain the greatest recordings he's ever made.


Correction
JOE WILLIAMS AND THAD JONES - SOMETHING OLD, NEW AND BLUE
680423
23-27 April 1968, Los Angeles: possible personnel: Thad Jones flh; Snooky Young tp, flh; Garnett Brown, Jimmy Knepper or Benny Powell tb; Jerome  Richardson as; Eddie Daniels ts; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p, org; Kenny Burrell g; Larry Bunker vib; Richard Davis b; Mel Lewis dm; Joe Williams voc; string section.

Delete Hallelujah I Love Her So, Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning, How Sweet It Is and Evil Man Blues.


New Entry:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS                                                                          
680720
20 July 1968, audience recording or radio broadcast, Pit Inn, Tokyo: Thad Jones flh; Bob Brookmeyer vtb; Jimmy Knepper, Garnett Brown tb; Cliff Heather btb; Jerry Dodgion as, fl; Jerome Richardson as, cl, fl; Seldon Powell ts; Eddie Daniels ts; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; Kunimitsu Inaba b; Mel Lewis dm.

a Lover Man
b Bachafillen
c unknown title
d Don't Git Sassy
e Back Bone
f   Don't Ever Leave Me
g St. Louis Blues

 -c is a solo piano feature.
According to bassist Richard Davis, in a 2014 email to the author, Davis left the gig early and Inaba took his place. Because the Pit Inn was a small room for a big band, it's conceivable that Thad Jones scaled the band down to twelve pieces and Davis left the club along with the entire trumpet section before the final set.

This is the only known recorded gig from the band's first "tour" of Japan. Elvin Jones' future wife, Keiko, had agreed to put together eleven days worth of gigs. There was a great deal of excitement because this was the band's first overseas trip. An itinerary of events was given in advance to members of the band. On the morning of 11 July the band, along with seven of the musicians' wives, waited at JFK Airport to board a plane but the promised tickets never arrived at the gate. Thad Jones and Mel Lewis were left with no alternative but to charge the tickets on their American Express cards, without which the orchestra might've dissolved. To make matters worse, despite the itinerary, only one gig was arranged for the band in advance. The orchestra was in limbo each day until gigs could be acquired. The photographer K. Abe lent his life savings to pay for airplane tickets to get the group back to New York. After Mel Lewis returned, he paid Abe back by leveraging his residence with a second mortgage.

According to Jerry Dodgion, Jerome Richardson made the trip and the trumpet section on the tour was Snooky Young, Jimmy Nottingham, Danny Moore and Richard Williams. Richard Davis remembered the following musicians: Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Richard Williams, Garnett Brown, Bob Brookmeyer, Cliff Heather, Eddie Daniels, Pepper Adams and Roland Hanna.


Correction:
DUKE PEARSON - NOW HEAR THIS
681203

Pearson on p and e-p.
Randy Brecker and Marvin Stamm tp and flh.
Correct title is I'm Tired Cryin' Over You. Pearson on e-p here only.


New Entry:
DUKE PEARSON
690427
27 April 1969, Famous Ballroom, Baltimore: Burt Collins, Joe Shepley, Jim Bossy Donald Byrd tp, flh; Julian Priester, Joe Forst, Eddie Bert tb; Kenny Rupp btb; Jerry Dodgion, Al Gibbons as, fl; Frank Foster, Lew Tabackin ts; Pepper Adams bs; Duke Pearson p; Bob Cranshaw b; Mickey Roker dm.

a Hi-Fly Uptown CD: UPCD-2772
b New Girl
c Eldorado
d In the Still of the Night
e Tones for Joan's Bones
f Straight Up and Down
g Ready When You Are C.B
h Night Song

Recorded by the Left Bank Jazz Society. See 671215.


Correction
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
690909

According to historian Bert Vuijsje, the broadcast also featured the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band and Boy Edgar's Big Band, not the Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra. Video of the broadcast does still exist.


Addition:
RICHARD DAVIS
691209

Reissue on Polydor (J) CD: POCJ-2164.


Correction:
DAVID AMRAM - NO MORE WALLS
710701

George Mgrdichian, not Mrgdichian, is the proper spelling.


Correction:
ELVIN JONES, page 239

See 720713 should be deleted.  Although that 13 July 1972 session produced three other tracks (Soultrane, Gee Gee, and One’s Native Place), Pepper Adams is not on them, therefore the session isn’t listed in the text.


Correction:
RICHARD ROUNDTREE
720216
16 February 1972, New York: Overdubs: Thad Jones tp, flh; Joe Dupars tp; Garnett Brown tb; Jerry Dodgion as; Sonny Fortune, Billy Harper, Andy Gadsden ts; Pepper Adams bs; Joe Farrell bcl.

a Gets Hard Sometimes MGM LP: SE-4836
b Peace in the Morning
c I'm Here
d Street Brother
e Man from Shaft
f Tree of Life
g Lovin'
h Sagitarian Lady
i The Letter

All tracks on MGM (UK) LP: 2315-121.


New Entry:
RUBY BRAFF
19 July 1972, audience recording, Half Note, New York: Ruby Braff cornet; Pepper Adams bs; Dill Jones p; George Mraz b; Dottie Dodgion dm.

a unknown blues

This recording was discussed in Michael Steinman's blog "Jazz Lives" (http://jazzlives.wordpress.com/author/jazzlives), published on 5 August 2014:

I will close with my single Pepper Adams sighting. In 1972, several friends and I followed Ruby Braff to gigs.  Although Ruby was unpredictable and unreasonably given to rage, he was always pleasant to us and allowed us to tape-record him. On July 19 of that year, my friend Stu and I came to the Half Note to record Ruby with the Welsh pianist Dill Jones, bassist George Mraz (then working with Pepper in the Thad Jones – Mel Lewis ensemble, and Dottie Dodgion on drums.  About two-thirds through the evening, where the music had been very sweet, with Ruby’s characteristic leaps through the repertoire of Louis, Duke and Billie, a tall man ascended the stand with a baritone saxophone, was greeted warmly by the players, and the quintet launched into an extended blues in A-flat. I remember Dottie Dodgion being particularly enthusiastic about the unnamed musician’s playing, who packed his horn and went off into the warm Greenwich Village night. Who was that unmasked man? The subject of Carner’s book, and yes, the tape exists, although not in my possession.


Correction 
PEPPER ADAMS, page 241

The correct recording date of the Oslo gig was 29 October 1972 and the rhythm section was Christian Reim p; Sture Janson b; Ole Jacob Hanson dm.


New Entry:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
17 Sept 1973, audience recording, Blighty's, Farnworth, England: Thad Jones cornet; Jon Faddis, Steve Furtado, Jim Bossy, Cecil Bridgewater tp; Jimmy Knepper, Billy Campbell, Steve Turre tb; Cliff Heather btb; Jerry Dodgion ss, as, fl; Ed Xiques ss, as, fl, cl; Billy Harper ts, ss, cl; Rob Bridgewater ts, cl; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; George Mraz b; Mel Lewis dm; Dee Dee Bridgewater voc.*

a Us
b 61st and Richard
c Suite for Pops:
Meetin’ Place
Only for Now
The Farewell
d The Second Race
e Fingers
f Bye Bye Blackbird*
g How Insensitive*


Correction 
PEPPER ADAMS - EPHEMERA
730910
10 September 1973, EMI Studios, London: Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; George Mraz b; Mel Lewis dm.

This account of the date was provided to the author by Tony Williams, owner of Spotlite Records, on 13 November 2014:

The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Band were working the Ronnie Scott Club at 47 Frith Street in Soho (Central London). As I was a good friend of baritonist Cecil Payne, when I went to hear the band I intro- duced myself to Pepper and he asked me if I would record him with Roland, George and Mel. I had only started Spotlite and was beginning to record American musicians – for example Joe Albany, Cecil, Duke Jordan, Red Rodney, Al Haig, Ben Webster, Jon Eardley, Dexter Gordon and Lockjaw Davis. I do recall, when Lockjaw approached me about doing an album I said I couldn’t afford him. He smiled and told me not to worry about that and things could be amicably figured out!

I agreed to fix a recording date with Pepper and got things set up at EMI Studios on Sunday, September 9th. Pepper’s Quartet made some recordings but Pepper was not satisfied with the results so the Quartet was recorded again the following day, September 10th, 1973. Pepper was well pleased with everything that was recorded that day which, apart from a few false starts, was done all in single takes. Pepper did ask me not to keep anything from the previous day which, out of respect to him, I did not. . . No photographs were taken but Pepper did get some photos to me of himself that were taken by Jill Freedman. He and I selected a couple to use on the LP sleeve. The LP was issued in 1974 and I got copies to Pepper to give to the other guys in the Quartet.



New Entry:
SADAO WATANABE
740311
c. 11 March 1974, FM-Tokyo radio broadcast, Tokyo: Sadao Watanabe as; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; Eizo Honda b; Fumio Watanabe dm.

a Wistful Moment
b When Lights Are Low
c Ride On
d Ephemera
e Oleo


Correction/Addition:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
740312
12 Mar 1974, Yubin-Chokin Hall, Tokyo: Thad Jones cornet, flh; Jon Faddis, Steve Furtado, Jim Bossy, Cecil Bridgewater tp; Jimmy Knepper, Billy Campbell, Quentin Jackson tb; Cliff Heather btb; Jerry Dodgion ss, as, fl; Ed Xiques ss, as, fl, cl; Billy Harper ts, fl; Rob Bridgewater ts, cl; Pepper Adams bs; Roland Hanna p; George Mraz b; Mel Lewis dm.

a Mean What You Say Nippon-Columbia (J) LP: YX-7557
b Don't Ever Leave Me Nippon-Columbia unissued
c The Little Pixie Nippon-Columbia (J) LP: YX-7557
d Once Around Nippon-Columbia unissued
e A - That's Freedom
f Willow Tree
g Back Bone
h Don't Git Sassy

-d is likely a spliced version of this take and -a from 13 March 1974.
Takawa Isizuka should be Takao Ishizuka.


Addition
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS ORCHESTRA
740312
12 or 13 March 1974, Yubin-Chokin Hall or Toshi Center Hall, Tokyo: Add Dee Dee Bridgewater voc.

a Don't Ever Leave Me
b A-That's Freedom
c The Little Pixie
d Bye Bye Blackbird
e Get Out of My Life
f unknown title
g Fingers
h The Little Pixie

Dee Dee Bridgewater on -c and -d.
According to information posted at rhythmhouse.co.jp, these are alternate tracks that were recorded by Nippon-Columbia. The site doesn't specify what tunes were performed on either night.

Correction/Addition:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
740313
13 Mar 1974, Toshi Center Hall, Tokyo: Same as 12 March 1974, add possibly Dee Dee Bridgewater voc.*

a Once Around Nippon-Columbia (J) LP: YX-7557
b Kids Are Pretty People Nippon-Columbia unissued
c Say It Softly
d 61st and Richard
e A Child Is Born
f Back Bone Nippon-Columbia (J) LP: YX-7557
g Bachafillen Nippon-Columbia unissued
h I Love You*
i The Farewell
j Fingers
k The Intimacy of the Blues

-a is likely a spliced version of this take and -d is from 12 March 1974.
-h might be a feature for Dee Dee Bridgewater. The band also performed it as an instrumental.


Correction:
THAD JONES
740728

Walter Norris, not Roland Hanna, is the pianist on this date. Roland Hanna's last international tour with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra band was the band's trip to Japan in February-March 1974. Hanna's last recording with the band was in New York on 8-10 May 1974. By 27 June 1974 (the beginning of the band's 1974 European summer tour) Walter Norris had permanently replaced Hanna, ending Hanna's eight year tenure with the band. Hanna was the longest serving pianist in the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra's history.


Addition
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS ORCHESTRA
751026
26 October 1975, FM-Tokyo radio broadcast, Tokyo: Add Juanita Fleming voc*.

a Once Around
b Thank You
c Mean What You Say
d A Child Is Born
e Bird of Beauty*
f Fingers


Addition:
FRANK FOSTER - GIANT STEPS
751113 

Foster also plays ss.
-a and -b on Denon (J) LP: YC-7567-AX.


Correction/Addition:
FRANK FOSTER - GIANT STEPS
751117a 

See 751113 for personnel.
-a and -b on Nippon-Columbia-Denon (J) LP YX-7576 and Denon (J) LP: YC-7567-AX.


New Entry:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
751215
15 December 1975, audience recording, Village Vanguard, New York: Thad Jones flh; Al Porcino, Waymon Reed, Sinclair Acey, Cecil Bridgewater tp; Billy Campbell, Janice Robinson, John Mosca tb; Earl McIntyre btb; Jerry Dodgion, Ed Xiques ss, as, fl; Frank Foster, Gregory Herbert ts, cl; Pepper Adams bs; Onaje Allan Gumbs p; George Mraz or Steve Gilmore b; Mel Lewis dm.

a Big Dipper
b Kids Are Pretty People
c Bachafillen
d Samba con Getchu
e Giant Steps
f Thank You
g A Child Is Born


Correction:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
751217a, page 303

Love and Understanding should be Love and Harmony.


Deletion:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
760113

Ed Xiques took Pepper's place on this three-week winter tour that was intended mostly to open the new Domicile in Munich. It's likely that Adams declined going on the trip because the tour ended two weeks before his wedding on 14 February.


Deletion:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
760125

On this WDR radio broadcast from Cologne, Ed Xiques subs on baritone sax for Pepper and takes two baritone solos on tunes that are customary Adams features. It's possible that Adams didn't make this somewhat brief three-week trip to Europe to open up the new Domicile because the tour ended two weeks before his wedding on 14 February and he was needed to help with wedding arrangements.


Correction:
PEPPER ADAMS
770222
22 February 1977, audience recording, Restaurant La Redoute, s'Gravenwezel, Belgium: Pepper Adams bs; Tony Bauwens p; Roger Vanhaverbeke b; Freddy Rottier dm; GUESTS: Eddy House as*; Johnny Kay p+.

a Pepper Adams
b A Child Is Born
c What Is This Thing Called Love
d On the Sunny Side of the Street*+
e Misty*+
f Scrapple from the Apple*+

-a is the first public performance of Tony Bauwen's dedication to Adams. Although it was untitled at the time of its premiere and tentatively named "P/A. . . Pepper Adams," by 1984 it was retitled "Pepper Adams" for the big band arrangement of the tune that was recorded by the BRT Jazz Orchestra.


Correction:
PEPPER ADAMS
770228
28 February 1977, BRT radio broadcast, Witte Hoed at the Royal Anderlecht Sporting Club Bar, Anderlecht, Belgium: Pepper Adams bs; Tony Bauwens p; Roger Vanhaverbeke b; Freddy Rottier dm.

a Mean What You Say
b A Child Is Born
c Ephemera
d Pepper Adams

Regarding -d, see 770222 above.


Correction:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
770502
c. 2 May 1977, audience recording, West Virginia University, Morgantown WV.


Correction:
THAD JONES
c. 3 May 1977, audience recording, Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University, Youngstown OH.


Addition
JOHN SPIDER MARTIN - ABSOLUTELY
770600
According to Dave Loeb, pianist Bill Dobbins wasn't available for the date so Loeb subbed for him. At the recording session, after Martin and Adams had discussed whether a certain take was acceptable, they learned from the engineer that the take had been erased. Adams said that this was the most unprofessional thing he had ever seen in his thirty years of recording.

The day after the recording, most of the group worked a gig in Rochester. After the gig, Pepper stayed at Loeb's house rather than at a seedy hotel in downtown Rochester. Loeb and Adams stayed up all night listening to records. Except for Bud Powell, Pepper refused to listen to any jazz and would only listen to classical music. Asked whether Ellington might've been another exception, Loeb said he didn't have any Ellington in his collection at the time.


Correction
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
770625

This Carnegie Hall concert, part of the Newport Jazz Festival, took place at midnight on Saturday. It was a salute to the Jones Brothers (all three of whom performed two tunes with the addition of Rufus Reid) and Dizzy Gillespie. The final two numbers featured Gillespie with Thad-Mel and Elvin Jones replaced Mel Lewis. Because Elvin had sat in twice before with Thad-Mel and one occasion broke one of Mel's calf drum heads, it's likely that Elvin's drums were brought in to replace Mel Lewis’.


Correction:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
770730
30 July 1977, private videotape, Copenhagen: Same as 9 July 1977, omit Rully:

a Once Around
b The Little Pixie
c My Centennial(1)

(1)Thad Jones and some bandmembers play various percussion instruments.

The band performed a free concert in a public square, probably near the Stroget. In the film, Dexter Gordon walks across the screen. Gordon had a gig that night at the Montmartre Jazzhus.


Correction:
THAD JONES-MEL LEWIS
770800B
29-31 July, 1-6 August, or 11 August 1977, DR TV broadcast, unknown outdoor square, Copenhagen: Thad Jones flh; Earl Gardner, Larry Moses, Jeff Davis, Frank Gordon tp; Billy Campbell, John Mosca, Clifford Adams tb; Earl McIntyre btb; Jerry Dodgion, Ed Xiques ss, as, cl, fl; Richard Perry, Dick Oatts ts, cl, fl; Pepper Adams bs; Harold Danko p; Rufus Reid b; Mel Lewis dm, Aura Rully voc.*

a Fingers
b Route 66*
c My Centennial (1)

(1) Thad Jones and some bandmembers play various percussion instruments.
Dexter Gordon is in the audience.  This might be a public square near the Stroget.


Addition:
PEPPER ADAMS-KAI WINDING
780804

See note on 760714 regarding the HNITA Jazz Club.


Addition
VLADIMIR COSMA
771019
19 October 1977, film soundtrack, Paris.

This date has been reissued on Pomme (F) CD: 950-222. It includes an alternate take of Jalousie-Blues but does not include -f (All My Evening Birds). -f was previously issued on Larghetto (F) CD: 0015163 and has been reissued on Larghetto (F) CD: 004- 3760002133478-17CD.


Correction
HELEN MERRILL - CHASIN' THE BIRD/GERSHWIN
790306
6 Mar 1979, RCA Studios, New York: Pepper Adams bs; Dick Katz p; Rufus Reid b; Mel Lewis dm; Helen Merrill voc.

a     It Ain't Necessarily So (1)       Inner City LP: IC-1080
b     Summertime       
c     I Can't Be Bothered Now (2)
d     Someone to Watch Over Me    
e     My One and Only         Trio (J) LP: PAP-9160
f But Not For Me (3) Inner City unissued

See 790309.
(1) Reid, Lewis, Merrill only.
(2) Katz and Merrill duet.
(3) Pepper, Katz and Merrill only.           

Raymond Ross photographed this session and no photos are taken of Puma in the studio with the band on 6 March. Since Puma was added on only three of nine tracks, it's likely he attended only the 9 March session. See 790309. 


Correction
HELEN MERRILL - CHASIN' THE BIRD/GERSHWIN
790309
9 Mar 1979, RCA Studios, New York: Pepper Adams bs; Dick Katz p; Joe Puma g; Rufus Reid b; Mel Lewis dm; Helen Merrill voc.

a     Embraceable You/Quasimodo     Inner City LP: IC-1080
b     I Got Rhythm/Chasin' the Bird        
f I Love You, Porgy

Raymond Ross photographed this session and the first Merrill session of 790306. Ross sent me contact sheets of his work and each strip of photographs are dated. In all, 126 photos were taken. Puma only appears in photos taken on 9 March. Considering this, and the fact that Puma was added on only three of nine tracks, it's unlikely he attended the 6 March session. See 790306. 


New entry
PER HUSBY
790325
25 Mar 1979, audience recording, Kristiansund, Norway: Pepper Adams bs; Per Husby p; Bjorn Alterhaug, Espen Rud dm.

a     Just Friends       
b     Quiet Lady       
c     Eiderdown (1)
d     Embraceable You    
e     Three and One        
f 'Tis           

(1) Rhythm section only.
Sponsored by the Kristiansund Jazz Society.
Correction:
PEPPER ADAMS
790907
7 September 1979, audience recording, Jazz Forum, New York: Pepper Adams bs; Bob Neloms p; Wayne Dockery b; John Yarling dm.

a It Could Happen to You
b In Love with Night
c Blue Champagne
d 'Tis
e Claudette's Way
f Pent-Up House
g I Carry Your Heart


Addition:
PEPPER ADAMS - THE MASTER
800311
11 March 1980, Downtown Sound, New York City.


Correction:
PEPPER ADAMS
801017

The guest on this date is Marv Holladay.


Addition:
PEPPER ADAMS-AL JARREAU
820224

On 24 September 2012 historian Dan Morgenstern discussed this television broadcast at a press party held at New York's Jazz Gallery. The event was held to celebrate the publication of Pepper Adams' Joy Road and kick off the first week-long celebration of Adams' music ever organized in New York. According to Morgenstern,

I had the pleasure of getting to know Pepper a little better, other than having admired him as a player and seeing him many times. We were together for a while in the Recording Academy, and he was one of the few jazz musicians who became active in the Academy. The upshot of that was one of the finest moments in the history of the Grammy television show, which was when somehow we managed to get Pepper on the show and, not only that, he was the climactic attraction at the end. He played "Shining Hour" and it was marvelous! It will never happen again on the Grammys that jazz has such a prominent part of it.


New entry
PEPPER ADAMS
830000
c1983, audience recording, Petit Opportun, Paris: Pepper Adams bs; Georges Arvanitas p; Jackie Samson b; Charles Saudrais dm.

a Pent-Up House


Correction: 
DANNY D'IMPERIO
830930a
30 September 1983, audience recording, Eddie Condon's, New York: John Marshall tp*;
Pat Rebillot p; Reggie Johnson b; Danny D'Imperio dm; GUEST SOLOIST: Pepper Adams bs.

a Have You Met Miss Jones
b Scrapple from the Apple
c Body and Soul
d My Ideal*
e Hellure
f Star Eyes*
g Minority*
h Lover Come Back to Me*
i Just You, Just Me
j Blues for Philly Joe/Billie's Bounce*

The band played two sets, each concluding with a blues (-e and -j). This was the club's first late Friday afternoon "Twilight Jazz" engagement. It was slotted in to precede Condon's customary 8:30 traditional jazz band set.


Correction 
PEPPER ADAMS, page 448

The Gershwin medley is comprised of only two tunes: My Man's Gone Now and I Loves You, Porgy.


Addition: 
DENNY CHRISTIANSON
841023a
For this CBC Studio date, Christianson hired a few subs to replace missing members of his big band. Apart from drummer Guy Nadon replacing Cisco Normand, these subs remain unknown. Delete Paul Picard perc.  Otherwise, personnel (see 860224 and 860225) is mostly correct.


Correction: 
PEPPER ADAMS, page 456

The correct name of the album is Exhilaration.


Correction 
PEPPER ADAMS, page 477

-e and -f: Gary Smulyan on both tracks.
-g is more properly called The Theme and Adams doesn't solo on it.


Correction: 
PEPPER ADAMS
851029
29 October 1985, audience recording, Pellerina Bar, Turin, Italy: Pepper Adams bs; Ricardo Zegna p; Dodo Goya b; Paolo Pellegatti dm.

a Falling in Love with Love
b All the Things You Are
c There Is No Greater Love (1)
d I Can't Get Started
e 'Tis
f Bye Bye Blackbird
g Bossallegro
h Just Friends
i 'Tis
j Old Folks (1)

(1) Rhythm section only.


Correction:
ORANGE COUNTY COLLEGE BIG BAND
860320

Song for Pepper was written by saxophonist Brian Williams, not Bruce Johnstone.


New entry
PEPPER ADAMS
860321
21 March 1986, audience recording, Orange Coast College, OCC Jazz Festival, Costa Mesa CA: Pepper Adams bs; other musicians.

According to collector Andy Katell, this was a clinic that Adams did for students attending the Festival. Katell's brother, Gabe, attended the clinic then took Pepper out to lunch in nearby Garden Grove.


Correction:
PEPPER ADAMS
860323a
23 March 1986, private videotape, Orange Coast College, OCC Jazz Festival, Costa Mesa CA: Pepper Adams, Nick Brignola bs; Claude Williamson p; Art Davis b; Carl Burnett dm.

a All the Things You Are
b Isn't It Romantic
c After You've Gone
d unknown ballad (1)

(1) Adams and rhythm section.


Correction: 
PEPPER ADAMS, page 511

The August, 1982 recording date that is cited is in conflict with the session's 790716 alphanumeric code. Although the drummer believes the date took place in August, 1982, Pepper's chronology for that time makes it impossible. The original 16 July 1979 date is more likely because that's when Pepper first wrote "Binary," that they recorded at that session.


Correction:
INDEX, pages 521-552

Hundreds of changes – mostly incorrect page references – were made to the index for the paperback edition. (These are the only updates that were made to the paperback.) Due to the malfunction of my printer very late in the camera-ready-copy process, it was necessary to use a new printer after much of the manuscript was already printed. This changed the pagination of the original manuscript that had already been delivered to the indexer.