I’m thrilled to report that my paperback version of Reflectory,entitled Pepper Adams: Saxophone Trailblazer, is now submitted in final form to Excelsior Editions. It took
about two solid weeks of intense work to finish the index,
after another two similar weeks close-reading the manuscript.
“Jimmy Health”? That’s one typo that for so long snuck under
the radar but is now fixed.
William Paterson University has cataloged my and Pepper’s
materials, and they are now available for study. Another box of
tapes and videos will be sent sometime this year from my
webmaster. And a large load of five or so large boxes of scores
and ephemera still sit in Atlanta. I’m not sure how they will make
it to Wayne, New Jersey, but I’ll drive it there in 2024 at the latest.
Disappointingly, Worcester Polytechnic University has yet to
digitize my interviews with Adams. They’ve had them for three
years, but no news yet on when they will be available at their
website.
Now that my Pepper Adams work has come to a close after 38
years, I’m free for hire to do other jazz projects. I just finished
writing liner notes for Paul Tynan and Aaron Lington’s forthcoming
recording Bicoastal Collective, Volume 6.
To keep Reflectory current, I’ve convened another Pepper Adams
Zoom panel. On February 26, the following will discuss Adams
solos. It will be posted on YouTube and at pepperadams.com
sometime in March:
Paul Tynan: “Clarion Calls” (1959)
Ben Sidran: “Little Rootie Tootie” (1959)
Aaron Lington: “Each Time I Think of You” (1961)
Andrew Hadro: “Incarnation” (1963)
John Vana: "Azure-Te" (1963)
Logan Ivancik: “Once Around” (1966)
Frank Basile: “Currents/Pollen” (1973) and
“Wind from the Indies” (1977)
Adam Schroeder: “Three and One” (1975)
Kenny Berger: “Reflectory” (1978)
Kevin Goss: "My Shining Hour" (1980)
Courtney Wright: “It Could Happen to You” (1980)
Noah Pettibon: “Three Little Words” (1981)
Lastly, check out this new discovery: Pepper Adams in Rome with
Franco D’Andrea’s trio, January 20, 1979:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr70HvIbexQ