Pepper Adams Biography Release Date

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.




The exciting news this month is that I’ve decided to release the first three chapters of my Adams biography as e-books. Once John Vana and I came to the conclusion that we are better off releasing the book digitally, it became obvious that there’s no reason to wait any longer. Getting the chapters out in early 2019 will help bridge the gap between then, the near future when I release Chapters 4-6, and some eight or so years from now when Vana starts publishing his musicological analysis.

The plan at this point is to release the chapters individually at $4.95, or the first half of the book for $9.99. I’d love some feedback on whether this approach makes sense, and especially if you have any advice about what vendors to choose, how I should go about it, etc. I’ve heard good things about iUniverse, and I’m aware of CD Baby and Amazon as two other options.

This week I’ll be sending to the Jazz History Database three large reel-to-reel tapes that contain the entire contents of all of my interviews with Pepper Adams. I started interviewing him in June, 1984, and only some of the material was excerpted by Cadence in their four-part series in 1986. The idea, of course, is to make all of this material available, and to link it to pepperadams.com.

I’ve spent most of my free time this month listening to Pepper Adams solos, trying to find some more of those incredible gems that reside within the many audience recordings I’ve catalogued in Joy Road. I’ve been focused mostly on the period 1983-1986. There’s so much great material, and I did find a few things that are truly special (see below). Before I started listening a few weeks back, I was under the impression that Adams, because of his bizarre car accident in December, 1983, had lost some of his facility due to his long layoff. I was led to believe that principally because of the way he sounded on a gig or two in New Jersey and elsewhere. After listening to his first gig back (at the Detroit Institute of Arts in June, 1984) once ambulatory again, and to other dates later that year and afterwards, however, I realized that there was no diminution of his playing at all. If his playing suffered at any time, it was toward the very end of his life, when he was very deep into his cancer, battling secondary infections, and physically quite weak.

Below is a roster of the samples you can expect to hear in the coming months at pepperadams.com that I discuss in Chapter 4 of my Pepper biography. While some are obscure audience recordings, others are landmark commercial releases. Have a great month and Happy Thanksgiving!


Chapter 4:
Pepper Adams, Montreal Jazz Festival (1986)
[“Dobbin’”]
Denny Christianson, Suite Mingus (1986)
[“Lookin’ for the Back Door, “My Funny Valentine,” “Fables of Faubus”]
Pepper Adams, Plays the Music of Charlie Mingus (1963)
[See Chapter 6]
Joshua Breakstone, Echoes (1986)
[“It’s Easy to Remember,” “Bird Song,” “My Heart Stood Still”]
Pepper Adams, The Adams Effect (1985)
[“Binary”]
Pepper Adams, Encounter (1968)
[See Chapter 5]
Pepper Adams Live (1977)
             [“How Long Has This Been Going On?”]
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (1977)
[“Donna Lee”]
Pepper Adams at Gulliver’s (1978)
            [“Half Nelson,” “Time on My Hands,” “Three Little Words,” “Chelsea Bridge,” “‘Tis,”    
            “Apothegm,” “A Blue Time,” “Body and Soul,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “‘Tis,” “I’ve Just
            Seen Her,” “What Is This Thing Called Love,” “I Love You”]
Pepper Adams, Eastman Theater (1978)
             [“Body and Soul”]
Pepper Adams, Reflectory (1978)
[“Reflectory,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Etude Diabolique,” Claudette’s Way,” “I Carry Your
Heart,” “That’s All”]
Walter Bishop Jr, Cubicle (1978)
            [“My Little Suede Shoes,” “Summertime,” “Cubicle,” “Now, Now That You’ve Left Me”]
Sture Nordin (1978)
[“Straight, No Chaser” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5jQMY4dbU4  “Day Dream”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHXa-WrFw98]
Curtis Fuller (1978)
            [“Four on the Outside”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rsx8oN2HRE
            “Suite-Kathy” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xVwaCW7Dj4
             “Hello Young Lovers” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNf0I_o2SIg
             “Little Dreams” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoD4yPwp0BI
              “Ballad for Gabe-Wells” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAm2zUS2uek
              “Corrida del Torro” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpB71ceky4M]
Pepper Adams in Montreal (1978)
  [“Dylan’s Delight,” A Child Is Born,” Mean What You Say,” I Carry Your Heart,” “Bossa
  Nouveau,” “In Love with Night,” Three Little Words,” “Claudette’s Way,” “Oleo”]
Bill Perkins (1978)
  [“La Costa,” “Dylan’s Delight, “Civilization and Its Discontents”]
Dick Salzman (1978)
  [“Mean to Me,” “Love Walked In,” “My Little Suede Shoes”]
Helen Merrill, Chasin’ the Bird/Gershwin (1979)
               [“Summertime,” “Embraceable You/Quasimodo”]
Pepper Adams at the Pizza Express (1979)
  [“Bye, Bye Blackbird,” “Civilization and Its Discontents,” “Oleo,” “’Tis”]
Oliver Nelson, More Blues and the Abstract Truth (1964)
  [See Chapter 6]
Jimmy Witherspoon, Blues for Easy Livers (1966)
  [See Chapter 6]
Pepper Adams at the Jazz Forum (1979)
  [“I Carry Your Heart”]
Pepper Adams, The Master (1980)
[The entire date, plus alternates]
Pepper Adams at Far and Away (1980)
[Falling in Love With Love, “How Long Has This Been Going On,” “What Is This Thing
            Called Love,”  “Three and One,” “A Child Is Born,” Mean What You Say, “Urban
            Dreams,” “Happy Birthday,” “I Carry Your Heart,” “I’ll Remember April”]
Pepper Adams at Far and Away (1981)
[“In a Mellow Tone,” “Confirmation”]
Pepper Adams at Far and Away (1982)
[“What Is This Thing Called Love,” “Shuffle”]
Pepper Adams at Far and Away (1983)
[4/16: “Times Have Changed,” “The Days of Wine and Roses,” “Rue Serpente”]
[9/30: “That’s All”]
[10/1: “Time on My Hands,” “Times Have Changed,” “Witchcraft”]
[11/19: “Falling in Love with Love,” “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams,” “Bye, Bye
            Blackbird”]
Noreen Grey at the University of Bridgeport (1984)
[“A Woman Is a Sometime Thing”]
Pepper Adams at Far and Away (1984)
            [“Three and One”]
Pepper Adams at Far and Away (1985)
            [850112: “Witchcraft”]
            [850413: “In Love with Night”]
Pepper Adams at the Downtown Athletic Club (1980)
[“My Funny Valentine,” “Blues in the Closet”]
Pepper Adams with the Skymasters Big Band (1981)
[“The Preacher”]
Pepper Adams at The Flags (1981)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na-jnzMTQpQ
Pepper Adams, Urban Dreams (1981)
[“Urban Dreams”]
Pepper Adams at the Bull’s Head (1982)
[“Isn’t It Romantic,” “Witchcraft”]
Pepper Adams at Nick’s (April 1, 1982)
[“I Carry Your Heart”]
Pepper Adams at DeFemio’s (1982)
[“If You Could See Me Now”]
Hank Jones at the International Jazz Festival (1982)
[“Urban Dreams”]
Nobby Totah in Westport (1982)
[“Get Happy,” “Urban Dreams,” “Take the ‘A’ Train”]
Pepper Adams with the Metropole Orchestra (1982)
[“Urban Dreams,” “Linger Awhile,” “I’m All Smiles,” “Witchcraft,” “Gone with the Wind”]
Pepper Adams at Nick’s (December 10, 1982)
[“My Little Suede Shoes,” “Reflectory,” “No Refill”]
Pepper Adams at Struggle’s (1983)
[“Chelsea Bridge,” “Pent-Up House”]
Pepper Adams at the OCC Jazz Festival (1983)
[“Oleo” (solo only)]
Pepper Adams at the Four Queens Hotel (1983)
[“A Child Is Born”]
Elvin Jones at the Village Vanguard (1983)
[“Island Birdie”]
Hank Jones at the Stockholm Jazz and Blues Festival (1983)
[“Doctor Deep”]
Pepper Adams at the Ottawa Jazz Festival (1983)
[“What Is This Thing Called Love,” “Bossallegro”]
Pepper Adams at DeFemio’s (1983)
[“Alone Together”]
Danny D’Imperio at Eddie Condon’s (1983)
[“Have You Met Miss Jones” (with D’Imperio’s intro), “Scrapple from the Apple,” “My
            Ideal,” “Hellure,” “Star Eyes,” “Minority,” “Just You, Just Me,” “Blues for Philly Joe” (full
            take)
Ray Alexander at Eddie Condon’s (1983)
[“Green Dolphin Street,” “In a Sentimental Mood,” “Bernie’s Tune,” “Witchcraft”]
Pepper Adams, Live at Fat Tuesday’s (1983)
[“Doctor Deep” (8/20: track -w, p. 436 of Joy Road]
Denny Christianson at the CBC Radio Studios (1984)
[‘Autumn Leaves,” “A Pair of Threes,” “Reflectory,” “Claudette’s Way”]
Pepper Adams at the Singapore International Jazz Festival (1984)
[“What Is This Thing Called Love,” “Bossa Nouveau,” the concluding half-chorus (directly
            after the bass solo) and cadenza to “Body and Soul”]
Pepper Adams at the Bull’s Head (February 5, 1985)
[“Isn’t It Romantic”]
Pepper Adams at the Bull’s Head (February 18, 1985)
[“My Shining Hour”]
Pepper Adams at the Ship Hotel (1985)
[“Lady Luck”]
Michael Weiss at the Angry Squire (1985)
(“If You Could See Me Now,” “Milestones”]
Pepper Adams at the San Remo Jazz Festival (1985)
[“Doctor Deep”]
Pepper Adams at the Pellerina Bar (1985)
[“Bye, Bye Blackbird”]
Pepper Adams at the Artists’ Quarter (January 15, 1986)
[“Three Little Words,” “Quiet Lady,” “The Days of Wine and Roses,” “Pent-Up House,”
“’Tis,” “Hellure,” “Bossallegro”]
Pepper Adams at the Artists’ Quarter (January 16, 1986)
[“How Long Has This Been Going On”]
Pepper Adams at the Artists’ Quarter (January 18, 1986)
[“Three and One”]

More Pepper Biography News

It's been a dense month of listening to the many interviews that I conducted with a bunch of Detroiters, such as Hugh Lawson, Bess Bonnier, Phil Levine, Curtis Fuller and others. I still have a number of them to hear. All of them relate to Pepper's early days in Detroit.
The value of listening to them is to find little gems of information that I can still add to the book, or to make factual corrections to the existing text. When I add new text, of course, I have to take my time writing a new paragraph here and there, and then go through a series of rewrites. Here's a few examples of some new text. (I'm still researching what instrument Vigiletti played):


Adams’ friends mostly referred to him as “Pepper.” Some affectionately shortened his nickname to “Pep.” Others, such as Barry Harris, called him “Mr. Peepers,” because of his similarity, in appearance and affect, to the mild-mannered, bespectacled actor Wally Cox who portrayed Mr. Peepers on the popular American television comedy of the same name that ran from 1952-55. Some of Pepper’s oldest friends, such as Elvin Jones, preferred his birth name, “Park.”


Some Detroit musicians, however, didn’t care for Pepper’s playing. “When I got home from the army,” said Adams, “I discovered that what was mod and fashionable on baritone then was the very light, tender sound, and I had a number of people tell me quite seriously that if I ever expected to stay in music I would have to alter the way I was playing.” Several of these judgmental white musicians not only objected to Adams’ big sound, thinking it old-fashioned and too “black,” but they didn’t like his use of harmony, thinking that he didn’t know what he was doing. “He was so far in front of everybody,” said Hugh Lawson. “They mocked him because they didn’t understand it. That’s like Elvin Jones. They were so far in front.”
Three white players, however, did admire what Pepper was doing: Joe Vigiletti, the drummer Norman Purple, and the baritone saxophonist Frank Morelli. All three of them, according to Lawson, followed Pepper around from gig to gig. Morelli, who would much later take Curtis Fuller’s place in Yusef Lateef’s group, idolized Adams and wanted to study with him. Although Pepper was grateful for the admiration, as a “self-taught” player he somehow felt ill-equipped, despite his many accomplishments already, to teach the baritone saxophone to a younger devotee.

My co-author, John Vana, and I have at long last set up the contents of the entire Pepper Adams biography (see below). Again, our publication date is 2030, the centennial of Pepper's birth. The first half of the book is 100 pages in length, not including front matter. My last half of the book will be written in reverse chronological order. Chapter Four will cover the time when Adams was married, mostly after he left the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Chapter Five will cover his thirteen-year period of time playing with Thad Jones. Chapter Six will deal with Pepper's arrival in New York until late 1964.
The formation of the Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet, by the way, has been scaled back eight months, from March, 1965 to September, 1964. It turns out that the Quintet played gigs in New York City not soon after both Thad and Mel left the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band. This predates by two months Thad and Pepper's contribution to Oliver Nelson's legendary recording More Blues and the Abstract Truth. This new information will be reflected in changes that I will be making to my Adams chronology, posted at pepperadams.com.
As you can see by the headings below, Part Two of the forthcoming Adams book will give John Vana a chance to chart Pepper's growth as a soloist, discuss significant recordings throughout Pepper's thirty-year career, reveal his enduring legacy, and to get deeply into his important and extensive analysis of "The Big Three: Parker, Coltrane and Adams." I think that this section will be one of the most influential aspects of the book. Think of it: No one -- historians or fans -- puts Pepper Adams in their league. Yet he rightful belongs there, as Vana will explain through the use of numerous musical examples and carefully reasoned explication of what each has done in their playing career. All music examples will be posted at pepperadams.com.
As for the site itself, numerous upgrades have been made already to pepperadams.com. Please check it out.


CONTENTS


Dedication                                                                                 v
Contents                                                                                                vii
Foreword by ________________                                                         ix
Acknowledgements
Prologue

PART ONE
The Life of Pepper Adams

Ascent (1930-1955)
                        Chapter 1: What Is It?
                                          Interlude: Detroit Drives the Nation
                                          What Is It? (Part II)
                        Chapter 2: Inanout
                                          Interlude: A Brief History of Rochester, New York
                                          Inanout (Part II)
                        Chapter 3: Binary
                                          Interlude: Detroit Jazz, 1922-1954
                                          Binary (Part II)

Dominion (1956-1986)
Chapter 4: Now in Our Lives
                        Chapter 5: Conjuration
                        Chapter 6: Urban Dreams

PART TWO
The Music of Pepper Adams

Chapter 7: The Emergence of an Original Style
Chapter 8: The Big Three: Parker, Coltrane and Adams
Chapter 9: Key Recordings
Chapter 10: Jazz Innovator

Appendix
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Authors