60 Days to Publication

 

This past month has seen steady progress toward the

publication of Reflectory: The Life and Music of Pepper Adams. First, I’ve re-edited

for the last time before its September release Chapters 8-

12. I’ve also submitted final copies of Chapters 2-4 for

eBook formatting. Chapters 1 and 5-7 are still out for

review.

Also, most of the book is eBook ready, and that includes a number of photographs. All that remains is incorporating what my readers suggest, formatting the front- and end-matter, inserting new versions of most chapters in place of what’s there already, getting all the music links formatted, and finishing the Music Directory. Things still look good for its September release.

I recently received this wonderful blurb from John Gennari,

that will be added to the front matter:

“Gary Carner’s deep and painstaking research into the life

and music of Pepper Adams, coupled with his sure feel for

this underappreciated jazzman’s complex personality, has

yielded an absorbing biography that also reveals much

about the jazz life writ large. Carner’s nimble narrative

captures Adams as a man of reserve and sensitivity thrown

into the always bracing, sometimes exasperating tumult of

jazz’s post-bop Detroit-to-New York vector. Reflectory is

jazz history of the first rank.”

Gosh, I sure am gratified by this! If anyone in the world is

an expert on the history and literature of jazz, it’s Gennari.

I’m adding his last sentence to the book’s cover.

Speaking of Gennari, I now use three quotes as chief

epigraphs in the book:

Ya gotta be original, man

 – LESTER YOUNG

How many musicians out there are really different?

 – RAN BLAKE

Because jazz demands that musicians find their own sound

and stamp their performances with a singular individuality,

those who succeed in music tend to be distinctive, singular

individuals

– JOHN GENNARI

Progress with the Biography

{SEE BELOW]

Much of my free time in November was consumed by proofreading

and polishing the galleys of Chapters 1-3 of my Pepper Adams

biography. Chapter 1 is currently being reviewed by two readers, after

having been read by another. Chapters 2-3 are following the same

process. Obviously, the more feedback I get, the stronger the book

becomes. The Prologue has already been put to bed.

Each chapter has an epigraph, which helps me underscore why I chose

each chapter title. The book’s central epigraph, essentially my lead

argument, is this:

How many musicians out

there are really different?

- RAN BLAKE

I’ve begun hunting for an ebook publisher. Nothing tangible yet, but

I’ve made progress nonetheless.

As for the second half of the biography, to be published in 2021,

Chapters 4-6, 8 and 10 are done. Chapter 7 is in progress, about a

third finished. 9 remains as a major task, though I have a ton of notes. 

Chapters 7-10 will follow this basic format:

Chapter 7:

1. Solos with Thad/Mel
2. Solos as a single, 1963-1977
3. Solos as a sideman, 1963-1977

Chapter 8:

1.  Marriage proposal; Girlfriend #1
2. Girlfriend #2
3. New York loft scene
4. Girlfriend #3

Chapter 9:

1. Racial relations

       2.   Journeyman, original poem

       3.   Drugs/Bobby Timmons/Elvin Jones

       4.   Interlude: Bohemian New York in the Fifties

5. Byrd/Adams
6. Goodman, Monk, Mingus
7. Kenton, West Coast Scene, early New York experiences

Chapter 10:

1. Accolades
2. Six reasons why Adams didn’t gain popularity
3. Conclusion

The process of working through all of my taped interviews was very

well worth it. I was able to add some really great excerpts to the book:

Lew Tabackin, for example, discussing the bleak 1960s, the difference

between Thad and Duke Pearson as bandleaders, and why Thad and

Mel were crazy to put their band in the hands of Keiko Jones for the ill-

fated 1968 trip to Japan that almost finished off the orchestra. 

My Mel Lewis interview was equally good. What a rich trove of information

about the intricacies of Thad/Mel and the Stan Kenton band. Some very

important information also came from the two physicians who owned

Uptown Records, Pepper’s last record label. They had much to say about

his final illness, and the role they played when advising him about his

health. Many other quotes were added from other interviewees; subtle but

important comments that added depth to my existing text.

My biggest discovery, however, wasn’t testimony from an interview, as

valuable as they are to the project. The most startling find was the Norma

Desmond-like letter (remember the film Sunset Boulevard?) that Pepper’s

mother wrote to her son when he moved out of her house in late 1955. It

really put her character into perspective. Previously, I had all these friends

of Pepper’s commenting about her, but nothing at all from her in her voice.

This is the only letter that exists written by her, and it’s quite telling that

Pepper would save it. 

Next to that, my interview with Bob Cornfoot was very important. It made me

completely revise when Pepper moved back to Detroit in 1947, and when he

began working at Al’s Record Mart. It necessitated a complete revision of

Pepper’s chronology from late 1953 to the end of 1955, plus changing some

language in my text.

One of the enormous benefits of working through all the interviews yet again

is correcting errors, and discovering so many new facts about where and what

Adams did during his lifetime. Accordingly, many changes have been made

to Pepper Adams’ chronology:

https://www.pepperadams.com/Compositions/compList/index.html 

I expect the updates to be posted soon.

I’ve organized all of my remaining Pepper materials for donation to William

Paterson University. Pepper’s recordings and other materials that belong to

the estate are still in my possession. It looks like it will be 2020 before I

deliver the first batch of goods. Then, it's up to the university to make room

for the rest of it.

I’ve corresponded with Chick Corea, asking him to consider writing a foreword
to the book. I was pleased that he bought a copy of Joy Road. Any suggestions
about who else I should contact for a foreword?

Pepper Adams Biography

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

I've begun writing the second volume. I've modified and signed off on the Epigraph, Prologue and first chapter and I continue to build the Recommended Listening section. Perhaps some of you have noticed that every few days I've been sneaking in my listening choices on my Facebook page? So far, I've posted around seven tunes and videos. Many more are to come, of course. It's been fun listening again and adding them. Today I listened twice to one of Pepper's great masterpieces: Pepper Adams Plays Charlie Mingus.

As for the biography, I'll post the Epigraph below, then the Prologue next week and Chapter 1 in two weeks. After that, you'll just need to wait and read the book! Chapter 1 sets things in motion with a rationale for why Pepper is an important figure. It's intended to entice those not faamiliar with him and his work.  It leads into Chapter 2, something I'm developing, which might be a discussion of his father or other father figures, such as Rex Stewart. The Prologue discusses when I met Pepper and how my work on Pepper came to be.

Here's the Epigraph, stated to me in a Thelonious Monk seminar I took many years ago in Blake's Brookline, Massachusetts apartment:

How many musicians out there are really different?

- Ran Blake