Tuesday, May 28, 2013

2013 Pepper Adams Tour

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.



This Fall's four-week Pepper Adams tour is shaping up beautifully.  The esteemed arranger Tony Faulkner arrives in Atlanta from the UK on October 25, and, after a few days of fun, we hit the road for gigs, clinics, lectures, and recordings in Cincinnati, Champaign IL, Macomb IL, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, and Willamsburg VA.  Other locations are still pending.  The world premiere of Tony's dedication to Pepper Adams, "Park Frederick III," will be performed at Cincinnati's Blue Wisp Jazz Club by the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, led by Scott Belck.  Both Tony and I have lectures and clinics at the University of Illinois and Western Illinois University, then we hope to travel directly to Detroit and Toldeo for tentet and big band gigs before returning to Chicago to hear the U. of Illinois Concert Jazz Band play Tony's Pepper charts that they recently recorded for Motema. In Teaneck NJ on Sunday, Nov. 10, the Tim Horner-Ron Horton Tentet will be playing at the Puffin Foundation new charts of Pepper tunes, written by Faulkner for the band.  We hope to record the band in New York sometime that week.  In Montclair NJ the Diane Moser Big Band is performing Tony's suite and several of his Pepper charts at Trumpet's on Nov. 13.  Our last clinic is at William and Mary.  Once the entire tour falls into place, I'll post it.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

The Complete Pepper Adams, Vol. 6

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.



The first track, Bossallegro, has been mixed, for the upcoming Motema CD of Tony Faulkner arrangements.  The performance is by the University of Illinois Concert Jazz Band, with faculty as soloists and the rhythm section.  Solos on this track are by Jim Pugh and Glenn Wilson.  The superb rhythm section is Chip Stephens p; Larry Gray b; Joel Spencer dm.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Update on Pepper Adams Tour

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.



It's been several months since I updated you on my Pepper Adams work. First, the great news is my Pepper Adams book is being reissued in paperback. That's very gratifying because it will be affordable and more people can learn about Pepper and his great music. Also, the book was just nominated by the ASRC for Best Historical Research in a Discography in 2013. It's wonderful to know that Adams is appreciated.



Hardcover owners please note that the paperback edition has an updated index. There were some issues with the original version, because my printer died when printing out the camera-ready copy, thereby changing pagination.



The 2012 book and CD tour was extraordinary! I visited and lectured in 40 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Notable concerts were Kevin Bales and Barry Greene in Atlanta, Pat LaBarbara in Toronto, Jill Townsend's Big Band in Vancouver, Jeremy Kahn in Chicago, Hod O'Brien in Charlottesville, and the entire week in New York. 

We had six nights of concerts in NYC celebrating Pepper Adams. The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Alexis Cole, Lew Tabackin, and Bevan Manson's Octet with Gary Smulyan were the highlights. Having George Mraz on several of the shows was beyond belief! Many thanks to Don Friedman, David Amram, Jerry Dodgion, and Kenny Washington for participating.