Showing posts with label Duke Ellington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duke Ellington. Show all posts

Saturday, September 5, 2015

View From the Bridge



© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.


A new video from Nice has just been posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XU-7kC--ws. It's Dick Hyman's New York Jazz Repertory Company in the summer of 1978. They're playing a tribute to Count Basie. This is the last video in which Pepper and Bob Wilber are seen playing together and both have solos. Wilber plays a great clarinet solo beginning at 3:02 and Pepper's only solo is at the 24:18 mark on "Broadway."

Also posted is this great Dick Hyman tribute to Duke Ellington, done the summer before, with Wilber and Pepper also in the band together: https://youtu.be/wwHwyAgSMiM  Be sure to check out Pepper's amazing solo on "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo," the first of the concert. After Pepper's first few notes, you'll notice Eddie Daniels and Bob Wilber's delight in Pepper's solo--how harmonically daring it is in the context of a 1920s Ellington piece. Another equally great moment is Wilber and then Pepper's back-to-back eight-bar statements in "Blue Goose." Tenor saxophonist and Detroit compatriot Billy Mitchell is so utterly impressed with Pepper's articulation of the passage that he gives Pepper a round of applause, much to Pepper's delight.

It's been quite a week for me listening to Pepper and performances of Pepper's music. Other than the above videos, just a few days ago I found the set of DVDs that Tony Faulkner (http://tonyfaulkner.net) filmed while we were touring throughout North America in the Fall of 2013. This is the first time I'm seeing these! I've only made my way thus far through the Altsys Orchestra's tentet performance from Montreal in November, 2013. (See http://mountainlake.org/blogs/gens-delights/the-segal-centre-proudly-presents-the-altsys-jazz-orchestra-/) I'm eager to get these posted on YouTube soon. This very fine, hard swinging ensemble, led by alto saxophonist Jennifer Bell and trumpeter Bill Mahar (https://www.mcgill.ca/music/about-us/bio/bill-mahar), did a wonderful concert of Tony Faulkner charts (except for Diabolique II, arranged by Mahar). A heartfelt thanks to Andrew Homzy for helping make this concert happen. Here are the tunes they performed:

1. Conjuration
2. Dobbin'
3. Urban Dreams
4. Ad Astra
5. Freddie Froo
6. Philson
7. Diabolique II
8. Unknown encore



                      (Jennifer Bell)



                            (Bill Mahar)




                            (Tony Faulkner)

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Now Hear This



© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.


I heard back from Pug Horton. It turns out that she and Bob Wilber have a son that lives in Atlanta. They expect to visit him sometime in 2016. It looks like my interview with Wilber will be put off until that time. Apparently, he prefers to do it in person. Something to look forward to, for sure!

I just found Pepper Adams' very first 8-track jazz "olio" that he put together. (See https://instagram.com/p/6-7Bfzpnmp/?taken-by=pepperadamsblog.) Adams assembled about 40 of these collections to enjoy while motoring around to gigs, etc. Since this first one includes Dedication and Consummation from the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis date Consummation, I figure that Pepper started making these particular sets sometime in late 1971, when the LP was likely released. If these were the first things Pepper made on 8-track, then he would have purchased his Wollensak-3M 8-track (see https://instagram.com/p/rm4zHfpnj3/?taken-by=pepperadamsblog) recorder sometime that year--that is, if he didn't make a bunch of 8-track classical recordings beforehand. What's interesting about this first selection of tunes is the titles he chose. Here's the roster:

1. Duke Ellington: Fade Up
2. Tony Coe: Regrets
3. Pepper Adams: One Mint Julep
4. Thad Jones-Mel Lewis: Dedication
5. Yusef Lateef: Ma, He's Makin' Eyes at Me
6. Barrry Harris: Like This
7. Duke Pearson: Tones for Joan's Bones  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vICb0Lggdnc
8. Billy Mitchell: A Little Juicy
9. Bud Powell: Dusk in Sandi
10. Duke Ellington: All Day Long
11. Pepper Adams: Port of Rico
12. Blue Mitchell: Smooth as the Wind
13. Thad Jones-Pepper Adams: Bossa Nova Ova  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CPmhYbMdt5s
14. Thad Jones-Mel Lewis: Consummation
15. Joe Henderson: Without a Song
16. Pepper Adams: Azurete
17. Duke Ellington: Rock Skippin' at the Blue Note
18. Music, Inc (Charles Tolliver/Stanley Cowell): Ruthie's Heart
19. Pepper Adams: Moten Swing

What can we make of this? Of the 19 cuts, 1 (#18) was previously unknown to me, 3 are Ellington, 5 are Pepper's dates as a leader or co-leader, 7 are recordings he appears on (it would have been 9 had he not missed most of the Consummation recording), and 12 are led or co-led by Detroiters. I'm especially taken that Pepper would include the four unissued Motown cuts that he did in 1963. Those wonderful tracks, with arrangements by Thad Jones, remain unissued to this day. I've been trying to get Universal to release them.

Adams made his second 8-track jazz tape with these tunes (see https://instagram.com/p/6-pNA9JnhE/?taken-by=pepperadamsblog):

1. Hank Jones: Fugue Tune
2. Joe Henderson: Invitation
3. Charlie Parker: Repitition
4. Yusef Lateef: Quarantine
5. Duke Ellington: Just Scratching the Surface
6. Tommy Flanagan: Solacium  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iUeuB7K8PCc.
7. Billy Eckstine: Air Mail Special  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Lq4h9Hhaw
8. Tony Coe: Together
9. Dizzy Gillespie: Serenade to Sweden
10. Ben Webster: Did You Call Her Today
11. Mike Westbrook: Portrait
12. Rubberlegs Williams: What's the Matter Now
13. Duke Ellington: Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool
14. John Coltrane: Time After Time

What can we make of these cuts, especially as compared to #1? More Ellington and Coe, and, to be sure, a bunch of Detroiters again, plus another surprise cut for me by Rubberlegs Williams. Thank goodness for YouTube, here's the tune: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvGNw9xKp70. It's a Charlie Parker feature from 1945. Flanagan's Solacium (whatever does that mean?) is new to me too. It features early solos by the leader, Coltrane, Idrees Sulieman and Kenny Burrell. The Eckstine tune has Leo Parker on baritone (on the studio version), though I'm not sure if he's audible. This is one of the first great bop bands. This a smoking live version, possibly not what Pepper chose, but presumably with a fantastic Fats Navarro solo and Budd Johnson on tenor. What a great chart. Did Johnson write it?

Shall we check out one more? Here's Pepper's sixth 8-track olio:

1. Duke Ellington: Perdido
2. Freddie Hubbard: Latina
3. Rex Stewart: Georgia on My Mind
4. Bud Powell: Hallelujah
5. Duke Ellington: Primpin' for the Prom
6. Herbie Hancock: The Prisoner  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NiCsgkhTp7Y
7. Rex Stewart: Alphonse and Gaston  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PRWg53dOWpw
8. Duke Ellington: Tootin' Through the Roof
9. John Surman: Episode  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3sdfwks9Ad4
10. Thad Jones: Let's Play One
11. Elvin Jones: Tergiversation  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtg_GPKZrJg
12. Pepper Adams : Carolyn  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eTVldpGemsg
13. Bud Powell: I Want to Be Happy
14. Duke Ellington: Boy Meets Horn
15. Louie Bellson: The Jeep is Jumpin'
16. Ben Webster: The Days of Wine and Roses
How about that exchange on #7 between Cootie Williams and Rex Stewart? #9 surprised me: Quite free, and with no Surman bari solo. 

What fun it's been getting into the heart and mind of Pepper Adams! I hope you've enjoyed the ride.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Blood Brothers: Pepper Adams and Bob Wilber



© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.


My  apologies to any readers who expected a post yesterday and were disappointed not to see it. For more than a year I've dutifully posted every Saturday. This weekend, however, I needed a slight reprieve. Better to supply something of value than rotely produce drivel just for the sake of a deadline?

I was very pleased this past week to hear from Pug Horton, Bob Wilber's wife. Here's what she wrote:

"Sorry to have taken so long to get back to you--we have been on the road. Are you in NY? We will be coming to NY Sept 26th. Hopefully seeing Mike [Steinman] around that time too. Let me know how we can get together & Bob would love to talk about his relationship with Pepper. He talks about the time in Rochester quite a lot…He hated it except for the time he spent with him!!!"

My reply:

"Thanks so much for your email. I left NYC in 2004 and currently live in Atlanta. I'd be thrilled to speak with Bob again, either by phone or Skype, at that time. I'm heading out of town on Sept. 27th to celebrate my 30th anniversary, back on the 30th, but I'm sure I can grab an hour if those days are best for him. Just let me know. 

Did you see my blog post?: 

Thanks,
Gary Carner



In 1987 I interviewed Bob Wilber about Pepper Adams. It's the only time we ever spoke. There's much I'd still like to ask him about his brief time in Rochester and about his subsequent work with Pepper. As I've written, I believe that Wilber was the single most important influence on Pepper as a young player. I only came to that conclusion by virtue of my research this summer into Pepper's early life. I've had a chance to listen to many hours of interview I conducted in the late 1980s with some of the musicians who were on the Rochester scene in the mid-1940s and knew Pepper--most importantly Raymond Murphy, John Huggler, Everett Gates, Skippy Williams, Ralph Dickinson, and, of course, Bob Wilber. I'd like to ask Wilber if he remembers any specific advice he gave Pepper, such as exercises, fingerings, pieces to play, or any kind of technical advice on getting around the horn. Besides that, anything new he can tell me about Pepper as a 14- to 16-year-old would be fascinating! Wilber, much like Raymond Murphy and John Huggler, was almost three years older than Pepper. In a way, all three of them functioned as Pepper's big brothers and, to some degree, as a prosthetic family after the death of Pepper's father in 1940, when Pepper was nine. I'd like to ask Wilber about that too, or at least his perception of Pepper's sense of loneliness.

Regarding Bob Wilber and the very strong bond that he and Pepper established in those formative early days, it's not surprising how their paths continued to cross as both became in-demand professionals. I've already written how the two of them spent a good amount of time together during Wilber's one semester at the Eastman School in the Fall of 1945. Here's a summary of their very early experience, from pepperadams.com:


1945
cAug: New York: Adams and his mother travel to New York and meet Bob Wilber at a Max Kaminsky gig at the Pied Piper in Greenwich Village. The Pied Piper was later renamed the Cafe Bohemia.

Sept: Rochester NY: Adams begins 10th Grade at John Marshall High School and plays in the school band throughout the year. See http://instagram.com/p/tyuB3PJntF/?modal=true. On Saturday afternoons, Adams, John Huggler and Bob Wilber have sessions at Bob Wilber's apartment, playing along with jazz records. See cJuly 1944. (Wilber was attending Eastman, but only that Fall semester.) Wilber goes to Adams' place to play along with jazz records and have dinner. Wilber also visits with Adams and Huggler at Raymond Murphy's house.

Oct: Rochester NY: Adams in 10th Grade. On Saturday afternoons, Adams, John Huggler and Bob Wilber have sessions at Bob Wilber's apartment, playing along with jazz records. See cJuly 1944. (Wilber was attending Eastman, but only that Fall semester.) Wilber goes to Adams' place to play along with jazz records and have dinner. Wilber also visits with Adams and Huggler at Raymond Murphy's house.

Nov: Rochester NY: Adams in 10th Grade. On Saturday afternoons, Adams, John Huggler and Bob Wilber have sessions at Bob Wilber's apartment, playing along with jazz records. See cJuly 1944. (Wilber was attending Eastman, but only that Fall semester.) Wilber goes to Adams' place to play along with jazz records and have dinner. See cJuly 1944. Wilber also visits with Adams and Huggler at Raymond Murphy's house.
Nov 29-30: Rochester NY: A serious snow storm paralyzes the city. Adams is likely homebound.

Dec: Rochester NY: Adams in 10th Grade. On Saturday afternoons, Adams, John Huggler and Bob Wilber have sessions at Bob Wilber's apartment, playing along with jazz records. See cJuly 1944. (Wilber was attending Eastman, but only that Fall semester.) Wilber goes to Adams' place to play along with jazz records and have dinner. See cJuly 1944. Wilber also visits with Adams and Huggler at Raymond Murphy's house.


I'd especially like to know if Wilber studied or hung out with Eastman professor and clarinetist Jack End. End, against tremendous institutional bias, fought to have jazz at least played by students at Eastman in the 1940s and early '50s, though at that time it was not accepted as an official part of the curriculum. Wilber, it's clear, hated his time at Eastman. Might have an association with End at least made it marginally palatable? Did Wilber introduce Pepper to End? I'd love to know more about what End dealt with at Eastman and more about End and his playing on the Rochester scene.

Unless Pepper saw Wilber in New York on a visit south to the big city, Pepper may not have seen Wilber again from January, 1946, when Wilber left Eastman, until Pepper moved to Detroit in June, 1947. That's because, much to Pepper's mother's credit, on their way west to Detroit, Pepper and his mother lived at the Hotel Edison in Manhattan for a full month. It was then that Adams and Wilber reunited. By then, Wilber was living with Sidney Bechet. Talk about getting close to the source! As musicians, Adams, Murphy and Huggler, with Wilber, had strived, in their listening and practicing, to get as close as possible to the true source of New Orleans music--"from the horse's mouth," as Huggler told me. Now, Adams could finally meet Bechet and see that Wilber was indeed living the dream. Here's my citation about that time:


1947
July: New Yor: Adams moves with his mother to New York City for a month while their belongings are transported to Detroit. They live at the Hotel Edison on 47th Street in the Theater District before moving to Detroit. Cleo Adams decided to relocate because elementary school teaching jobs paid far more in Detroit than in Rochester. Pepper meets Sidney Bechet, probably through Bob Wilber. Pepper studies saxophone with Skippy Williams, the tenor saxophonist in Ellington’s band who he met at the Temple Theatre in early March, 1944 and who first replaced Ben Webster in Ellington's band. See 3-5 Mar 1944. Adams attends rehearsals of the Joan Lee Big Band (based in Hershey PA) at Williams' apartment on 48th Street. Lee's band was an all-white, all-female group that Williams was rehearsing.

After Pepper moved to Detroit, it's not known if Wilber and Adams saw each other or remained in contact until Pepper moved to New York City in early 1956. I'd like to ask Bob about that, if they didn't speak at all for ten years, and whether Bob attended any of those heady loft-jam-sessions around New York City that were taking place when Pepper first arrived. 

The first band that Adams and Wilber actually worked together in as professional musicians was Benny Goodman's. The two of them had this tour:

1959
Apr 1-5: New York: Benny Goodman rehearsals. Later, the Pepper Adams Quintet at the Village Vanguard. See 24-31 Mar. See http://instagram.com/p/sApVGBpniG/?modal=true
Apr 6-9: New York: Benny Goodman rehearsals.
Apr 10: New York: Benny Goodman rehearsal. Later, Benny Goodman "Swing Into Spring" telecast.
Apr 11-21: New York: Benny Goodman rehearsals.
cApr 22: Troy NY: Benny Goodman Orchestra begins its three-week tour. The band boards a bus that morning (in front of the Hotel President on West 48 Street in New York) for its Troy gig that evening, then stays in Albany.
cApr 23: Rutland VT: Benny Goodman Orchestra's second gig of the tour.
Apr 24: Hershey PA: Gig with Benny Goodman, probably at Hershey Park. Herb Geller and Pepper Adams are featured, with the rhythm section (Russ Freeman, Turk Van Lake, Scott LaFaro, Roy Burns), on Bernie's Tune. Other band members are Taft Jordan and Bob Wilber. Dakota Staton and the Ahmad Jamal Trio are also on this General Artists tour package.
Apr 25: Off/travel?
Apr 26: Montreal: Gig with Benny Goodman at the Forum, then Adams and Herb Geller sit in after hours at the Little Vienna with trumpeter Herbie Spanier.
Apr 27: Montreal: Off day for Goodman tour. Adams does small group gig at Vieux Moulin with Herb Geller, Scott LaFaro and Roy Burns.
Apr 28: Toronto: Gig with Benny Goodman at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Apr 29: Buffalo: Gig with Benny Goodman at Kleinhans Music Hall.
cApr 30: New York: Gig with Benny Goodman at Madison Square Garden.

May: Indianapolis: Adams, Scott LaFaro and Bob Wilber sit in with Wes, Buddy and Monk Montgomery at the Missile Club. 
May: Dallas: Adams rooms with Taft Jordan and shares an elevator ride in their hotel with Lassie, the celebrity TV collie, who was in town on a promotional tour.
May: Iowa City IA: Gig with Benny Goodman at the University of Iowa.
cMay 13: Pittsburgh: Gig with Benny Goodman at the Old Mosque.
cMay 14: New York: Returns from Goodman tour.


After the Goodman tour, I don't know to what degree they saw each other in New York or even worked together. There is this gig for the Duke Ellington Society, then the very fine Bobby Hackett date Creole Cooking, for which Wilber wrote the arrangements: 

1966
May 22: New York: Bob Wilber gig for the Duke Ellington Society gig at the Barbizon Plaza Theatre, with Shorty Baker, Quentin Jackson, Jackie Byard, Wendell Marshall, Dave Bailey and Flo Handy. See http://instagram.com/p/sA3ydoJnrT/?modal=true


1967
Jan 30: New York: Bobby Hackett date for MGM, with Bob Wilber, Bob Brookmeyer, Jerry Dodgion, Zoot Sims, et al. Later, possible double appearance with the Joe Henderson All-Star Big Band and Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Synanon Jazz Benefit at the Village Theater preceding the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard.

Mar 13: New York: Bobby Hackett date for MGM, with Bob Willber, Bob Brookmeyer, Jerry Dodgion, Zoot Sims, et al. Later, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard.
Mar 30: New York: Bobby Hackett date for MGM, with Bob Wilber, Bob Brookmeyer, Jerry Dodgion, Zoot Sims, et al. Later, Elvin Jones gig at the Five Spot. See 28-29 Mar.



After the Hackett date, I'm not sure if Adams and Wilber recorded or worked any gigs until the interesting 1972 project below for Music Minus One. The label's concept was to provide a backing band for the practicing soloist, well before Jamey Aebersold started his series. Wilber did tell me about his writing for saxophone quartet (two altos, tenor and baritone). Wilber held rehearsals at his New York City apartment, possibly in the late 1960s. Other than Wilber and Adams, someone I forget played tenor and possibly Rudy Powell played the other alto part. I don't know precisely when the rehearsals took place, if any were recorded, nor over how long a stretch of time the rehearsals lasted. 


1972
June 8: New York: Bob Wilber rehearsal, probably for 19 June.
June 15: New York: Bob Wilber rehearsal, probably for 19 June. See 8 June.
June 19: New York: Bob Wilber date for Music Minus One. Later, possible Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra gig at the Village Vanguard.


In 1974, Wilber put together a band to play Ellington tunes:

1974
Apr 26: New York: Bob Wilber gig at Carnegie Hall, with Taft Jordan and Quentin Jackson, perform a tribute to Duke Ellington.
Apr 28: New York: Bob Wilber gig at the New York Jazz Museum, with Quentin Jackson, Taft Jordan, Larry Ridley and Bobby Rosengarden.

In 1977 Adams and Wilber were in a band together, led by Dick Hyman, doing a tribute to Duke Ellington:

1977
July 17: Nice: Dick Hyman gig at La Grande Parade du Jazz, broadcast on FR3 television. Also, Thad Jones sextet gig at La Grande Parade du Jazz. Later, a third festival gig: Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra at La Grande Parade du Jazz.


The Hyman gig for me has special significance. It gives me a chance to hear Pepper with the Ellington big band repertoire and imagine what it might have been like had he actually subbed for Harry Carney. I've written before that Pepper was Carney's designated sub in the Ellington band. Yet, in fifty years Carney never missed a gig! Well, I slightly exaggerate: He missed one two-week stretch of work--just once! Pepper told me that it was easier to reconstitute the Ellington reed section and slide Russell Procope or someone else from the section into the bari chair, then hire a local sub for tenor or alto, than to get Pepper to the gig.

The Hyman performance has additional significance. There's two especially wonderful Adams/Wilber moments. On the very first tune, Ellington's original theme "St. Louis Toodle-Oo," Pepper takes the first solo--classic, harmonically inventive Pepper all the way--and Eddie Daniels and Bob Wilber are both visibly amused by the incongruity of it. Later in the show, Wilber (on alto) and Adams have another beautiful moment together, playing the two opening 8-bar "A" sections in the theme of Ellington's "Blue Goose." (You can see Billy Mitchell totally broken up over how Pepper navigated the passage.) How far Adams and Wilber have traveled since the 1940s!

I'm especially enthused about this concert because I recently acquired a rare video of the TV show. I'm trying to get it uploaded to YouTube so everyone can see it. How about that sax section?: Bob Wilber, Eddie Daniels, Zoot Sims, Billy Mitchell, Pepper Adams.

In 1978, Adams and Wilber were able to play in several venues together in Nice. They were already touring together as part of an all-star 50th Anniversary Lionel Hampton commemorative gig:

1978
June 28-30: New York: Rehearsals with Lionel Hampton.
June 30: New York: Lionel Hampton gig at Carnegie Hall, with Charles McPherson, Bob Wilber, Ray Bryant, et al, recorded by Sutra. 

July 1-2: Saratoga NY: Hampton gig at the Performing Arts Center, with Charles McPherson, Bob Wilber, Ray Bryant, et al.
July 3: Brooklyn NY: Off?
July 4: Travel. Departure for France. 
July 5: Travel. Transfer to Nice. 
July 6: Nice: Off. 
July 7: Nice: Hampton gig at les Jardins des Arenes de Cimiez, with Charles McPherson, Bob Wilber, Ray Bryant, et al., at La Grande Parade du Jazz. Recorded by Radio France. 
July 8: Off. 
July 9: Nice: Hampton gig at les Jardins des Arenes de Cimiez at La Grande Parade du Jazz. Recorded by Radio France. See 7 July.
July 10: Nice: Hampton gig at les Jardins des Arenes de Cimiez, with guest Dzzy Gillespie, at La Grande Parade du Jazz. Recorded by Radio France. See 9 July.
July 11: Nice: Hampton gig at les Jardins des Arenes de Cimiez at La Grande Parade du Jazz. Recorded by Radio France. See 10 July.
July 12: Nice: Dick Hyman gig, "Tribute to Count Basie," at les Jardins des Arenes de Cimiez, at La Grande Parade du Jazz. Recorded by Radio France. 
July 13: Nice: Hampton gig at les Jardins des Arenes de Cimiez at La Grande Parade du Jazz. Recorded by Radio France. See 11 July.
July 14: The Hague: Hampton gig at Prins Willem Alexander Zaal, with Charles McPherson, Bob Wilber, Ray Bryant, et al., at the Northsea Jazz Festival. Recorded by AVRO television. 
July 15: Orange, France: Hampton gig at Theatre Antique, with Charles McPherson, Bob Wilber, Ray Bryant, et al. 
July 16: Nice: Hampton gig at les Jardins des Arenes de Cimiez with guest Stephane Grappelli, at La Grande Parade du Jazz. Recorded by Radio France. See 13 July. 
July 17: Salon-de-Provence, France: Dizzy Gillespie gig, at Cour du Chateau de L'Empri as part of the Festival of Jazz, with Kai Winding, Curtis Fuller, Charles McPherson, Ray Bryant, Mickey Roker, et al. Recorded by Radio France. 
July 18: Perugia: Hampton gig, with Charles McPherson, Bob Wilber, Ray Bryant, et al., and guest Dizzy Gillespie, at Umbria Jazz. Recorded by RAI. 
July 19: Travel. Hampton band arrives from Italy, possibly by bus. 
July 20: Travel. Hampton band arrives in England. 
July 21: Middlesbrough, England: Hampton gig, with Charles McPherson, Bob Wilber, Ray Bryant, et al. 
July 22: Comblain-au-Pont, Belgium: Hampton gig, with Charles McPherson, Bob Wilber, Ray Bryant, et al. Later, a nearby gig with the Georges Arvanitas trio. 


Did Wilber and Adams see each other again after this 1978 tour? Did Bob reach out for Pepper when he heard that Pepper was dying of cancer? Pug Horton told me that Wilber greatly admired Pepper. I think she was referring to both personal and musical admiration. These are just some of the questions I'm eager to ask Bob Wilber. More soon! Have a great week.




                                            (Bob Wilber)



       (Adams in London, at the Ephemera 
            photo shoot, September, 1973)





Saturday, April 18, 2015

Walkin' About: Strolling Through Pepper's Chronology

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.


I hope you enjoyed reading the Prologue to my forthcoming Pepper Adams biography that I posted last week. I've re-read it a few times since then and I'm pleased with it. It took me several months and numerous revisions to get it to this point, and this after first writing an entirely different draft more than a year ago. Two of my distinguished readers, John Gennari and Ron Ley, have given me the "thumbs up" on the new version. That gives me the assurance that I can finally move on to Chapter 1. To that end I've been pulling together my notes about Rex Stewart and listening again and again to Pepper's 8-track material featuring Rex with the Ellington band.

How many of you have listened to Rex Stewart? I'm quite familiar with contemporaneous Ellington trumpeter and growl master Cootie Williams. Somehow I never really knew much about Stewart until now. Rex is terrific! He had an impressive plasticity with his time and could play with tremendous drama, power and technique. But mostly it's the playfulness and joyousness and incredible creativity that makes him so compelling. Like Cootie, Rex's half-valve inflexions and smears add a "badness" and soulfulness to his solos. They serve as such a beautiful counterpoint to his exuberance and sometimes wild sense of humor. I'm starting to understand why Pepper loved his playing. Rex, above all else, was a stylist.

I'm also reminded of what Kenny Berger wrote in this blog a few months ago about Rex's influence on Thad Jones. Pepper, for his part, was a huge Rex Stewart fan for at least ten years before he met Thad in the early '50s. One can only imagine how their mutual affection for Rex Stewart, among other things (such as Pepper's close friendship with Elvin, Thad's younger brother), must have brought them quickly together as soulmates. Pepper and Thad's relationship was complicated. It will be explored in the biography.

Besides signing off on the Prologue and getting deeper into Rex Stewart, I've also been updating "Thaddeus." That's the part of Pepper's chronology that begins with the early 1965 formation of the Thad Jones-Pepper Adams Quintet and ends with Adams leaving Thad/Mel in late August, 1977. The new version has been posted. Please check it out: http://www.pepperadams.com/Chronology/Thaddeus.pdf

Although the Chronology can be easily overlooked as a less sexy part of pepperadams.com, it's really the bedrock of the site and of all my research. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've consulted the Chronology when I'm assessing aspects of Pepper's life. Because new data is always being discovered--ads for gigs, broadcasts, audience tapes, memorabilia--you can expect that I'll be continually updating it over time. The new version of "Thaddeus" has been enlarged about 10% with new discoveries and deletions. At around 50 pages, it accounts for at least a third of Pepper's entire five-part Chronology. Fortunately, now that "Thaddeus" is updated, I can turn to more manageable sections and get them out soon. 

One thing that I'd like to add to the Chronology, if it's possible to build it directly into the site, is some kind of search function. When the database was on my old Macintosh laptop, it was really quick and easy to do searches of musicians, dates or whatever was needed. If I wanted to check all the times Pepper recorded for a certain label, for example, or check how many times he recorded with a certain musician, or even see all the times he visited a certain location, the computer did it effortlessly. Now, with an iPad, I have to convert my original PDF files to iBooks and search it there. It's doable but not as good as if I could do it directly at pepperadams.com. 

Can you do Chronology searches on your computer? Please let me know. I'll be sure to discuss this with my trusty webmaster. If there's other things you think can improve the utility of the Chronology or other parts of the site, please volunteer that too.

Regarding the update of "Thaddeus," a few things attracted my attention. One was learning that Duke Pearson returned to New York from Atlanta in late November, 1972 to reconstitute his big band. From what I can tell, he kept his steady Half Note gig until the Summer of 1973.

Another thing that struck me was that Pepper participated in a number of benefits. Whether it was to assist the family of writer Ed Sherman, perform at the Dave Lambert Memorial Concert, participate at a benefit to restore the Apollo Theater, etc, Pepper was involved with the community.

Many sporting events are listed in "Thaddeus," thanks to Pepper's penchant for saving all sorts of memorabilia. When possible, links to my Instagram site show the original ticket stub or program. Pepper especially liked football and hockey but enjoyed spectator sports of all types.

I was reminded about the one-month gig Pepper did in New York with Ella Fitzgerald in 1967. Ironically, that was at a time when Tommy Flanagan was not her music director. Tee Carson was her pianist. 

I also forgot that my reader, Ron Ley, was Pepper's Best Man. Imagine that! Ley's comments will be some of the most compelling in the biography. As you can tell from his quote in the Prologue, he was very close with Pepper and witnessed him at pivotal moments.

Pepper's early role in jazz education also jumped out at me. With Thad Jones, Tom McIntosh and others (such as Herbie Hancock and Donald Byrd), starting in the late 1960s Pepper was involved with the Wilmington Band Camp. Pepper also participated at the National Stage Band Camp.

The amount of "hit-and-runs," with those long, early-morning bus rides back to New York, was pretty startling. Adams' many gigs directly after long airplane flights, too, was a pretty frequent occurrence. The touring jazz life is grueling. Add to the lack of sleep cigarettes, alcohol, late nights and financial twists and turns and you get some sense of why so many jazz musicians, such as Pepper Adams, died far too young.

Another thing I was reminded of was the finite amount of time Pepper spent in the New York studios. He only got involved doing session work in about 1967. His participation, though limited by not doubling on bass clarinet, lasted until about 1976. He mostly did overdubs, especially on CTI dates in the early 1970s. But he was on some unusual projects, such as those by The Cowsills, Sonny Bono, The Nice and others. Of course, he also appears on many of the great early Aretha Franklin tracks for Atlantic. These were done as overdubs. He had no idea at the time for whom the music was crafted.

The number of gigs Pepper had in Baltimore for the Left Bank Jazz Society surprised me. There must be at least ten, maybe more? Also, the amount of work Pepper did with David Amram over the years is substantial. 

If anyone knows of the 2 June 1974 WBAI interview that Pepper did in New York with Larry Davis, I'd really like to hear it. That and a Phil Schaap telephone interview done on Mingus' birthday for WKCR (New York) are two radio interviews I'm eager to hear.

The length of "Thaddeus" is surprising. But, then again, Pepper's date books and memorabilia (including many band itineraries) helped me chronicle that part of his career more than any other. The sheer number of gigs and presumed gigs--at colleges, in California, or those many "possible" nights at the Vanguard--is staggering. Because so many remain unsubstantiated, much work remains to prove they actually happened. Please email me any discoveries.


                                  
                                                        (Thaddeus Joseph Jones)





Saturday, April 11, 2015

Prologue Anew

I started a new full-time job this week but somehow fit in some editing work on the Prologue to my Pepper Adams biography. I took a few weeks off from it and I think it helped me to look at it anew. John Gennari, the very fine cultural historian who is functioning as one of my readers, suggested that I add two things. One is some kind of contextualization about the late 1970s and early 1980s and what was going on in jazz as Pepper's life changed so dramatically. The other was a mention of Pepper's place in ithe baritone saxophone lineage, particularly in light of the fact that, historically speaking, it's not a typical jazz solo instrument. That alone has implications, Gennari pointed out. Pepper's choice of the baritone sax would signal certain aspects of Pepper's personality that should be hinted at in the Prologue.

Here's the updated Prologue that I'll be sending to Gennari. If you notice anything that needs amending, please comment below. It's not likely perfect but at least good enough so I can at last move on to Chapter One.



Prologue


In the Summer of 1977 Pepper Adams was at a crossroads. For twelve years he had anchored the reed section of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, one of jazz’s greatest big bands, but at age 46 desperately needed to reinvent himself. Adams never wanted to be in the group in the first place. After too many years of accepting section work with big bands, he was eager to break free and work exclusively with small ensembles so he could stretch as a soloist. But Thad Jones—one of his dearest friends, whom he admired more than anyone—needed him in his newly formed orchestra, leaned on him, reminded him of all the things his mother did for him back in Pontiac, Michigan in the early 1950s and convinced him to stay. That was in 1966. Now, after hundreds of Monday nights at the Village Vanguard and countless tours of the U.S., Europe and Japan, Adams was more restive than ever. 

Pepper had voiced his frustration at least a year prior to the ’77 summer tour. He told Thad and Mel that he was unhappy with his lack of solos, citing the baseball expression, “Play me or trade me!” as some indication of his discontentment. Pepper’s clever use of the phrase, so characteristic of his understated sense of humor, has since become part of the band’s mythology. When it was uttered, they laughed and ignored it. This time around Adams wasn’t joking.

Pepper’s situation came to a head in Stockholm at the midpoint of the band’s two-month European tour. Before their August 1 evening performance at Tivoli Gardens, Adams met privately with Jones and Lewis. He told them that he wanted a pay raise and star billing as a featured soloist. Adams, though, was unaware that it was band policy to never give inordinate solo space, nor pay any musician, more than anyone else. Even if he had known, Pepper still would’ve felt entitled to it because of his twelve-year participation in the band and his longstanding relationship with both Thad and Mel dating back to the early 1950s. As things turned out, neither his tenure or rapport mattered. Much to Pepper’s surprise, Thad and Mel declined his request, steadfastly adhering to band protocol. An aggrieved Pepper Adams, left with no alternative, said he’d be leaving the band at the end of the month when the tour concluded. The news of Pepper’s imminent departure saddened everyone in the band, but none more than Thad Jones and Mel Lewis. That night at Tivoli, Adams again had no solos to play. Adams had sublimated his feelings by getting so drunk before the gig that he could barely comport himself onstage.

Adams’ close friend Ron Ley traveled with the orchestra part of the way through Scandinavia that summer and witnessed Pepper’s transition out of the band. A day or so after Adams submitted his resignation, Ley and Thad Jones had a moment alone. Jones reminded Ley that Pepper was jazz’s greatest living baritone saxophonist. Later on, said Ley, “Mel shared Thad’s opinion of Pepper’s playing and added that his opinion was shared by all fellow musicians of the period. It may have been that Thad and Mel made a point of telling me this because they knew that Pepper and I were close, and wanted to express their feelings so that I wouldn’t be left with an impression that they were indifferent to Pepper’s feelings of disappointment.”

After the tour concluded, Adams returned to New York and began forging his identity as an itinerant soloist. He already possessed an international reputation based on more than twenty years of commercial recordings with many of the greatest musicians, including Phil Woods, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones, Paul Chambers, Chet Baker, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and so many others. In no time Pepper found himself in demand throughout Europe and North America. Then, in 1978 and 1980 he recorded two of his greatest albums, Reflectory and The Master, featuring his original compositions. Both were nominated for Grammy Awards as the best instrumental albums of the year by a jazz soloist. Building a book of originals he could perform had finally pushed him to put his mind to composition. Between 1977 and 1983 Adams wrote nearly half his oeuvre of 42 tunes. 

At last, success was coming his way from all directions. His 1979 project with singer Helen Merrill, Chasin’ the Bird/Gershwin, was nominated for a Grammy Award (his third in three years) as the best jazz recording of the year by a vocalist. He received yet another Grammy nomination for his 1983 album Live at Fat Tuesday’s and, clad in a tuxedo, Adams appeared on the 1982 nationally broadcast Grammy Awards telecast, performing (appropriately enough) the jazz standard “My Shining Hour.”

Besides being a personal triumph for Adams, his high-profile television performance was less overtly some indication of cultural and political forces that were sweeping the globe. Just a few years earlier, radical Islam had toppled the Shah of Iran and, in the West, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were elected to dismantle “progressive” social programs. In the jazz world, as in politics, a return to conservative values would become a fact of life. In the early 1980s large American record companies, led by Columbia, concocted a media campaign (lasting a decade and penetrating even the mainstream press) that a new movement was afoot. Central to their argument was trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Columbia first signed Marsalis as a double-threat jazz and classical recording artist. Then, while showering Marsalis with publicity, it anointed him as the leader of a new wave of fledgling African-American jazz musicians chosen in his image. These neoclassicist “Young Lions,” it was said, abhorred rock rhythms and electronic instruments. Instead, they yearned for the “nobility” of late 1950’s jazz, the post-Charlie Parker style of music that Pepper Adams never abandoned.

The altered landscape, that suddenly favored hard-swinging acoustic jazz more than at any time since the early ’60s, helped Pepper Adams. He was working steadily, winning all the readers and critics polls as the world’s premier baritone saxophonist, and had the ongoing support of a record company. A younger generation of musicians was seeking him out for their gigs and, due to numerous radio and television appearances, the public was becoming familiar with this soft-spoken gentle man who let his big horn and bigger sound speak for him.

Then, like a sand castle at high tide, it all washed away. With so much forward momentum propelling him, in December, 1983 Adams had a bizarre car accident that forced him to cancel seven months of work, including a week at Lush Life, his first prominent New York City club date in years. His marriage, already on shaky ground, ended during his convalescence, then lung cancer was discovered half a year later, leaving him with only eighteen months to live. 

Adams’ career can be measured by a long, slowly ascending arc of success that increased exponentially once he left the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Without a doubt, his first six years as a traveling soloist were triumphant—a time when he burnished his legacy as a virtuoso performer and composer—making his dramatic three-year fall that much more lamentable. Nonetheless, Adams had a rich, very influential forty-year run. Consider for a moment the most notable jazz musicians of Adams’ generation. How many bonafide stylists are there among them who are instantaneously identifiable on their instrument and have had a profound effect on the art form? John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Wes Montgomery spring to mind. Clifford Brown? Cannonball Adderley and Phineas Newborn perhaps? Equally noteworthy in his own way is Pepper Adams, the father of modern baritone sax playing. Just like Coltrane, Wes Montgomery and other stylists on their instruments, Pepper’s unique sound and innovative melodic and harmonic concept, just as surely as his dazzling technical mastery, have shaped all baritone saxophonists to follow. This book is an attempt to contextualize Pepper Adams’ accomplishments and reveal the man who revolutionized the baritone saxophone.

*

On September 28, 1986, our first wedding anniversary, my wife and I attended Pepper Adams’ memorial service at St. Peter’s Church. Adams had waged a courageous battle against an aggressive form of lung cancer that was first diagnosed in early March, 1985 while touring in northern Sweden. St. Peter’s, with its modern ash-paneled interior and large multi-tiered sanctuary, is tucked under the enormous 915-foot-tall Citicorp Center at East 54th Street and Lexington Avenue. On that somber but bright Sunday afternoon, St. Peter’s chapel was packed with musicians, friends and admirers. Reverend John Garcia Gensel presided over the service and many jazz greats—George Mraz, Elvin Jones, Frank Foster, Louis Hayes, Roland Hanna, Barry Harris, Sheila Jordan, Tommy Flanagan, Gerry Mulligan and others—performed and paid their final respects. 

For over a year Adams’ plight had galvanized the jazz community, who heard varying stories about his wife leaving him, his declining health and his dire financial situation. Between September, 1985 and March, 1986 two benefits were organized to raise funds for Pepper’s medical care. One at the 880 Club in Hartford, Connecticut was organized by alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and Adams was able to attend. The other took place at the Universal Jazz Coalition on Lafayette Street in New York and featured performances by Milt Jackson, Louis Hayes, Frank Foster, Kenny Burrell, Jerry Dodgion, Dizzy Gillespie, Tommy Flanagan and the entire Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Pepper, gaunt and bald from chemotherapy treatments, was out of town for that one, working a weekend gig in Memphis. He sent a letter of gratitude that was read to the audience by singer Lodi Carr.

Pepper Adams was a friend of mine, but, sadly, I knew him only during the last two tumultuous years of his life. During that time, only partly recovered from a horrible leg accident that had kept him immobilized 22 hours a day for six months, Adams was separated from his wife and had been diagnosed with the cancer that would in short order kill him. Although it was an utterly miserable time for him, it was a fascinating and complex ride for me. I was a 28-year-old grad student; a passionate jazz fan and record collector who was trying to interest a jazz musician just enough to work with me on his memoir. As fate would have it, because of his leg injury Pepper had some time on his hands. He was so gracious, so prepared, so articulate and engaging.

Then, seven months later his cancer was diagnosed. I visited him at St. Luke’s Hospital when he started his medical treatments. I saw him perform whenever he had a gig around New York. On one occasion, between sets at the Blue Note, I saw him bark at a pianist whom he misperceived was harassing him for a gig. Another time, in New Jersey, I heard the pain pour out of him during a magnificent ballad performance that brought me to tears. I spent time with Pepper at his home in Canarsie, eating pizza, watching football games and dubbing copies of his tapes. Although I was trying to gather as much information as I could in the little time that was left, I always had to reign in my curiosity and not push too hard. Things had changed drastically since the summer and I had to make the shift with him. Mostly, I had to respect that he was fighting for his life and that the cancer treatments made him feel awful. It was simply inappropriate to think that every time we got together Pepper would feel like analyzing aspects of his life.

In January, 1986, Pepper worked a four-night stint in bitterly cold Minneapolis. I urged a friend of mine to attend as some show of support. During intermission Dan Olson said hello for me, bought Pepper a beer and the two had a chance to talk at the bar. Dan told me that my gesture meant a lot to Pepper, that he was obviously quite fond of me. My final experience with Pepper was equally poignant. A month before his death, bedridden at home and under the care of a hospice nurse, I called to see if there was anything I could do for him. His nurse asked me to hold on. I waited anxiously for at least five minutes while Pepper somehow found the energy to drag himself to the telephone. In a sentence or two he acknowledged that time was short, thanked me for calling, said a final goodbye and hung up the phone. That would’ve been in August, 1986, right around the time that Dizzy Gillespie called him to say that Thad Jones had died in Copenhagen.

About a year later, once I began interviewing Adams’ colleagues, I spent a very memorable afternoon in Cambridge, Massachusetts with Tommy Flanagan. I was meeting him for the first time and was completely starstruck. Flanagan was one of the last people to see Pepper alive. He wanted me to know that transcripts of my interviews were stacked high on Pepper’s nightstand just before he died. At one point, while sitting next to Pepper on the edge of his bed, Flanagan explained, Pepper awoke and tried feebly to push my manuscript towards him. As you can imagine, I was completely stunned by this story. At first I was touched that my work comforted Pepper at the end of his life. Then I began to take my role a lot more seriously, knowing how important it was to Pepper that his work carry on after him. Of course my resolve to do this book and all the other work that’s preceded it was strengthened. But, truth be told, I’ve wanted to tell Pepper’s story since June 28, 1984, the memorable day I conducted the first of several lengthy interviews with him. His recollections of his childhood and early career (see pepperadams.com) were stunning in their depth and historical sweep. I knew right away that I had something very special.

Flanagan’s interview was one of more than 100 I conducted, mostly in the late 1980s before my daughter was born. Those I interviewed portrayed Adams as a complex figure: a hero, a genius, an intellectual, a model of grace, a virtuoso musician and stylist, yet someone also very hard to calibrate. Their remembrances revealed a brilliant artist full of interesting ambiguities and contradictions; an unworldly looking sophisticate, a white musician often mistaken for a black one, a engaging raconteur in public who was emotionally guarded in private, and a full-throated exuberant saxophonist who was mild-mannered and soft-spoken.

Many spoke of Adams’ unprecedented agility on his instrument, how he “played it like an alto.” Before Adams, the baritone sax was a cumbersome low-pitched fringe instrument rarely played outside of big bands. Because of his innovations, a baritone saxophonist with a rhythm section or as part of a small jazz ensemble is now commonplace and no longer viewed as a novelty. 

Pepper Adams was fond of saying that the range of the instrument was similar to his speaking voice. But much more about him can be divined from his adoption of the baritone sax. For one thing, Adams prized individuality above all else and scorned cliche. Becoming a baritone saxophonist in the late 1940s gave him an opportunity to create something completely unique on a little heard instrument. Like Duke Ellington, who he greatly admired, Adams could similarly stand apart from everyone else. 

Paradoxically, despite enhancing the idiom and securing his place in jazz history, Adams’ fealty to his instrument also hurt him. The public’s bias against low-pitched instruments forever stood in the way of him fronting a band or recording far more albums as a leader. Furthermore, stubbornly refusing to double on bass clarinet disqualified him from studio work that would’ve helped him immeasurably, especially during the early 1960s when work was sporadic. Throughout his career, Adams was exclusively a baritone saxophonist for hire. He never taught saxophone on the side or experimented here and there with other instruments. Always the fierce individualist, Adams lack of pragmatism was a constant and it interfered with other aspects of his life.

Part biography and part musical study, this book is the culmination of more than forty years of research on Pepper Adams. When I began working with him in 1984 I knew he was a fine saxophonist but I had little idea of the extent of his contribution or how much his colleagues admired him. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have known Pepper Adams. After so many years of researching his life and living with his music, in 2012 I produced a five-volume box set of Adams’ complete compositions that was co-branded with my book Pepper Adams’ Joy Road: An Annotated Discography. Now, with this companion work, I at long last fulfill my promise to him and myself. 

I’m especially pleased that John Vana agreed to co-author the book. John’s an alto player on the faculty at Western Illinois University. We first met when he invited me to speak at WIU in late 2013. John’s an ardent Pepper Adams fan. Soon after my visit he agreed to write a major piece on Pepper’s early style (to 1960) for a possible Adams anthology. Not long after that, John started asking me to send him, bit by bit, every Pepper Adams LP, cassette and videotape in my collection. Clearly, listening only to Adams’ early work wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to consider Pepper’s entire oeuvre. Eventually, it occurred to me that John’s piece would likely cover much of the same terrain I’d be exploring in the second half of this book. Considering the demands of my day job, wouldn’t it be better for me to write the biography and have John (with my input, additions and editorial oversight) write the second section? John thought it was a really good idea. The anthology might not even happen, I pointed out, so what better place for his study? For those either already hip to Adams’ life and recordings or encountering him for the first time, it’s our sincere hope that we convey his extraordinary contribution to the history of Twentieth Century music and inspire readers everywhere to listen anew to his glorious work.

Gary Carner
Braselton GA



Notes
Ron Ley, email to the author, 2013.



                                                                 (John Gennari)

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.