The lovely and hip art of Art
Nikica Gilic | Zagreb, Croatia | 09/26/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This great double-Cd pack is an English product (and therefore more available at UK version of amazon)...
It gives fabulous insight into the work of one of the most esteemed alto-sax players of modern jazz... Basically cool in his approach, Art managed to remain passionate in his playing, without following the Charlie Parker mold of improvising on alto. Although on three of four albums he works with west-coast musicians, the true gem of this collection is the album "Art Pepper meets The Rhythm Section" - his collaboration with Paul Chambers, Red Garland and Philly Joe Jones (Miles Davis' rhythm at the time) proved how compatible his style was to the "east coast" players...
Additionally, since three out of four albums are with quartet, it is great that the first CD starts with the album "The Return of Art Pepper", where he struts his stuff in the company of Jack Sheldon on trumpet. SO:
CD 1 - "The Return of Art Pepper" - J. Sheldon-tp, Russ Freeman -p, Leroy Vinnegar -b, Shelly Manne-dm + "Modern Art" - R. Freeman -p, Ben Tucker -b, Chuck Flores -dm
CD 2 - last song from "Modern Art" + "Meets the Rhythm Section" - see above + "The Art Pepper Quartet" - R. Freeman-p, B. Tucker-b, Gary Frommer-dm
Highly recommended.
"