#PepperAdams & #ClarkTerry med Sture Nordin Septett

Published on Sep 11, 2011
Pepper Adams och Clark Terry gästar Sture Nordin Septett i en upptagning från Mariahissen på Söder i Stockholm år 1978.
Pepper Adams Barytonsax, Clark Terry flügelhorn, Lars Sjösten piano, Sture Nordin Bas, Egil Johansen trummor.
I bakgrunden skymtar Nisse Sandström och Kalle Lundborg

Pepper Adams: London, 1981

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

In the wake of my post on Mosaic Records' Complete Bee Hive Sessions and the email heat that followed from readers who were knocked out by the box's baritone sax sessions, let's end the week with Pepper Adams. As you'll soon see and hear, Adams was an unassuming killer on the instrument. Here he is in London in 1981:

Here's Dylan's Delight...

Here's A Child Is Born...

And here's Bossa Nouveau...

JazzWax tracks: Dig Pepper Adams? You'll find all of his compositions on Joy Road (The Complete Works of Pepper Adams) in different configurations here.

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Pepper Adams ....

PEPPER ADAMS (saxophonist, bandleader) was born Park Adams III on October 8, 1930 in Highland Park, Michigan and passed away September 10, 1986 in Brooklyn, New York. Nicknamed the “Knife” because according to Mel Lewis… “when he would get up to blow his playing had almost a slashing effect on the rest of us… and before he was through, cut everybody down to size”.

Citing Wardell Gray and Harry Carney as his influences the hard bop baritone saxophonist released 20 albums as leader and co-led a group with Donald Byrd. Adams was primarily a much sought after sideman, working with the big bands of Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson and Benny Goodman, supporting Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, Hank Jones, Lee Morgan and most notably Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band and Charles Mingus.
read more: http://www.canadianjazzarchive.org/en/musicians/pepper-adams.html

Park "Pepper" Adams III, Baritone Sax solo starts at 2:42 min.

Already in the late-1950s, Stan Kenton had an appropriate nickname for the baritone beast: 

"The Knife." 

Pepper Adams and Nick Brignola were indisputably, unquestionably the two greatest bari sax players ever. 
No other baritonist has ever come close.
(Frank Basile, keep practicing)

Pepper Adams did his best work in the 1970-1980 period. Recommeded Pepper Adams albums/CDs from this decade: "Ephemera", "Reflectory", "Be Bop?" [with Barry Altschul], "Baritone Madness" [Nick Brignola], "The Master", "One For Bird" [Bishop Norman Williams], "Twelfth & Pingree", "New Life" [Thad Jones/Mel Lewis], "Julian", "Four On The Outside" [Curtis Fuller], "Live in Europe", "Live Jazz By the Sea", just to name a few...

"Urban Dreams" (1981) is also phenomenal, but it's a great pity he used a crappy new mouthpiece (and his new sax) during this recording (he promply discarded the piece-of-junk mouthpiece for another one that improved the sound quality, although it was never as good as the old Berg Larsen he had acquired in the late 1940s -- the one you see in the above video).

Pepper Adams + Zoot Sims

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

On December 11 and 12, 1968, three different styles of jazz converged in one New York recording studio—and the result was flammable. The session leader was baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams [pictured above], who was paired for the first and only time with tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims. The little-known album would be called Encounter! (Prestige), and the rhythm-section featured Tommy Flanagan (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums).

The three divergent styles present were hardbop (Adams), swing (Sims) and avant-garde (Jones), and each makes its presence felt on uptempo, mid-tempo and ballad tracks. For me, this is among Adams' and Sims' finest and most rewarding '60s recordings—together or separate. The energy level here is fierce, and each musician walks a high-wire while challenging each other for session supremacy.

Adams cannot be praised enough for his agility, tone and cunning ability to transform the baritone sax from a barrel-chested reed section anchor and mannered counterpointer to a rip-roaring, relentless soloist. On his albums for Blue Note in the late '50s, Adams demonstrated the instrument's potential as a small-group catalyst and improvisational bully.

On Encounter!, there are four smoking shootouts—Inanout(Adams), Cindy's Tune (Adams), Elusive (Jones) and Verdandi(Flanagan)—featuring Adams and Sims going at it like cage-fighters. A highly aggressive player, Adams had a hair-trigger attack, and by having him square off with Sims, he seems particularly ferocious on his solos, putting Sims on the defensive. Not to be outdone, Jones shoves each one forward with crashing rolls and shattering cymbal-work. [Photo of Zoot Sims above byDoug Ramsey]

Punjab (Henderson) and Serenity (Coltrane-Henderson) are mid-tempo sassy walkers that give you a chance to hear the nocturnal, introspective quality of Adams and Sims as well as the precision of this superb rhythm section.

The ballads—The Star-Crossed Lovers (Ellington) and I've Just Seen Her (Adams)—are smokey showcases for Adams. Sims plays on the former, largely to offset Adams, but is absent from the latter. As evidenced on the second ballad track, Adams moves the sonic weight of his baritone sax around nimbly and lyrically. One can't help but imagine that these were added to give Sims a chance to catch his breath from his workouts with Adams.

Though Adams and Sims played together in the same reed sections dating back to Manny Albam's Jazz New York in 1958,Encounter! was their only slugfest. And it's easy to hear why. Who in their right mind would want to be in a studio situation where they had to keep pace with Adams?

Interestingly, the album was produced by Fred Norsworthy, who founded JazzTime Records in 1961, and Otto Gust, who started Time Is Records in 1990. How they managed to bring together Adams and Sims must be a story in and of itself.

A must-own album that shows off the glory of Adams' agility and technique as well as his unintentional penchant for making mince meat of opponents.

JazzWax tracks: You can find this gem as a download at iTunes and Amazon here.

JazzWax clip: How hot is the blowing on this album? Handle the CD with oven mitts. Here's Inanout to give you a taste...

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Pepper Adams in Hollywood

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Fifty-four years ago this month, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams was in a Hollywood studio for Mode Records. The date featured Adams, Stu Williamson on trumpet and valve trombone, Carl Perkins on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Mel Lewis on drums. West Coast baritone saxophonist Bob Gordon had died two years earlier in a car crash and Gerry Mulligan was in New York co-leading a quartet with Bob Brookmeyer. While guys like Chuck Gentry, Marty Berman, Ronnie Lang and Jimmy Giuffre were called for much of the baritone session work in Los Angeles at the time, Adams was known for a much more aggressive, East Coast sound. The result wasThe Pepper Adams Quintet, a very un-West Coast session recorded on July 10, 1957.

Adams was born in Michiganbut relocated to Rochester, N.Y., with his family. At age 16, he moved to Detroit, and a year later he was playing baritone sax in Lucky Thompson's band. His first major recording date was in 1956, in Boston, with John Coltrane and Paul Chambers. The record was called High Step, for the short-lived Transition Records.

After a stint that year with Stan Kenton in San Francisco, Adams moved to Los Angeles to sop up some of the abundant and lucrative studio work, recording The James Dean Story film soundtrack in '56 with all-star musicians. In 1957, more work with Kenton followed, along with recordings led by Shorty Rogers and Quincy Jones. In April '57, Adams traveled to New York to record again with John Coltrane, this time for an album that would become known as Dakar.

Then in July, Pepper was given a chance to record as a leader for the first time. The Pepper Adams Quintet is exceptional stuff. For one, the guys on the date were among the hippest and moodiest West Coast jazz-studio guys on the scene. For another, this is pure East Coast music recorded just miles from the Pacific Ocean. What's interesting is that while the recording has all the heat of a New York date, there's still a plaid shirt and chinos feel, albeit subtle.

All in all, you can't believe how good this album is. Adams' ideas are spectacular, while his dig-deep, walrus-bark phrasing is offset by the lighter, open-horn style of Williamson.

The opener is a mid-tempo and sassy Unforgettable, followed by a rip-roaring Baubles, Bangles and Beads, on which Adams fires off idea after idea. Freddie Froois pure bop, and here you'd have great trouble believing it was recorded in Hollywood if you didn't already know. My One and Only Love is taken as a ballad, with Adams all but singing the song through his deep horn. The album closes out with Muezzin', a minor-key tune that opens with a Latin beat and then switches to jazz time.

If you're unfamiliar with Pepper Adams, this album serves as a perfect introduction. If you're already hip to him, this recording will confirm what you already know about the saxophonist, only you'll likely be surprised by what a monster he was at a time when most baritone players were only too happy to iron out their edges.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find The Pepper Adams Quintet here as a download for $4.95. But if you opt for Pepper Adams: The Hollywood Quintet Sessions,you'll get The Pepper Adams Quintet plus the other equally excellent Adams quintet album recorded in Hollywood the following month called Critics' Choice, with a slightly different personnel: Lee Katzman (tp) Pepper Adams (bar) Jimmy Rowles (p) Doug Watkins (b) and Mel Lewis (d).
From Marc Myers