Artist: Art Pepper
Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet.
Active primarily in West Coast jazz, Pepper first came to prominence in Stan Kenton's big band. He was known for his emotionally charged performances and several stylistic shifts throughout his career and was described by critic Scott Yanow as having "attained his goal of becoming the world's greatest altoist" at the time of his passing in 1982.
At the age of 17, he began playing professionally with Benny Carter, and then joined the Stan Kenton orchestra, touring with that band until he was drafted in 1943. After the war, he returned to Los Angeles, and joined the Kenton Innovations Orchestra. By the 1950s, Pepper was recognized as one of the leading alto saxophonists in jazz, finishing second only to Charlie Parker as Best Alto Saxophonist in the DownBeat magazine Readers Poll of 1952.
Along with Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, and Shelly Manne, and perhaps due more to geography than playing style, Pepper is often associated with the musical movement known as West Coast jazz, as contrasted with the East Coast (or "hot") jazz of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Some of Pepper's best known albums from the 1950s are Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics, Gettin' Together, and Smack Up.
Pepper joined Buddy Rich's Big Band from 1968 to 1969. He toured Europe and Japan with his own groups and recorded many albums, mostly for Galaxy Records, a subsidiary of Fantasy Records. His later albums include Living Legend, Art Pepper Today, Among Friends, and Live in Japan.
Further information about Art Pepper is found here and here.
This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Pepper, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
Art Pepper - Kongsberg Jazzfestival 1980
Art Pepper: Videos
Art Pepper Quartet (May 9, 1964) - Jazz Casual
Art Pepper & Jimmy Witherspoon 40 blues