Next up, The Trip (Contemporary S7638) brings together George Cables, David Williams, and Elvin Jones. Pepper had never played with Coltrane alumni Jones, and the quartet does not gel quite as well as the more familiar personnel on Living Legend. Despite that, the music, an even mix of originals and standards, is at least equal to the comeback album. Recorded at Contemporary Studios in September of 1976, by an unknown recording engineer, the sound is again outstanding.
The cream of Pepper’s late Contemporary Records output are the three LPs issued in 1979. These were the result of three nights playing the Village Vanguard in New York City in July 1977 (with a fourth LP issued in 1985). The Vanguard has been the site of any number of definitive recordings by renowned artists. Contemporary owner Lester Koenig organized the gig and arranged for the backing band, and what a band! George Cables on piano, George Mraz on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Where Jones was still working out his synergy with Pepper in the previous year’s recording, he now fits in like they had toured together. The recording engineer was RCA Records Bob Simpson, who recorded handfuls of “super discs.” While Koenig receives mastering credit on the record sleeves, Doug Sax’s Sheffield Lab did the plating. The sound might not equal the classic Contemporary releases from the late 1950s, but it is not far behind. Sometimes there is a bit of edge to the piano and alto sax, but overall, these are outstanding sounding LPs. And the music! As these are live recordings, the tracks are extended in time, with only three or four compositions per LP. If I had to pick one of the three as a place to start, it would be with the Friday night session as Pepper’s rendition of his ‘Las Cueves De Mario’ is stunning, the side finished off with the Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke standard ‘But Beautiful.’ The Saturday night selection is almost as good, especially ‘You Go To My Head’ and ‘The Trip.’ Pepper’s renditions of his own songs – and ‘The Trip’ is a great example – are as good or better than those found on his more collectable early records.
The Galaxy Years
Between the Village Vanguard Sessions and Pepper’s death in 1982, seven Art Pepper LPs were released on Galaxy and one by Artists House:
Art Pepper Today (Galaxy GXY-5119)
Landscape (Galaxy GXY-5128)
Straight Life (Galaxy GXY-5127)
So In Love (Artists House AH 9412)
Winter Moon (Galaxy GXY-5140)
One September Afternoon (Galaxy-5141)
Roadgame (Galaxy GXY 5142)
Goin’ Home (Galaxy GXY-5143) duet with George Cables
Galaxy was a subsidiary of Fantasy Records. Whereas Contemporary was based in Los Angeles, Fantasy was an all-Northern California affair. Based in Berkeley, their early 10 the 12-inch LPs, mostly from Dave Brubeck, stand out in record bins for their red (mono) and blue (stereo) vinyl. The label is infamous for the “misunderstandings” it had with Brubeck and later, Creedence Clearwater Revival, about who reaped the profits of their huge record sales. Although Galaxy was formed in 1964, its output was fairly limited until 1977 when it suddenly upped its game to release more than 50 titles over the next eight years. Many of those were Art Pepper titles, both during his lifetime, and after.
