Art Pepper: Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (JVC VICJ-60087).Art Pepper Art Pepper (September 1 1925–June 15, 1982) born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr. in Gardena, California, was an American cool jazz alto saxophonist. He began his musical career in the 1940s playing with Benny Carter and Stan Kenton. : Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section Noun 1. rhythm section - the section of a band or orchestra that plays percussion instruments percussion section, percussion section - a division of an orchestra containing all instruments of the same class (JVC JVC Victor Company of Japan (or Japan's Victor Company) JVC Jewelers Vigilance Committee JVC Jesuit Volunteer Corps JVC Jet Vane Control (directs VLS-launched missiles) JVC Jonker-Volgenant-Castanon VICJ-60087) This is a jazz classic that I recommended many years ago when it first appeared on CD. Now JVC has given it the XRCD XRCD Extended Resolution Compact Disc (JVC) XRCD X-Ray Crystal Density treatment and it is well worth recommending again, even at its higher price. Although alto saxophonist Art Pepper's life was a pitiable pit·i·a·ble adj. 1. Arousing or deserving of pity or compassion; lamentable. 2. Arousing disdainful pity. See Synonyms at pathetic. pit shambles when this session was booked (this is discussed in his autobiography, Straight Life, which I recommend highly to jazz fans), the combination of Pepper's energetic, melodic alto and the crack 1957 Miles Davis rhythm section (Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones For other persons of the same name, see Joe Jones. Joseph Rudolph (Philly Joe) Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was a Philadelphia-born United States jazz drummer. on drums) resulted in a jazz album for the ages. Things start off with the Cole Porter tune, "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To," and immediately you know that Pepper has a way with a melody. The program continues with both originals and standards, special highlights being Pepper's signature tune, "Straight Life" (lots of irony in that title ...) and the DePaul/Raye tune, "Star Eyes." The XRCD version closes with a tune not on the original CD, the Gershwins' "The Man I Love." The sound is certainly not an impediment to musical enjoyment, but it is nothing to get excited about, either. The session was recorded and mixed in the old dual-mono approach that was common among jazz recordings of that time, with the inherent tradeoff that although spatially the recording sounds artificial, there is a nice immediacy to the sound, particularly the sound of Pepper's alto. Jazz fans are familiar with this sound, and the XRCD remastering wrings as much out of it as we are ever likely to get. The end result is a most welcome re-release of a jazz classic. --KWN |
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