Art Pepper - Neon Art: Volume Two (1981) 2015, Omnivore Recordings [FLAC|Lossless|tracks + .cue] <Post-Bop>

Part of Omnivore Records' Art Pepper bootleg series, 2015's Neon Art: Vol. 1 showcases the legendary jazz saxophonist performing live at Parnell's in Seattle, Washington in 1981. Curated by his then wife and manager, Laurie Pepper, the Neon Art releases document one of the most creatively fertile periods of Pepper's career during the final years of his life. Pepper, who died of a stroke on June 15, 1982, was in the throes of a career resurgence during the late '70s and early '80s, having adopted a methadone treatment program to curb his heroin addiction. It was a problem that infamously saw him serve multiple jail sentences in the '50s and '60s, including a final stretch in San Quentin. However, his addiction also brought him to the Synanon rehabilitation facility in 1968, where he met and ultimately fell in love with Laurie. Under her managerial guidance, Pepper toured constantly and recorded a bevy of well-regarded albums. These tracks, recorded around the same time he produced So in Love, Arthur's Blues, and Roadgame, showcase Pepper backed by several of his most trusted musical associates, pianist Milcho Leviev, bassist David Williams, and drummer Carl Burnett. Having started out as one of the stars of the West Coast "cool" school of jazz, by 1981 Pepper had expanded his palette, incorporating a more outré John Coltrane-influenced style, full of urgent squelch and soulful grit, that nonetheless retained all of his earlier lyrical qualities. Together, Pepper and his band display a palpably intuitive group interplay that strikes a perfect balance between fluid melodicism and spontaneous, bluesy outbursts. Although Neon Art: Vol. 1 only contains two tracks (the roiling funk-a-loo number "Red Car" and the swaggering "Blues for Blanche") at over 15 minutes apiece, they reveal both Pepper's mature talent at building his solos with narrative-like structure and the cornucopia of musical ideas that seem to burst forth out of his mind and through his saxophone with an unhinged glee.
Part of Omnivore Records' Art Pepper bootleg series, 2015's Neon Art, Vol. 2 showcases the legendary jazz saxophonist performing live during his tour of Japan in November 1981. Produced by Pepper's then wife and manager, Laurie Pepper, the Neon Art releases are culled from recordings the West Coast jazz musician made during the final years of his life. The late '70s and early '80s were a creatively fruitful period for Pepper who, with his wife's support, experienced renewed public interest in his music. Beginning in 1974, Pepper (by then a recovering drug addict) toured Japan regularly, enjoying the respect and admiration of the Japanese public. An architect of the West Coast jazz sound of the 1950s, Pepper broadened his style and approach to jazz in his latter years, moving in ever more expressive, bluesy, and even avant-garde directions. Recorded five months before his death in June 1982, these three live concerts feature Pepper backed by pianist George Cables, bassist David Williams, and drummer Carl Burnett. As with many of his latter-career recordings, these are lengthy recordings with the shortest, the propulsive, bebop number "Allen's Alley," clocking in at just under ten minutes. Elsewhere, Pepper delivers an epic, devastatingly heartbreaking rendition of Harold Arlen's classic "Over the Rainbow," and dives headlong into the funky "Mambo Koyama," a Latin-infused composition named in honor of Swing Journal editor and Pepper champion Kiyoshi Koyama.
The third volume of Omnivore Records' Art Pepper bootleg series, Neon Art showcases the legendary jazz saxophonist performing live while on tour in Japan in 1981. Having gone through rehab for an infamous heroin addiction, a process that also led him to meeting his wife, manager, and support system, Laurie Pepper (who produced the Neon Art series), Pepper was at the tail-end of a career upswing during this period and died a mere seven months after these recordings were captured. Nonetheless, as with most of his recordings in the '70s and '80s, Pepper plays with a joyful, unhinged passion on all three of the tracks featured here. Joining Pepper on this Japan tour was what would be his last, and perhaps best rhythm section with pianist George Cables, bassist David Williams, and drummer Carl Burnett. An adept, highly gifted musician, Cables had an empathetic ear for Pepper's playing and knew exactly what he wanted, pushing the saxophonist on the more uptempo pieces and framing Pepper's mournful tone with lush, measured phrasing on the ballads. In part, it is this kind of thoughtful group interplay that makes these recordings such a transfixing listen. Primarily, however, it's Pepper's unfettered, soulful improvisation that draws you in. An icon of West Coast cool jazz, by the '70s Pepper had busted down the stylistic walls of his playing, incorporating a more aggressive approach influenced by John Coltrane. Spurred on by his own restless creativity and gigantic musical appetite, Pepper wrote bluesy, gospel-inflected songs like the album opener here, "Make a List (Make a Wish)," and the slow-burn "Arthur's Blues." And yet, at his core, he remained a fragile romantic, ever capable of breaking your heart with a few well-placed notes, as he does on "Everything Happens to Me." (Matt Collar)

Art Pepper - alto saxophone
George Cables - piano
David Williams - bass
Carl Burnett - drums

1 recorded at Koseinenkin Hall, Sapporo, Japan on November 19, 1981.
2 recorded at Shakai Kyoiku Center, Tottori, Japan on November 13, 1981.
3 recorded at Shibuya Public Hall, Tokyo, Japan on November 24, 1981.