On February 23 Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds kick off a year-long 180 gram vinyl reissue series sourced from the catalog of Contemporary Records with a welcome new edition of Smack Up by the Art Pepper Quintet. Cut in 1960, it captures alto saxophonist Pepper in superb form leading a top-flight band of West Coasters on six selections that mingle accessible swing with bluesy and occasionally progressive motifs. The cohesiveness of the whole is playful but sharp and will broaden perceptions of Pepper for listeners who mainly know him for a certain canonical quartet session.
Art Pepper’s undisputed entry into the jazz canon was also his debut for Lester Koenig’s Contemporary label; cut and released in 1957, Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section teamed the saxophonist with pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, aka Miles Davis’ celebrated rhythm section of the time (hence the title).
The quality of the music this august group produced in a one-day session (January 19) has endured since and helped bolster the album’s legendary stature. It was a first time meeting, connecting the East Coast to a rising West Coast star who was to some extent unprepared for the date (sources vary), in part due to a drug problem. This is all long-established info, but it’s particularly worthy of mention in this review, as the title Smack Up has been perceived as either a direct or coincidental reference to Pepper’s heroin addiction.
It’s also this album’s opening cut. “Smack Up” was composed by Harold Land and appears on the tenor saxophonist’s 1958 album for Contemporary, Harold in the Land of Jazz. This adds a bit of ambiguity to the drug association (Land having stated the piece’s title was inspired purely by the music’s structure) as it clarifies Smack Up’s conceptual reality; all six tracks were composed by saxophonists.
It’s a diverse half dozen, none of them standards, and one is by Pepper himself, who’s the sole saxophonist on the record; the other horn is the trumpet of Jack Sheldon, as pianist Pete Jolly, bassist Jimmy Bond, and drummer Frank Butler round out the band. The comfort level is immediately felt, as these are all West Coast guys, but it’s also notable that Butler played on the aforementioned album by Land.
A couple years had passed, but Butler kicks the tune into gear with confidence as Pepper and Sheldon state the melody in unison. The post-bop vibes are exemplary and concise as the solos by Pepper, Sheldon, and Jolly are delivered with energy and poise. After, the horns exchange a few lines, Butler gets his moment to shine and then the head returns to wrap matters up.
“Smack Up” drives home the band’s adroitness in expressing and elevating bop rudiments. A whole record in this mode would’ve been just fine. But with Pepper’s “Las Cuevas De Mario,” the tide turns to the bluesy as Jolly sets down an unbending groove allowing Pepper and then Sheldon to stretch out. It’s Bond that opens the cut all by his lonesome, as he and Butler are big in the mix (Smack Up engineered by Roy DuNann and sounding great in this edition).
Frankly, “Las Cuevas De Mario” unwinds like it arrived half a decade early, with Jolly’s playing mildly reminiscent of Barry Harris’ in Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder,” but with currents flowing more temperately. This isn’t to suggest the band doesn’t produce some heat on Smack Up, as a spirited dive into the Buddy Collette composition “A Bit of Basie” gets worked out with the appropriate gusto. Sheldon’s solo is especially fine here, and Bond doesn’t waste his moment in the spotlight.
Before gaining notoriety in the band of Stan Kenton, Pepper had played with Benny Carter. It’s a fact that brings a touch of poignancy to Smack Up’s inclusion of Carter’s swinging “How Can You Lose,” which gets handled here with a blend of erudition and just the right amount of old school flavor. Butler’s drumming inspiring thoughts of Kansas City is an utter treat.
There is a ballad here, but in keeping with Smack Up’s concept, it’s not a Songbook choice but instead comes from Duane Tatro, a guy best known for his work in television. This is unsurprising given the locale, though Tatro’s career in TV came later. At this point, he’d cut a record for Contemporary and was generally on the scene. The main thing is how the group approaches Tatro’s “Maybe Next Year” like a cherished standard and with a rare level of assurance. Also, the playing still sounds quite modern, like the track could’ve been cut by a crew of first-class inside players just last week.
Smack Up ends with Ornette Coleman’s “Tears Inside,” an addition that might seem in keeping with the canon today, but rest assured was a controversial move in 1960. Pepper and Sheldon’s handling of the piece (recorded and released the year prior on Coleman’s Tomorrow Is the Question! for Contemporary) is careful, which shouldn’t be mistaken for tentative. They’re just working it out while keeping it all under control. Interestingly, Jolly largely lays out (understandably, given the nature of Coleman’s music) but does get a plum solo spot and accents the horns a bit after that entrance.
Returning to the biographical, the story (the lore) is that after getting paid for this session, Pepper left to score his fix and was arrested the same day, with the result a three year prison stint. He recorded just one more album for Contemporary prior to his incarceration, but what’s remarkable is the sustained high level of quality across those releases. Smack Up is distinct in the bunch, an LP with a concept that unfurls like a party platter. It begins Craft Recordings’ Contemporary Records series in superlative fashion.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
