Pepper Adams Detroit

Avid Jazz presents four classic Pepper Adams albums, including original liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. “Jazzmen Detroit”; “Critics’ Choice”; “Pepper Adams Quintet” and “10 to 4 At The 5 Spot”.
It’s official… Detroit Swings! And here’s “Jazzmen Detroit” to prove it! Kenny Burrell on guitar, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Paul Chambers on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. All but Clarke are Detroit men and all have come together from their respective day jobs, like Pepper Adams from the Stan Kenton band, Tommy Flanagan from Miles, Kenny Clarke from Hampton Hawes…

Although Leonard Feather, in the original liner notes that are reproduced for this reissue, says that it is an oversimplification to call the music on this 1958 session "hard bop," the performances are actually pretty definitive of the idiom. Baritonist Pepper Adams, freshly arrived in New York from Detroit, co-leads a quintet with the up-and-coming trombonist Jimmy Knepper that also includes such young notables as pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Elvin Jones. They perform an obscure Jon Hendricks song, a lyrical version of "All Too Soon," the straight-ahead bebop blues "Beaubien," a couple obscure originals, Duke Ellington's "I Didn't Know About You" (which has Kelly switching to a spooky-sounding organ) and Knepper's "Primrose Path"…

Pepper Adams - The Complete Regent Sessions (1957) {Fresh Sound FRS-CD 491 rel 2008}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 356 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 143 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 38 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1957, 2008 Fresh Sound Records | FRS-CD 491
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Baritone Saxophone

A companion release to Hollywood Quintet Sessions, The Complete Regent Sessions (including tracks from the LPs Art Pepper/Sonny Redd, Jazz Is Busting Out All Over, and The Cool Sound of Pepper Adams), also from 1957, features emerging baritone saxophone star Pepper Adams in a series of lengthy jazz jams, unlike the shorter and compact studio recordings he did with West Coast musicians. These two East Coast dates done during the early winter in Hackensack, NJ, at Rudy Van Gelder's house studio feature Adams' running mates who matriculated from Detroit to New York City with him, including Doug Watkins (who was also on the Hollywood tracks), Elvin Jones on all selections, Hank Jones, and Bernard McKinney.

Donald Byrd & Pepper Adams - The Complete Blue Note Studio Sessions (2000) {4CD Box Set Mosaic MD4-194 rec 1959-1967}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks0+CUE+LOG -> 1.74 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 597 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 93 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1959-67, 2000 Mosaic Records / Blue Note / EMI-Capitol | MD4-194
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet / Saxophone

Centered around the Byrd/Adams Blue Note dates Byrd in Hand, Chant, Royal Flush, The Cat Walk, and Off to the Races, Mosaic's Complete Blue Note Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams Studio Sessions finds the Detroit natives at the top of their game during 1959-1962. Writing and performing some of the most original and tight hard bop around, Byrd and Adams led a variety of combos that featured the likes of Herbie Hancock (his first session), Wynton Kelly, Duke Pearson (who also contributed material), Charlie Rouse, Sam Jones, and Billy Higgins. From distinct covers ("Lover Come Back to Me") to seamlessly complex originals ("Bronze Dance"), Byrd's pure-toned trumpet and Adams' angular baritone unexpectedly make a perfect match. And beyond a wealth of sides that prove the point, the collection also features – in typically thorough and classy Mosaic fashion – some stunning session photos by Blue Note lensman Francis Wolff and an extensive essay by Bob Blumenthal. A hard bop experience of the highest order.

As Detroiters like Kenny Burrell, Pepper Adams, and Tommy Flanagan were migrating to New York in the mid-'50s in a modern jazz takeover, Pittsburgh drummer Kenny Clarke made known his intentions to support these new Young Lions by being their drummer of choice. This album is nearly the same as the equally excellent and highly recommended effort Kenny Clarke Meets the Detroit Jazzmen, save one extra selection. Burrell is the ostensible leader on this six-track set, but the members of this finely honed quintet (including dual Detroit/Pittsburgh claimant citizen bassist Paul Chambers) can all take equal roles, and eventually would as frontmen in their own right…

Grover Washington, Jr.'s sophomore date for Creed Taylor's Kud imprint was released in late 1972. Like its predecessor Inner City Blues, this session was produced by the label boss himself and was arranged and conducted by Bob James. Assembled for the date were large horn and string sections. The former contained stalwart talents like Detroit's Pepper Adams on baritone saxophone, and trumpeters Marvin Stamm and Ernie Royal. Other players on the session included what would become the heart of the CTI session crew: guitarists Cornell Dupree and Eric Gale, bassists Ron Carter and Gordon Edwards (who only appears on the opening cut), drummer Idris Muhammad (though Billy Cobham is also here), and percussionists like Airto Moreira and Ralph MacDonald…