Blues for the Fisherman: Unreleased Art Pepper, Vol. 6

THE TWELVE BARS OF THE DECADE; Blues for the Fisherman was hailed by one jazz journalist as just that when four of these tracks were released in the U.K. in 1980 by Mole Jazz. That LP remained at the top of the British jazz charts for well over a year, so Mole eventually released a second album from the same session. Fans all over the world have worn those LPs out and have been clamoring for 30 years to hear it all, everything that happened during those two historic nights at Ronnie Scott s, part of Art Pepper s first-ever tour of Europe. Laurie Pepper, the alto saxophonist s widow and owner of Widow s Taste Records, says there is a logic to releasing everything. Art was a storyteller, explains Laurie. Every tune was a vehicle, a way for him to express his life of pain and glory. He loved to talk about it, too. Communication, soul to soul, was what he aimed for. When we listen to these sets, we hear a narrative: In the music and between the tunes Art keeps us, the audience, informed. He lets us track the skill, persistence, anguish, and exhilaration of the process of performing, the story of an artist at work. From the stage he tells us what is and isn t working as he sees it at the moment. He reveals how nervous he is and how grateful for a sympathetic crowd to whom he jokes, complains, explains, and reminisces. The band features Milcho Leviev, The Bulgarian genius (Arnaldo DeSouteiro) and frequent Pepper sideman. He was putative leader of this session. (Art was then under contract to Galaxy Records, which would not permit him to record as leader for any other label, however obscure). Also in the band: the young, exciting Tony Dumas on bass and Art s favorite drummer, Carl Burnett. At Mole s behest, Art plays some tunes less usual for him in 1980: Stardust, Rita San, Untitled #34, Blues for the Fisherman. He also plays familiar favorites, What s New, Goodbye, I ll Remember April, A Song for Richard, Rhythm-A-Ning, and his own: The Trip, Ophelia, True Blues, Red Car, Make a List, and of course Straight Life (while announcing it Art plugs his autobiography of the same name, about to be released in England later that year). And he plays clarinet, as well, on Anthropology and In a Mellow Tone. Every set at Ronnie s was a little piece of art, a composition, lovingly constructed for an eager and perceptive audience. The album includes Laurie s personal photos and 24 pages of notes describing Art s emotions and preoccupations, how he felt about the situation s pressures and delights. She talks about The Fisherman, and, as usual, she gives us her own amused, nonplussed, and dazzled take on all of it. Laurie Pepper launched the Widow s Taste label in 2006 in order to introduce Art to a generation who may not know how soulful jazz can be, to offer an alternative to the shoddy wares of bootleggers, and to satisfy the blessedly insatiable desires of Art s knowledgeable fans. Using previously unreleased sessions recorded by radio stations or picked up surreptitiously by fans, she s inspired to keep going by those fans and by the overwhelming praise of critics.