Customer Reviews

Encounter

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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"Encounter" showcases as good a line-up as you'll find on record: Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Zoot Sims on tenor, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and the force-of-nature known as Elvin Jones driving this train with both bombast and sensitivity. Adam's "Inanout" is an old-school bop number with some hardcore soloing from Adams and Sims on what almost threatens to become a Jazz-At-The-Philharmonic-style cutting contest. The Strayhorn/Ellington composition "Star-Crossed Lovers" is a beautiful ballad with a etheral solo by Flanagan. Particularly effective is the way Sims and Adams take turns supporting each other with the same single-note accents while the other plays the melody.

"Elusive" is a smoking Thad Jones song with swinging solos from both horns and more jaw-dropping drumwork from the composer's brother, Elvin Jones. During Tommy Flanagan's solo, you can hear someone say "Yeah!" off mic - not sure who said it but I'm in complete agreement. Flanagan contributes the closing number, "Verdandi", a quick and rousing number made to blow the listeners out of their seats. Again, Elvin Jones tears this tune up - when the final chord fades out, you'll just want to say "Whew!"

This 1968 recording by Pepper Adams proves (once again) what a master he was on the less popular baritone sax. There's no heavy-handedness in his playing whatsoever, rather, he plays in a swinging, soulful mood, sometimes gruff, but always melodic. The presence of tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims is a nice touch : nobody could ever create a more smooth sound on the horn; absolute masters like Ben Webster or Ike Quebec may have equalled him with their own particular sound, but never surpassed him, as he never sounded like nobody but himself. Add Tommy Flanagan on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Elvin Jones on drums, and you know this has to be a great union of top jazzmen, and it is ! A set which is made up largely of originals and fairly recent compositions by the likes of Joe Henderson and Thad Jones, this is no run-of-the-mill jam session, rather a beautifully crafted showcase for the talent of these five greats.

After hearing Pepper Adams stand out on various Mingus and Coltrane albums I decided to seek out his solo albums. While I didn't dislike most of them I found the musical style to be too laid-back and "cool". This CD "Encounter" is the exception to the rule. It easily features some of his most intense, hardest swinging ever, possibly because he's getting support from the legendary John Coltrane rhythm section of Elvin Jones, Ron Carter and Tommy Flanagan. Zoot Sims is also on hand and sounds terrific. If you want to hear Pepper Adams play hard-bop rather than in the Mulligan cool mode give this one a spin!

favorite musicians when I bought the LP, since it sounded to me as if they were playing in different studios at different times. Zoot sounded over-heated from the start, as he's done on other sessions (e.g. the one with Hackett) when he's apparently been called upon to run out the changes and the clock.

The late Pepper Adams was definitely a "musicians muscian" better known to his cohorts than the general public--he never garnered any awards or artist deserving of recognition like Gerry Mulligan who was more on the "cool" side. So it's interesting here to pair him off with Zoot Sims, a saxophonist with roots in both bop and swing. Also Pepper is joined by his Detroit cohorts like Elvin Jones and Tommy Flanagan plus Davis bassist Ron Carter. The repetoire here is varied but quite interesting with an Broadway tune, an Ellington song (Pepper's favorite composer) and 2 Joe Henderson originals (Serenity & Punjab). But it's the battle between these two saxists that will grab you. Grab it before it's out of circulation--it's almost as good as Pepper's colloborations with Donald Byrd.

great album.pepper adams was a much sought after baritone horn player by jazz, salsa groups ,latin jazz groups you name it.In my opinion he was the better of baritone horn players,sorry gerry.hard hitting,slashing fluid enjoyable to listen to

Pepper Adams is one of the great baritone sax players, but he never seemed to be able to make a great album on his own. There is good playing all around, and Zoot Sims makes an interesting, if not completely effective countervoice to Adams' booming bari. However, there is never an excess of excitement, and the momentum just isn't there. A good addition for Pepper Adams fans, but otherwise disappointing.