Customer Reviews

Hollywood All Star Sessions

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't have this box set. Rather I've owned and ejoyed the original Atlas LPs for many years and continue to listen to most of them on a regular basis.

Even though Art was a "sideman" on these records, make no mistake that these are Pepper-lead sessions. He was a "sideman" only due to contractual conflicts with Galaxy.

But because these was no prssure here, these sessions tend to be very relaxed and casual "blowing" sessions with mixed results. The Watrous and Sheldon sessions are a ball and the second Sonny Stitt session is mind-blowing (especially on "Atlas Blues" and "Lester Leaps In" and listen to the great bass playing from the much underrated John Heard--outstanding!). But the first Stitt session is a mess and the Pete Jolly and Shelley Manne dates are only so-so.

Still, this is ART PEPPER and it's great to have this music back in print (for the first time in the US!) after all these years.

I reccomend this box to all Pepper fans.

As much as I had responded to the emotionalism in Art Pepper's playing, I had never taken very seriously his quote about intending to be no less than "the greatest alto player of all time." Not until now.

These five extraordinary CD's capture the altoist in peak form in five different contexts, each swinging from start to finish and each featuring non-stop light and heat from one of jazz' most creative overachievers. During the middle of "Wee," taken at a torrid tempo on Disc 3, Pepper does something unexpected: he reverts to the conventional, proving he had chops sufficient to outpace the very best Bird disciple of them all. Sonny Stitt is his sparring mate. Pepper has just finished one of his jagged, angular solos, emitting brief bursts of brilliance, taking stabs at the overtone series, leaving shards of crystalized emotions in his choppy wake. Expressive and communicative, but certainly no proof of his command of either the horn or the complex syntax of bebop. Then Stitt follows with smooth, logical and assured Bird-like lines, spitting them out with consummate albeit formulaic ease. Apparently that was enough for Pepper, who takes after Stitt, exhibiting the killer instinct of a competitor who's about to humiliate the rival on the latter's own turf. Pepper's note choices, velocity, articulations, energy, and even fluency are sufficient not only to smoke Sonny but to expose his own former elliptical approach to improvisation as the "ruse" of a creator who under most circumstances will go the extra mile to avoid anything resembling a cliche, a familiar lick, a glib formula.

The man was not only the most moving alto saxophonist of them all but indeed may very well have been the best.

I write as someone with no background in jazz and only recently determined to give it a chance. Early exposure to fusion and speed-artists turned me off and now at midlife I am determined to mine out some of the nuggets. A few albums appealed at once; Kind of Blue, Jazz Samba, a few others; but nothing has reached out and grabbed me like this album. Simply superb performances and recordings. I can't wait till my own copy arrives.

I have a number of Art Pepper's CDs. I have always regarded him as good, but not great. That is until I purchased this five CD boxed set-The Hollywood All-Star Sessions. This is Art Pepper at his swinging greatest! Since he had some contract dispute with Galaxy Records, he is listed as a sideman. That may account for his stretching out and he does it on these five CDs. Also, if you have a very good audio system (not a boom box from a discount store) the recording quality on many of the performances is excellent (soundstaging, dimensionality, etc). With a quality sound system, it's like having Art and his groups wailing in your living room. As an addition, his wife Laurie has written an approximately 30 page booklet that provides insights into Art and the recording sessions. If you like Art Pepper, this is a must have boxed set.

Art Pepper is marvelous proponent of West Coast jazz. Though not all selections on the 5 CDs are strong, there is more than enough to satisfy.

Trust me, the price is worth it for some of the best jazz "showdowns" you will ever hear. The sessions with Stitt (tenor) are worth the price alone. I can't really say anything more than the other reviewers here have not already said, but I just wanted to throw in my two cents.

My tastes are very eclectic, But I can honestly say that these are some of the most fresh jazz improv sessions i have ever heard recorded, even if they are decades old.

I've only owned this box set for two weeks, but it has already joined the list of my favorite jazz recordings. Historia de un Amor (Disc 2) is one of the most beautiful performances I have ever heard.

This is the music Harry talks about in "Lost Light." Good Stuff

This album is a must for all serious jazz fans... I was an Art Pepper listener... but I had missed that album...While reading one of Connelly's Harry Bosch novels, The Narrows I think (?), Bosh who is a jazz lover was listening to that album at his home... And he said it was a must in his own words... So I immediately went to Amazone to order it... This album is a master piece! It is an historical album, a legendary boxset! No jazz collection is complete without it... hope you do as I did and buy it: Amazone has it all the time, so I did not have to run around to get it... Pepper has a hearth of gold...and I found the Art I was missing!