For insights into the life and work of a musical legend, this collection is indispensable.
This is the most significant book on the greatest saxophonist of the post-Charlie Parker era published since Pepper's autobiography Straight Life .
Jazz writer Todd Selbert has compiled 25 years' worth of articles about Pepper.... It makes for a good companion piece to Straight Life , but it also stands alone in celebrating a neglected and troubled musician.
Phoenix New Times - Jeff Hinkle
...consistently demonstrates just how inspiring a good subject can be. Consistently engaging, often disturbing, genuinely thought-provoking in its reflections on race in jazz culture in the '50's, the book is worthy of its subject.
A B A Journal (American Bar Association Journal)
Despite the turmoil of his private life, Art Pepper always created inspired jazz.... Todd Selbert has done the jazz world a great service in bringing together the best articles about Pepper. They highlight the achievements of a jazzman whose playing has gathered a remarkably durable international following.
I actually found it very easy to open the book at any chapter and start reading. Companion is a fascinating account of a great musician whose demons haunted him until the day he passed away. No matter what kind of music or instrument you like, one needs to read The Art Pepper Companion.
Art Pepper was as compelling a memoirist as he was a soloist-a jazz anti-hero. These pieces come close to capturing him in his full dimension, shedding light not only on Pepper's recordings, but on his searing autobiography Straight Life .
Every time Art Pepper picked up a horn his jazz playing was scalding in its intensity. The Art Pepper Companion superbly conveys both the triumph of Pepper's music and the tragedy of his life.
With this remarkable set of articles now available in one place, there is no longer any excuse for not knowing just how creative and important Art Pepper was.
These selections are compelling, intelligent, and convincing.. .. You will hear jazz better, and appreciate Pepper more, from just thumbing through these pages. The writing is erudite, impassioned, and on a par with a musician whose every note deserves attention with this book at the listener's side.
Art Pepper embodied so many of the qualities of jazz in his time.... It would be great to think that players such as Art Pepper will come along again, but I wouldn't bet on it. Meanwhile, we have this handsome, intriguing collection as a memorial.
This varied, finely spiced collection contains bravura performances by well-known and outspoken jazz writers. In the aggregate, they present everything you ever wanted to know about a crucial era in jazz history as seen through the microcosm of the life and music of one troubled but extraordinarily gifted alto saxophonist.... Don't miss these riches.
A fine volume. There are many pieces by writers that I'll bet not too many non-obsessives have yet read and these pieces, along with a few other semi-obscure essays and interviews make this book a solid read. There are wonderful passages on Pepper's early and late work.... The focus and the wonder of the book is how the saxophonist was able to triumph over his prodigious self-destructiveness and make consistently excellent music.. .. This book should encourage a renewed interest in this fascinating jazzman.
This is more than the celebration of a great American original. This is the inside dope on a whole way of life, the stuff of legend, and reading The Art Peper Companion allows us to see and hear how that tortured life produced one of the most haunting voices in jazz.
A valuable book about one of America's finest artists.
This valuable collection includes pieces by some of the best jazz critics: WHITNEY BALLIETT, TED GIOIA, BOB BLUMENTHAL, LEONARD FEATHER, MARTIN WILLIAMS, GROVER LEWIS, GARY GIDDINS, and DAN MORGENSTERN.... Clearly, the editor wanted this book to be more than just a look inside Pepper's album covers, and he has succeeded.
Nobody has followed Pepper's career more closely than Todd Selbert, and his judicious selection of commentary will not only remind Pepper's admirers of the roots of their enjoyment, but will lead a new generation to discover its beauties for themselves.
...consistently demonstrates just how inspiring a good subject can be. Consistently engaging, often disturbing, genuinely thought-provoking in its reflections on race in jazz culture in the '50's, the book is worthy of its subject.
This valuable collection includes pieces by some of the best jazz critics: WHITNEY BALLIETT, TED GIOIA, BOB BLUMENTHAL, LEONARD FEATHER, MARTIN WILLIAMS, GROVER LEWIS, GARY GIDDINS, and DAN MORGENSTERN.... Clearly, the editor wanted this book to be more than just a look inside Pepper's album covers, and he has succeeded.
