Pepper and Perkins

© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

Before and after [prison - incarcerated for drug use], the late alto saxophonist Art Pepper [1925-1982] performed in his accustomed quartet setting with a bevy of accomplished pianists.

The BP group would feature pianists based on the West Coast including Hampton Hawes, Pete Jolly, Lou Levy, Russ Freeman and Sonny Clark, as well as, those visiting during their stints with the Miles Davis Quintet on his memorable Contemporary Records “Meets the Rhythm Section” albums: Red Garland and Wynton Kelly.

The AP group consisted of pianists Milcho Leviev, George Cables, Duke Jordan, Tommy Flanagan and Stanley Cowell.

Sadly, often missing from the BP group is pianist Carl Perkins [1928-1958] about whom Art would say on leaning of his tragically early passing:

"His loss hit me very deeply. We had worked together many times. Carl's talent was very great and as a person I thought of him as a rare friend. The last recordings I made under my own name were done with Carl. Unfortunately, they are owned by Aladdin (Intro) Records and have been released in stereo on Omega Tape [reel to reel] only. Carl's playing on these two albums was his greatest recorded work."

In order to help rectify this omission, here’s a brief piece on Carl, a truly gifted Jazz pianist.