Virtue Will Be Rewarded

I'm so grateful to those fans who've donated in response to the "free" downloads -- to support Widow's Taste.  Hundreds do not, and that's cool, because the music is first of all to listen to, to enchant and soothe, to inspire and disturb, to create new fans and reward the  old ones.  (And to encourage people to BUY the stuff that is for sale at cdbaby!)

And speaking of rewards, all those who have donated during 2013 (and my latest begging post was more effective than most), I've got your names and emails and you'll be rewarded with a special, secret download before the end of the year which you will not be permitted to pay for.  Just want to say thanks.  Thanks very much! L.

Just what I always wanted!

SPECIAL FREEBIE FOR ART'S BIRTHDAY!

Art Pepper was born on September 1, 1925.  For his birthday, I figured I'd upload a gift for his fans.

Art, Roger (Manager—New Morning, Geneva), Alain (Manager—New Morning, Paris)

This track is incomplete by only a few bars at the very beginning.  It's Blues for Blanche, the opening tune he played at a gig in Geneva (at a club called The New Morning) in 1980.  The band was Milcho Leviev, Tony Dumas, and Carl Burnett.

I really agonize over these freebies.  This was an especially wonderful set and I have enough of it on tape to remaster and release as a new two-disc set, so I hesitate to give away something I might eventually want to sell.

I mean, this is no longer a hobby.
If I had saved or invested all the money we earned while we were touring I might be living on it now.  (I actually thought of buying Apple stock during the time when Steve Jobs was out and that stock was in the toilet!) But instead we spent the money on cocaine (mostly, though not entirely, Art's) and on clothes and jewelry (my retaliation; though I have to add I used a diamond ring to pay for the tile floor I'm standing on right now).

This record company is a joy AND a business.  I need to sell albums in order to make & restock albums, but I also need to share this stuff. And the thanks I get from fans makes me so happy.

So I justify this giveaway because the track is incomplete and the audio is kind of boomy.  AND the music is terrific.  (They play Patricia and Goodbye at this session, too, though Goodbye was recorded with a dying battery and so needs Wayne Peet's magic to rescue it from Bee Gees land.)

Anyway, the track is free, but donations toward more albums and freebies are gratefully accepted.  Don't want any coke, but diamonds, rubies, gold, and healthy stocks are always welcomed in lieu of cash.

CLICK HERE FOR BLUES FOR BLANCHE (& OTHER FREEBIES)

FREE! Cool For Summer: VALSE TRISTE

   In July of 1980 we toured with this quartet, pictured: Carl Burnett, Bob Magnusson and Milcho Leviev. The few nights at Sandy's, a club in Boston (or maybe Beverly?) Mass, were memorable because the music was consistently wonderful and because Art was so funny in his comments to the audience. His ankles were swollen as a result of poor health, too much alcohol, and steady traveling, so he was wearing slippers onstage, but otherwise his playing was strong and his mood was good. Partly because the band was so tight and swinging.
   Art had written wonderful waltz (for the legendary Vanguard sessions) but had had his usual problem devising name for it. So Milcho named it, and their little onstage conversation about it is charming. I don't think the tune has been released anywhere else. I may be wrong. I'm often wrong. Anyway, I think it's wonderful.

  Pay nothing. Just enter a zero in the payment box. It really is FREE. But please DONATE if you can—to keep the music coming.

(The Art 'n Warne album is now also available as a download at CD Baby,
at Bandcamp,

AND for those of you who HATE Paypal: on iTunes.)

So here 'tis:

MUSIC: A Few Days Late, No Dollars Short, 'Cause it's FREE!

Somehow June got away from me*.  But there will be TWO freebies this month.

This one is a mystery*.  It was broadcast on Japanese radio in another July — 1979, and at some time in the dim past a cassette of the broadcast was sent to me.  If you listen at the end of the track, it sounds as if the announcer is saying "Boston Cruise," but Art never played a cruise.  Was there a band with that name?

To the first 3 people who can figure out what, why, and where this took place and with whom Art was playing, I'll give a free copy of the next CD (to be released in November).  Thank the amazing Rocco who found this tape in one of many boxes of unlabeled, neglected tapes.

And you'll forgive me if I'm giving you yet another "April"
to remember. One of Art's favorite tunes.
Scroll down to the bottom of this post to access the music.

*June was busy because I'm prepping the new album for release AND I'm tidying up and selecting photos for the Memoir of my marriage, ART: Why I Stuck With a Junkie Jazzman. To see some of the latest photos I've chosen & to read a little of the accompanying text go to the gallery (which is getting bigger by the day.)

*Mystery Solved: By Claude Schlouch, HF Lawant, Marshall Zucker, Andre Florsch

Who, What, Where, When:  Tiger Okoshi (tp), Art Pepper (as), Gary Burton (vib), Kasumi Watanabe (g), Chip Jackson (b), Al Foster (dm), unknown (ann) Unknown location, Tokyo, Japan, July 22, 1979 

Careful 4:45

Art Pepper's interview 1:09

I'll remember April 6:35

interview of Art Pepper & Gary Burton 1:18

Note: Art Pepper does not play on Boston Cruise, Crystal Silence & Como en Vietnam from this session.

Right Click the title to download. Click to Stream.  Pay nothing or donate something to keep the music coming.

MUSIC: Free AND For Sale in Response to Enthusiastic Reception of....

...the April Freebie, of Art & Warne et al playing I'll Remember April: I've negotiated with K.C. Marsh, Warne Marsh's son, and Geraldyne Marsh, his widow, to release this excellent jam session recording of Art Pepper, Warne Marsh, Carol Kaye, Mike Lang, Tommy Vig, John Morrell, and the great Buddy Collette playing flute and clarinet.

Go to the bottom of this post to listen to and/or download the album.

As far as I know, anyway, this has never been released anywhere, ever.  The gig was set up by Dan McKenna, and the proceedings were recorded on the afternoon of April 20, 1975 at an L.A. club called The Foxy Lady.  It was recorded by somebody (McKenna?) on a reel-to-reel recorder and then copied to a couple of cassettes which were then sent to me.

I have no more info.

I'm still giving away the I'll Remember April track, but I'm selling the whole session, more than 2 hours of exceptional music, for $7.

Warnings  

Here's That Rainy Day is interrupted during Warne's solo, and then it's picked up again, still during the solo.  I've faded out and in.  I guess they had to change the reel.

Chameleon starts late.  Fade in.

Broadway ends during Mike Lang's solo, but the track is 24 minutes long!  Fade out.

This hasn't been remastered.  Can't afford it at these prices.
Speaking of which:  I'm dividing the take, such as it is, with the Marshes.  Please don't share the album.  $7 is CHEAP.

K.C. is making a documentary about his dad (https://www.facebook.com/AnImprovisedLife)

& I'm just beginning a kickstarter campaign to publish my memoir  about my life with Art.  I'll let you all know how to participate once I've gotten all the begging figured out.  It'll be available as a print book (softcover) and as an ebook.

Meanwhile, here's a draft of the book jacket:  Just a draft.  I'd love feedback.

Free Music to Remember April by: Art & Warne

Art Pepper, Warne Marsh (photo, Mark Weber)

Maybe April, 2013 is a month you don't want to remember, but this tune is one I think you'll want to hear. On April 20, 1975 Art accepted an afternoon gig at an L.A. club called "The Foxy Lady." That hoot of appreciation at the end is my voice, so I must have been there. I can't remember it. Also in the band, my notes say, is Carol Kaye on electric bass. I don't know who the electric keyboardist is and I have no guess as to who the drummer is.

[ This just in!: The band includes Mike Lang on electric piano, John Morrell on guitar, Tommy Vig on drums, and though he's missing on this track, Buddy Collette on flute and clarinet. The concert was produced by Dan McKenna.]

The track starts out a bit noisy and confused but promptly at the 15-second mark it jumps right into the groove and never leaves it.

Pay nothing.  Most of the music I post here is really truly free. Just enter zero in the amount box.  But if you can, please donate -- and help Widow's Taste issue new recordings (and restock the old ones).

FREE MUSIC: Art Pepper, Jack Sheldon

During the late ‘70s, while Art was working on his last comeback, Jack Sheldon offered him a regular weekend gig at a club in Monterey, right up the coast. The other regular band members were Dolo Coker and Blue Mitchell. I don’t remember who the drummer was or even if there was a drummer. Dolo played keyboard and Jack mostly sang, told jokes, played electronic organ from time to time. No trumpet. He was working in a TV sitcom at the time and said the trumpet deformed his lip. In the photo you can see Jack singing his own composition, “Fuck You Very Much,” with Blue and Art joining in on the chorus.

A few years later Art’s career was in the ascendant, and he was making a bunch of one-offs as-a-sideman-only for a Japanese label: Yupiteru, later Atlas records. Art was permitted to choose the tunes he wanted to play and which musicians he would play them with. For one of these sessions he chose Jack, and Art begged him to sing “Historia del un Amor” as he had done, regularly, in Monterey. Art loved the way Jack sang. Me, too. (He sang “You Don’t Know Me” better than anyone except, of course, Ray Charles.) Unfortunately, the Japanese did not want to include Jack’s singing. But they didn’t erase it. Here it is. Jack’s voice, Art’s sax, and just a teeny bit of Jack’s trumpet. Forgive the audio quality. Got it from a very old cassette. (Also, Milcho Leviev, p; Tony Dumas, b; Carl Burnett, d.)

Download the tune for free.  Simply enter a zero in the "amount" box.  Or you can donate to the cause (so Laurie can release more albums).

1995 Interview: Laurie by Terry Gross, Fresh Air

MUSIC: February Freebie: Just a few hoops to jump thru to get it

Pay nothing, zero, zilch, just put a zero in the "amount" box.  (Or, if you want to keep those Unreleased Art CDs coming from Widow's Taste, support the label by donating any amount at all.)

CLICK HERE

 Click below the photo to get to the music: previously unreleased, absolutely gorgeous 

and just a smidge incomplete.

 Live.  Patricia.

There's something new happening.  I've finally completed my memoir of my life with Art and I'm looking for an actual book publisher, but my favorite plan is to publish it as an ebook with a zillion photos, music tracks, Art's voice actually describing some events, documents, etc.

So meanwhile, I'm accumulating photos, etc. and putting them up on a separate site.  You can explore them, and you can also hear AND download free music from that site.

The freebie this month is yet another terrific (unfortunately incomplete) performance.  But I wouldn't be giving it away if it was releasable!

This time it's the intro & opening melody statement that's missing, but all the rest (about 15 minutes' worth of music) is here and it's beautiful.  The tune is Art's Patricia recorded in Okayama Japan on November 14, 1981 with George Cables, David Williams, and Carl Burnett.  The audio quality is not great, because Wayne Peet has not worked his magic on this one, but you can download it as flac or aiff or any other format and keep it and play it and so on.

MUSIC: January Freebie PLUS...

Bonuses Galore:  First the freebie (from Disc One of The Art History Project) "Tickle Toe."
It's free (just enter a zero in the "amount" box) but donate if you can— to support continuing releases from Widow's Taste

The Art History Project, a three disc set (31 tracks of music), will be out-of-stock for the foreseeable future (I can't afford to re-stock it), but it will still be available for only $14 as a high quality (flac, wav, aiff, etc.) download from Bandcamp complete with all artwork AND with a downloadable pdf of the originally included 20-page booklet filled with photos and info.

This album ought to be considered the Cliff Notes to your Art (Pepper) history course, spanning his entire fraught, sweet, wild, angry, rocking, swinging, soulful, tender career 1952-1982.

See below for another taste of this album, a music video of "Mr. Dom" (on disc 2 of this set).

Click Here for More Album Details


Play and/or DOWNLOAD Tickle Toe: (and stream any of the other 30 tracks at will)



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