Pepper Adams' Joy Road: An Annotated Discography

(Paperback)

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Pepper Adams' Joy Road is more than a compendium of sessions and gigs done by the greatest baritone saxophone soloist in history. It's a fascinating overview of Adams' life and times, thanks to colorful interview vignettes, drawn from the author's unpublished conversations with Adams and other musicians. These candid observations from jazz greats about Adams and his colleagues reveal previously unknown, behind-the-scenes drama about legendary recordings made by John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Pearson, Thad Jones, David Amram, Elvin Jones, and many others.

All types of sound materialstudio recordings, private tapes and broadcasts, film scores, audience tapes, and even jinglesare listed, and Adams' oeuvre is pushed back from 1956 to 1947, when Adams was 16 years old, before he played baritone saxophone. Because of Carner's access to Adams' estate, just prior to its disposition in 1987, much new discographical material is included, now verified by Adams' date books and correspondence.

Since Adams worked in so many of the great bands of his era, Pepper Adams' Joy Road is a refreshing, sometimes irreverent walk through a large swath of jazz history. This work also functions as a nearly complete band discography of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, the most influential big band of its time. Adams was a founding member and stayed with the band until a year before Jones left to relocate in Denmark. Finally, Carner charts the ascent of Adams as an original yet still underappreciated composer, one who wrote 43 unique works, nearly half of them after August, 1977, when he left Jones-Lewis to tour the world as a soloist. Pepper Adams' Joy Road, the first book ever published about Pepper Adams, is a companion to the author's forthcoming biography on Adams.

Reviews

In 1984, while recuperating from a leg injury, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams was visited by Gary Carner, who was at the time a City College of New York graduate student researching a thesis on Adams life and works. The temporarily incapacitated Adams was happy to relate stories to his student biographer, but plans to publish his memoirs were shelved when Adams was diagnosed with lung cancer. Adams passed away in 1986, and while he did see a version of Carners manuscript, its doubtful he would have imagined the massive collection of material Carner has released 26 years after the saxophonists death. First is an annotated discography Pepper Adams Joy Road (Scarecrow) which in its 552 pages lists Adams entire recorded history, including unissued sessions dating back to 1947, and several filmed appearances. In addition, Carner produced a series of recordings that present all 43 of Adams compositions, and commissioned lyrics for seven of the ballads. * Jazz History Online *
This book is peppered with interviews with Adams and other great musicians as well as vignettes drawn from the author's conversations with Adams. There are many behind-the-scenes anecdotes of other famous musicians, including john Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and Duke Pearson....This first comprehensive discography to the works of Pepper Adams is a valuable addition to the jazz research literature. * American Reference Books Annual *

A 2012 Holiday Gift Guide Choice!

This book is a comprehensive listing of the baritone saxophonist's recordings, often expanded upon with illuminating comments and interviews.

* Hothouse Jazz Magazine *
This is an overwhelming work of research that goes well beyond the usual concept of a discography, or even annotated discography. Carners dedication to documenting this under-honored musical giant shines throughout the book. Fans of Adams and jazz will be both greatly satisfied, and left wanting more as Carner finishes what will surely be a masterful biography. * ARSC Journal *
In recent years a few exemplary discographies have appeared that enhance the original purpose of the discography (namely, to list recordings) by adding information of a biographical nature or details about the music. Gary Carners thick work on baritone saxophone player Pepper Adams belongs to this new species of discographies that provide much more than dates and facts. In the mid-1980s Carner worked together with Adams on his autobiography and after Adams died in 1986, Carner interviewed many of Adamss colleagues that had either made music with him or met him in the studio. With the help of many friends of discography he discovered several unpublished recordings. Carners Pepper Adams Joy Road is a definitive book on baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams. * Jazzinstitut Darmstadt *
When I received a copy of Pepper Adams Joy Road, I opened it at random, out of curiosity. I had not been terribly involved in Adams work coming from a long immersion in Harry Carney and Ernie Caceres, among others. But I stood in the middle of the living room, reading eagerly for a half hour, before remembering that a) I could sit down, and b) other tasks had to be taken care of. If a book can 'stop me in my tracks,' it is one I will read, keep, and value. * Jazz Lives *
This is, on the surface, a book-sized discography, a listing of all known recordings of the great baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams. But the academic-sounding discography category does not adequately describe the exhaustive work that author Gary Carner has done to tell the story of Adams' life in what amount to a gig-by-gig, session-by-session biography. * Saxophone Today *
The work Carner has put into this is just unmeasureable, truly staggering, and does justice to a neglected giant, a musician respected by his peers, for his harmonic prowess, his energy with the larger saxophone, his enthusiasm for music, his imagination... like drummer Bill Goodwin describes him: "someone who played as if there was no tomorrow; at all times!" * JazzontheRecord *
Good discographies are certainly very useful tools, but it is highly uncommon for a discography, even an annotated one, to also qualify as a good read. But Pepper Adams' Joy Road most definitely is. It brings the man as well as his music to life. Readand listenwell! * Jazz Profiles *

Author Bio

Gary Carner, an independent jazz researcher, is the author of Jazz Performers and The Miles Davis Companion. From 1984 until Adams's death in 1986, Carner collaborated with Pepper Adams on his memoirs. Carner's research on Adams spans four decades.