...( Info )...

Chet Baker & Art Pepper - Playboys (1956)
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This 2012 disc gathers all known sides cut during a July 26, 1956 confab led by West Coast cool purveyors Chet Baker (trumpet) and Art Pepper (alto sax). Keen-eyed enthusiasts will note that this particular date occurred during a remarkable week – July 23 through July 31 – of sessions held at the behest of Pacific Jazz label owner and producer Dick Bock at the Forum Theater in Los Angeles. Recordings made during this week not only inform The Route, but three other long-players as well: Let's Get Lost, Chet Baker & Crew, and At the Forum Theater. These were likewise the first sides cut by Baker since returning from his triumphant and extended stay in Europe.

The Route compiles all 11 tracks by the sextet featuring Richie Kamuca (tenor sax), Pete Jolly (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), and Stan Levey (drums) in support of Baker and Pepper. Bock had no immediate plans to use these recordings for any one album, that is to say he incorporated the titles throughout various compiles released on Pacific Jazz. Three months later, however, Baker and Pepper did record with a completely different personnel for the expressed purpose of creating what would become known as Playboys and alternately Picture of Heath. Perhaps encouraged by the swinging interaction on Pepper's "Tynan Time" and "Minor Yours," both cuts were featured at this get-together as well as during the Picture of Heath collaboration. There are a few unexpected moments of sheer brilliance spread throughout, such as the Baker penned title composition, which contains supple and nicely contrasting solos from Kamuca and Vinnegar – whose solid pendulum accurately swings all through this collection. Complete Playboys Sessions 1956 is recommended for completists as well as curious consumers wishing to expand their knowledge of the light and airy rhythms that typify the cool West Coast jazz scene of the mid-'50s.

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...( TrackList )...
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01 - For Minors Only
02 - Minor Yours
03 - Resonant Emotions
04 - Tynan Time
05 - Picture Of Heath
06 - For Miles And Miles
07 - C.T.A.
08 - Tynan Time
09 - Little Girl
10 - Minor Yours
11 - Sonny Boy
12 - The Route

*1956, 2012 Pacific Jazz-Phoenix | 131556


Personnel:
Chet Baker - trumpet
Art Pepper - alto saxophone
Pete Jolly - piano
Carl Perkins - piano
Phil Urso - tenor saxophone
Richie Kamuca - tenor saxophone
Curtis Counce - bass
Leroy Vinnegar - bass
Lawrence Marable - drums
Stan Levey - drums