Modern Art

Recorded in Hollywood, California between two sessions in December 1956 and January 1957, Art Pepper’s Modern Art for the Intro label was an exemplar of West Coast Jazz that featured his melodic alto saxophone flights atop cool jazz, bebop, and blues in the company of a quartet with Russ Freeman on piano, Ben Tucker on bass, and Chuck Flores on drums. This unfailingly swinging set of originals and standards opens with Pepper’s “Blues In,” closes with his “Blues Out,” and includes sublime versions of “Bewitched,” “Stompin’ At The Savoy,” “What Is This Thing Called Love,” and other delights in between.