by Jeremy Ross

Created on: August 10, 2009

Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr. was born on September 1, 1925 in Gardena, California.[1] His career was filled with many hardships, which would set back his career. He was in and out of jail and rehab for a number of years. However, despite all of his problems he was able to have a significant and important contribution to jazz. Art Pepper, as he was better known as, contributed greatly to the West Coast Jazz sound and this style can be heard in his tune "Opus de Funk," which is off of the album, Art Pepper + Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics.

Pepper's first instrument was given to him by his father and music teacher, Leroy Parry, at the age of nine. The clarinet was the first instrument Pepper learned to play. Pepper's father had his son play at the local bars to earn some extra money. By the time Pepper turned twelve he switched to the instrument that would bring him fame - the alto saxophone. Although Pepper had a music teacher, he was mainly self taught. Pepper would listen to other bands and occasionally play on Central Avenue in Los Angeles.[2] He even had the pleasure and opportunity to play with many significant jazz men and greats such as Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Jimmy Blanton, Johnny Hodges, and Dexter Gordon. Gordon introduced the young Pepper to drummer Lee Young. "The drummer served as a mentor and eventually introduced Pepper to Benny Carter, the legendary saxophonist and bandleader."[3] In Pepper's book, Straight Life, Pepper explained his experience in the Benny Carter band as follows:

I had never played much lead alto, so with Benny I played second alto, he played lead, but in my book I had two parts written in ... and sometimes, if there wasn't a large audience, Benny would just get off the stand and let me play his parts. I'd get all his solos. I learned that way how to play lead in a four-man saxophone section. And I learned a lot following Benny, listening to his solos, what he played against the background.[4]

Carter paved the way for Pepper to be a fantastic musician with lots of experience. He even helped Pepper take his career to the next level by getting him an audition with the Stan Kenton band when Pepper was only seventeen. The tenor of Kenton's band, Red Dorris, helped teach Pepper about music theory and chord structure, which was the beginning of making Pepper a well-rounded and knowledgeable musician.

Soon after joining the Stan Kenton band, Pepper was drafted by the United States Army. He was discharged

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