Jazz Festival Memories: 1 - Art Pepper at Newcastle Jazz Festival 1981

The festival season is well upon us. From the smaller, but no less important events such as Darlington and Hexham, to the higher profile events - Cheltenham, Scarborough, Wigan, Manchester, London (to mention but a few) - now's the time to think of booking your holiday either here or abroad or, if you'd prefer to stay closer to home, there's the Classic Jazz Party near Whitley Bay, the Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music or, the reincarnated Newcastle Jazz Festival. All will be previewed closer to the time. With all this festivity in mind it got me to thinking about some of those festival concerts that have become eternally entrenched in my memory. This is the first.

Art Pepper Quartet: University Theatre, Newcastle - May 10, 1981.

Pepper had long been a favourite of mine going back to his early days with Kenton through to his flirtation with the avant garde - he offered an alternative to Parker without disregarding Bird's teachings.

Konitz and Desmond, great alto players themselves, never quite hit me the way that Pepper did. What transpired on that spring evening in what is now Northern Stage had everyone spellbound.

It was also a nail biting experience and the title of Herbert A. Simmons' novel: A Man Walking on Eggshells came to mind.  Pepper blew amazing alto and we wondered if he would make it but, of course,  he always did. Likewise he blew bop on clarinet better than anyone then or now.

He'd had his problems, they've been well documented, but on that night nothing mattered but the music we heard - Lance