Chet Baker & Art Pepper - Playboys LP (Clear Vinyl) ( VINYL )

In the summer of 1956, the Los Angeles jazz scene was in for a treat with the comebacks of two of its local heroes, Chet Baker & Art Pepper, who had been long absent for very different reasons. The good impression Chet made on his European tour had brought him a lot of artistic recognition. His trumpet playing was more authoritative and Baker himsself appeared much more mature, no longer the « young man with a horn » but a musician now full of newmusical ideas. Art Peppers comeback, after a long, drug-related incarceration, created a tremendous stir of excitement among jazz fans and musicians alike. Very soon, everyone agrred that «Pepper actually sounded better since his return». Chet and Art were at their creative best back then, and these two sessions are the only recorded examples of both jazzmen playing together in the front line of a small group. These sides are a high point in their extensive discographie, and we have prodicer Dick Bock to thank for them.