Recorded at the Surf Club in Los Angeles in February 1952, these performances capture Art Pepper at the defining moment of his early career as a leader. Having recently left Stan Kenton's orchestra, he found his ideal musical setting in his first great quartet with Hampton Hawes, Joe Mondragon, and Larry Bunker—a group whose freshness, swing, and freedom helped shape the emerging West Coast jazz scene.

Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist.

Released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series celebrating 70 years of Contemporary Records, Saxophonist Art Pepper’s classic big band album +Eleven features modern jazz classics by Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and more. First released in 1960 and recorded by legendary engineers Roy DuNann and Howard Holzer, this new edition features remastered audio from the original tapes.

Smack Up is a 1960 jazz album by saxophonist Art Pepper playing with trumpeter Jack Sheldon, pianist Pete Jolly, bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Frank Butler.

Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active primarily in West Coast jazz, Pepper first came to prominence in Stan Kenton's big band. He was known for his emotionally charged performances and several stylistic shifts throughout his career, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as having "attained his goal of becoming the world's greatest altoist" at the time of his death in 1982.

Historic 4 hours of previously unissued 1959 live Art Pepper recorded at Vancouver, Canada’s legendary jazz club The Cellar.

Recorded in 1960, Art Pepper's 5th album release on Contemporary Records, 'Intensity', was released in 1963. A collection of 7 jazz standards the album features Dolo Coker (piano) along with Jimmy Bond (bass), and Frank Butler (drums). This edition, released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series, features (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Bernie Grundman and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP, and presented in a tip-on jacket.

Remastered from original analog tapes by Rinaldo Donati at Maxine Studio, Milan.

Including sessions recorded by Art Pepper for Savoy from 1952-54 Surf Ride was originally released in 1956. Featuring three groups of players, the album collects twelve, mostly Pepper composed, cuts including “Holiday Flight” - with Pepper’s playing throughout on superior form. This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series on 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI with all-analogue mastering from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio and a Stoughton Tip-On Jacket."

In 1980, Art was 54; his health was poor, but his creativity was at its peak. So was his ambition. He was touring Europe for the first time. He’d brought his own band, his own tunes. He was determined to astound the world.

In 1979 Art Pepper was recorded at two sessions that yielded two fine albums, So In Love and the New York Album. There was more first-rate material recorded in those two sessions than would fit on two LPs so difficult choices had to be made as to what material not to include on the albums released at the time. Those choices were not necessarily made on the basis of the quality of the performances but with respect to such considerations as length and congruence of repertoire within an album.

New York Album is an album by saxophonist Art Pepper recorded in 1979 at the sessions that produced So in Love but not released on the Galaxy label until 1985. This classic lineup features Art Pepper on alto sax, Hank Jones on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Al Foster on drums.

Album notes don't always tell the whole story. Contemporary president Les Koenig, who rightly felt that Art had yet to record with musicians who were his equal, wanted to take advantage of Miles Davis' quintet being in L.A. But Pepper hadn't been playing for several months, and his horn was in a state of disrepair. To minimize anxiety, the session was kept secret from Art until the last minute. But Pepper always rose to a challenge: he taped to his dried-out cork, arrived for the date, and proceeded to record an album widely considered the most important of his career. This is an all tube recording from the microphones to the tape machine.

Art Pepper’s The Way it Was! was recorded for Contemporary between 1956-60, these seven tracks sat dormant in the label's vault until 1972. The album is built around four previously un-released tunes pairing Pepper with the tenor of Warne Marsh. Filling out the program are three incredible tracks from Pepper's masterpieces; Gettin' Together and Intensity (both 1960) plus Meets the Rhythm Section (1957), all of which were left off due to the timing limitations of vinyl. Supported by the likes of Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb and Red Garland, their workouts on the standards “The Man I Love,” “Autumn Leaves” and especially “The Way You Look Tonight” establish a brilliant east-coast meets west-coast summit. Art's creamy alto more than holds it's own with some of New York's bop-elite, resulting in a masterpiece in its own right.

Surf Ride is an album by saxophonist Art Pepper featuring sessions from 1952-54 which was originally released as a 12 inch LP on the Savoy label in 1956. All of the recording presented in original Mono format.