The Art Trip: the music of Art Pepper at Royal Clifton Hotel Southport

“Bassist Al Swainger, alongside an excellent group that includes reeds master Alan Barnes on alto saxophone, pays homage to one of the greatest saxophonists in jazz - Art Pepper. The compositions, and distinctive treatment of familiar standards, still speak with an immediacy and directness that attracts a wide range of listeners. His playing always dazzled from the earliest, virtuosic, rhythmically daring approach, to the darker hues of his almost disturbing later work, when, after years of incarceration and involvement with drugs, he had honed his style into one of overwhelming emotional intensity....

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“Bassist Al Swainger, alongside an excellent group that includes reeds master Alan Barnes on alto saxophone, pays homage to one of the greatest saxophonists in jazz - Art Pepper. The compositions, and distinctive treatment of familiar standards, still speak with an immediacy and directness that attracts a wide range of listeners. His playing always dazzled from the earliest, virtuosic, rhythmically daring approach, to the darker hues of his almost disturbing later work, when, after years of incarceration and involvement with drugs, he had honed his style into one of overwhelming emotional intensity.
Now 30 years since his death in 1982, Al Swainger, a fine instrumentalist and relative newcomer to the scene, formed 'The Art Trip' to celebrate music from all periods of Art's extraordinary career. Joined by Craig Milverton (jazz pianist of the year 2011) and Nick Millward (drums) this exceptional quartet offers a well overdue reappraisal of one of the too often overlooked giants of jazz. “

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