Moanin’

Jackie McLean and John Handy (alto sax), Booker Ervin (tenor sax), Pepper Adams (baritone sax), Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis (trombone), Horace Parlan (piano), Charles Mingus (bass) and Dannie Richmond (drums). From the album Blues & Roots (1960).

Pepper Adams was a jazz baritone saxophonist and American composer. He managed to handle his instrument with the vertiginous speeds of hard bop and a propulsive intensity. From 1954 to 1986 he was an indispensable ingredient in jazz, recording more than 20 albums as a leader, emanating a special warmth as an accomplished soloist and serving as a very supportive sideman. His first performances were with Lucky Thompson’s band.

After serving military service he moved to Detroit where he played with Thad Jones and Kenny Burrell’s group. In 1956 he moved to New York, where he recorded with Kenny Clarke, Curtis Fuller and Quincy Jones, and toured with Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson. In 1957 he joined Chet Baker’s group for a year and made recordings with important musicians. He returned to New York, where he participated in the album Dakar by John Coltrane and The Cooker by Lee Morgan.

The theme begins with Adams playing a phrase that is repeated, then joins the rest of the wind section and Richmond, and finally Parlan and Mingus. Then McLean presents the melody in the middle of a collective improvisation. McLean himself begins his solo with agile and well thought out phrases. Adams follows him with an eloquent and suggestive speech that he performs with amazing ease. After that, Handy enters starting his solo without accompaniment demonstrating his skill, and then the rest of the group returns while Handy continues playing with creativity and introducing faster phrases. To conclude, the band re-exposes the theme, which in reality is nothing more than a collective improvisation with some small arrangements.