Gary Smulyan with the Yorkshire Jazz Orchestra - celebration of Pepper Adams at Seven

Our second concert to celebrate our fifth anniversary is one of an international series of eight concerts that US baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan is doing as soloist celebrating the music of the late Pepper Adams. The series of concerts is taking place mainly in the U.S., including one with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. The Seven concert is the U.K. contribution to what is developing into an international celebration of Pepper Adam's music. He will be performing the arrangements of Leeds based composer and big band leader Tony Faulkner and at Seven Arts Gary will be accompanied by the Tony's Yorkshire Jazz Orchestra (hear a clip of them at their first ever gig last year at Seven Jazz here)...

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Our second concert to celebrate our fifth anniversary is one of an international series of eight concerts that US baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan is doing as soloist celebrating the music of the late Pepper Adams. The series of concerts is taking place mainly in the U.S., including one with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. The Seven concert is the U.K. contribution to what is developing into an international celebration of Pepper Adam's music. He will be performing the arrangements of Leeds based composer and big band leader Tony Faulkner and at Seven Arts Gary will be accompanied by the Tony's Yorkshire Jazz Orchestra (hear a clip of them at their first ever gig last year at Seven Jazz here)

Gary Smulyan is critically acclaimed across-the-board and recognized as the major voice on the baritone saxophone today. His playing is marked by an aggressive rhythmic sense, an intelligent and creative harmonic approach -- and perhaps most importantly – a strong and incisive wit. No matter who he is performing with – or whether he is leading his own band at the time – Smulyan brings to the stage the spirit, style and savvy of a deep-toned master of bebop. Gary is a four-time winner of the Down Beat Critic’s and Reader’s Poll’s and a multiple winner of numerous other official polls including the 2009 and 2010 Jazz Journalists Award for Baritone Saxophonist of the Year. He is a six-time GRAMMY award winner for his work with B.B. King, Lovano, Holland and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

Pepper Adams (photo below) was in many ways the antithesis of giants of the baritone saxophone Gerry Mulligan and Serge Chaloff. Adams managed to bring the cumbersome baritone into the blisteringly fast speeds of hard bop like no others had before. He played on the album "Dakar" with John Coltrane, with Lee Morgan on "The Cooker", and briefly worked with Benny Goodman's band in 1958. He also worked a lot with Charles Mingus, performing on one of Mingus's most acclaimed albums from the period, "Blues & Roots". His "Pepper Adams quintet" recordings were among the hippest and moodiest jazz of the era. He later became a founding member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band.

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