ART: Why I Stuck with a Junkie Jazzman (Me and My Mother and Others) Paperback – May 8, 2014

Laurie Pepper's book WHY I STUCK WITH A JUNKIE JAZZMAN: Inventing a Marriage is one of the best books about jazz I've ever read. It's about Art Pepper, jazz legend as a saxophonist and clarinetist, and Laurie Pepper, his faithful wife and manager. They both were flawed. But they understood their flaws, and were stronger together than they had ever been alone.Mrs. Pepper's book is full of what I like to call "emotional authenticity." This is also what I'd have called her husband Art's alto playing, as that's what Art was known for most. Yes, he was a phenomenal technician who understood jazz inside and out. Yes, he had written songs (some back in the 1950s!) that worked with shifting meters and odd key changes and all sorts of difficulties jazz players learn to enjoy overcoming. But Art was emotionally authentic, first and foremost, always, whether he played alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet, or some other instrument.Emotional authenticity was in Art's DNA.In this book, I also saw, easily, that emotional authenticity is part of Mrs. Pepper's DNA as well. Because she went through so very much to even get to meet Art; she had drug issues of her own, and they met in Synanon (a drug treatment facility, roughly). Synanon had unusual rules to try to protect people recovering from drugs, possibly because they were afraid people with similar flaws would set each other's addiction off again. But those rules, and the fact that both Laurie and Art were forced to go much slower with their relationship's inception than either of them wanted, perhaps helped them a great deal.You see, they had a great deal in common. Not just the emotional authenticity stuff I mentioned before (which is a huge deal), but their approach to life was also similar. They both believed you should be your best self, and do whatever you could to maximize that. Art had teeth issues, pain issues, lost many of his best jazz-playing years to jail as a heroin addict, but he overcame all of that to play the best jazz of his career from the mid-1970s to the end of his life (1982). And Laurie had many issues, it sounded like, with codependency along with drugs. She hadn't trusted herself, and needed the therapy she got in Synanon (and, probably, elsewhere, though she doesn't go into detail) to realize that she, herself, had many gifts and talents.The two of them together were far stronger than they were apart. That is just a fact.Mrs. Pepper -- Laurie -- was Art's manager until the end of his life. She made sure he got paid. He got medical care and, most importantly, dental care to keep his teeth as healthy as possible (not easy after many years in prison, where it wasn't exactly a high priority) so he could play his saxes and clarinet with confidence. (Teeth problems are huge issues to any woodwind player, but most particularly for sax and clarinet.) She made sure he stayed as clean as possible -- one of the reviews I saw online (I forget where, now; sorry!) put it bluntly as, "Art, at his best, was clean-ish." (I hope I'm paraphrasing that correctly.) Laurie knew that, and helped Art do what Art needed to do to make gorgeous music for the ages.This may seem hyperbolic, but I don't mean it that way. (If you've ever listened to Art Pepper play "Over the Rainbow" on the Landscape album, though, you would agree with me unless you have no sense at all.)Art Pepper was a legend, as I said before. But Laurie, too, was a legend, and still is.Their marriage was astonishing, amazing, and very fruitful with regards to creativity. They brought out the best in each other. And they understood each other so well, too. They had a marriage that was worthy of celebration.I'm very glad Mrs. Pepper wrote this book, which as others here have said is an excellent companion to STRAIGHT LIFE, the harrowing book from Art and Laurie Pepper that is required reading at many colleges and universities for good reason. (I read it when I was a teen, and I know it scared me straight. I've never touched drugs. I am wary even of alcohol. But I digress.)This is a phenomenal book that every jazz lover should read. Period. Point-blank.Five stars. Highly recommended.Barb CaffreyP.S. In case you're wondering where I am coming from, I saw Art Pepper in concert in 1982, a few weeks before his death, in Milwaukee. He was amazing. Three full sets. Great rhythm, which he'd always had. Excellent musicianship, which he'd always had. A great and beautiful tone on both the alto sax and clarinet (to the best of my knowledge, Art did not play his tenor during this particular engagement). And, of course, emotional power to meld with all his other gifts, which created a sublime musical experience I have never forgotten.Note that I am a musician myself, and a saxophonist. I have a Master's in Saxophone, even. So I'm very well aware of the difficulty of the saxophone, as well as the difficulty of the clarinet (one of Art's "alternate axes"), and also aware of the technical facility and fluidity Art Pepper had at his best.Art was great. But so is Laurie.I'm glad they found each other.

An intimate portrait of Art Pepper from his wife Laurie (who previously authored Art's biography "Straight Life"). Interesting to hear Art's story from the perspective of the woman who knew him best, loved him, and was his "manager", confidante, plus a major creative influence on the enigmatic genius. An excellent follow-up read to "Straight Life." Very well-written, if sometimes a bit heavy on minutia. Definitely recommended for Art Pepper or West Coast jazz fans.

I am a saxophone player and embarrassingly missed Art Pepper when he was alive. After a 6 year interruption in my own musical quest, due to family matters, I returned to music and began devouring all things musical again. One thing that I stumbled across was the Art Pepper documentary "Notes From A Jazz Survivor." I was so moved by Art's music, and the story of his and Laurie's life together that it inevitably led me to read the book "Straight Life" and listen to all things Art Pepper.I hadn't read a book cover to cover in quite some time, but was enthralled with Laurie's writing style and the beautiful way that she helped Art tell his story in "Straight Life." The vivid portrait she helped to paint in the telling of that story moved me deeply. I finished that book in a matter of days, feeling both sad that it was over, and wishing there was more of Art and Laurie's life to experience.Now comes this book, Laurie's follow up, which fulfilled that desire for more, and then some. The story told from Laurie's perspective is perhaps even more evocative and compelling than the story told in "Straight Life". Her honesty, humor and lyrical descriptive prose made this book a riveting joy to read. She describes scenes, and the emotional detail of events with such beauty and insight that I found myself re-reading sections much the same way one might be captivated and rendered speechless by a beautiful piece of music, and needing immediately to hit replay to experience it again. Laurie's narrative is truly that magical.I highly recommend this book to musicians and lovers of Art Pepper, but also to anyone who appreciates a life story told with honesty, humor and humility. This is more a life portrait than a mere recounting of events. You can see, smell, taste and feel the world that Laurie describes, and again I'm left wanting more. I eagerly await the next musings from the great author/artist Laurie Pepper.

As an avid fan of Art Pepper, especially his late period, I avidly collect it all. Besides the great music are Laurie Pepper's great liner notes, which are as honest as "Straight Life" which she cowrote with Art. But that book ends in about 75-77 (it's been awhile since I read it). Those notes always leave me wanting more and here it is. The first few chapters are Laurie's life before she met Art, then how they met. It gave me a better picture of Laurie as a person. The rest covers the last 5 years of Art's life, which IMO produced some of the greatest jazz ever created. Art was as soulful a player as there was and he always seemed to leave it all on the bandstand.I am firmly convinced we would not have had this body of work with Laurie Pepper. She is not just a chronicler, she was a collaborator. She still is, putting out the wonderful Widow's Taste releases each year, overseeing the re-issue of the Atlas sessions, as well as the Artists Choice box set.Laurie often says Art felt his time was limited and that was why his music was so driven. He was right, but thanks to Laurie Art's last years are also timeless.

I loved this. Laurie has an honest, original way of writing. Despite the sadness of her husband's drug addictions, the beauty of their love comes through clearly. I gained a fascination for both of them.

Erschütternd, faszinierend und verstörend! Unbedingt die wichtigsten Aufnahmen (Live at the Village Vanguard, Living Legend, die Aufnahmen der Japan-Tournen usw.), die im Text erwähnt werden, dazu nachhören! Man hört alles mit neuen Ohren. Für Art-Pepper-Fans eine Pflichtlektüre! Den billigen Druck insbesondere der vielen Fotos, die tw. sehr schlecht wiedergegeben werden, hat die großartige Fotografin Laurie Pepper nicht verdient. Laurie hat auch eine Liste von ausgewählten Aufnahmen zusammengestellt, die man von ihrer Homepage gegen eine geringe Gebühr herunterladen kann.

A well written account of Laurie Pepper's life with the great alto saxophonist. As a long time Art Pepper fan, I found this informative and moving. As they say: I couldn't put it down. A must for jazz fans. Also recommended: 'Straight Life', Art's autobiography, as told to Laurie, and 'The Art Pepper Reader', a collection of articles, sleeve notes, etc. And, of course, all of Art's wonderful music.

Straight Life is a must-read for serious jazz fans. I love this book from Laurie's perspective. It's not every wife who would stand by a man as complicated as Art Pepper, but we should all be grateful that she did.

Enjoyed it more than Art Peppers own account of his life,"Straight Life"