Sunday, Oct. 28th Pepper’s music played live 4:30-6:30 p.m., preceded at 3:00 p.m. by a talk by discographer, biographer and jazz fan Gary Carner.

Gary Carner has recently completed and published a comprehensive discographic work on Pepper Adams, one of the most respected of modern jazz men and a player unequaled on his horn-of-choice, the baritone sax.  An ambitious CD package reinterpreting Pepper’s music has been freshly minted, and a biography is in the works.   Gary will deliver an in-depth talk on Pepper and his work at 3 p.m.

Following Gary’s talk, starting at 4:30 p.m., a performance in tribute to Pepper Adams by the Ron Marabuto Quartet.

The late, great Pepper Adams

Drummer Ron Marabuto played a lot with Pepper, a family friend, in New York in the 1970s and 1980s, and has been deeply influenced by his music and his take on life. Ron’s father, the pianist John Marabuto, was tight with Pepper as a colleague and contemporary, and consequently Ron knew Pepper and his music from an early age.  John Marabuto recorded with Pepper twice, in 1956 and 1978, and Ron recorded with him as well.

In the ’50s and ’60s, from the days Ron was just a toddler, John Marabuto, John Mosher (a bassist) and John Markham (a drummer) had a trio they called the J.M. Trio (go figure!) that often backed high caliber jazz players, including Pepper, when they came into town to play the top San Francisco clubs — the Blackhawk, the Jazz Workshop, El Matador, etc.  When Ron, in his twenties, left SF to make the NYC scene, Pepper took him under his wing, taught him the ropes, got him gigs, relied on him for rides to his own gigs, etc..

Drummer Ron Marabuto leads a quartet celebrating Pepper Adams at San Francisco’s Bird & Beckett Books, Sunday, October 28, 4:30-6:30 pm

So this gig has a lot of personal resonance for Ron, a highly regarded drummer here and in New York who can be heard at Bird & Beckett as often as his tight schedule allows.

For this date, Ron has assembled a terrific quartet — musicians that understand Pepper’s music and know how it should be played.  Sax player Andrew Speight, pianist Matt Clark and bassist Adam Gay are all top-flight musicians with huge and well deserved reputations.

In addition to his 3 o’clock talk on Pepper and his recorded legacy, Gary Carner will “pepper’ a few relevant observations into the quartet’s two sets and will answer questions at the end of the afternoon as well.

This is a date not to be missed!

Bring some $$ for the band — a $10 donation is suggested, but the amount is completely up to you. Just remember that it’s your support that makes possible all the things Bird & Beckett is…