1. Stardust
2. Philson
3. Trio
4. Libeccio
5. Bitty ditty

Pepper Adams – baritone saxophone
Donald Byrd - trumpet
Kenny Burrell - guitar
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Louis Hayes - drums

As Donald Byrd and Pepper Adams emerged from the Detroit jazz scene to national prominence in the mid-'50s, their singular instrumental voices became pronounced. As good as their overall playing is on this recording from 1960 (also released with the title Stardust), it is not as potent and defined as on previous efforts like the Savoy albums Kenny Clarke Meets the Detroit Jazzmen (aka Jazzmen Detroit) or their classic Riverside recording 10 to 4 at the Five Spot. The five selections on this CD do not all feature the total united Adams-Byrd package in terms of their signature sound or the compositions, and as such diminishes the overall quality of the project. It is like skimming the surface of what is an extraordinary band that feels like it is in a growth curve. Guitarist Kenny Burrell and bassist Paul Chambers fill large roles, but pianist Tommy Flanagan sounds like merely a sideman instead of a larger puzzle piece, and drummer "Hey" Lewis (a nom de plume for Louis Hayes) is not, at this point in his career, Clarke, Elvin Jones, or anyone comparable. "Stardust" is a ten-minute ballad feature for Byrd without Adams. The Thad Jones evergreen "Bitty Ditty" closes the set, as pretty a melody and classic a tuneful, melodic, hummable bop tune as has been invented. In the middle is a basic two-note bluesy swinger titled "Philson" and Erroll Garner's "Trio" played by this sextet led by Burrell (with Adams in too late and Byrd fairly inconsequential), while the cute calypso "Libeccio" has Adams and Burrell joining in only on the second chorus. Fine solos from the front-liners save this disc, as their formidable powers still show great promise. Two years hence, this band was a top-drawer attraction, but somehow this session doesn't gel to the extent many might have hoped it would. --- Michael G. Nastos, Rovi

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1. Byrd House 	10:52
2. Mr. Lucky 	8:09
3. Day Dreams 	5:10
4. I'm an Old Cowhand	9:44
5. Curro's 	11:51
6. It's A Beautiful Evening 	5:21
7. Out Of This World 	9:40

Baritone Saxophone – Pepper Adams
Bass – Laymon Jackson
Drum – Jimmy Cobb
Piano – Herb Hancock
Trumpet – Donald Byrd

This set of sides recorded with the then-fledgling Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams quintet was taped for the long-defunct Warwick label. While Byrd and Adams -- along with Jimmy Cobb and Charles, who is only on one track here -- were veterans in Detroit before coming to the Big Apple, Herbie Hancock was a kid. His playing is the weak link here, but it nonetheless shows great promise and he acts more as an anchor for the wondrous interplay between the front line-check of Byrd's "Bird House" or the title track or even Johnny Mercer's "I'm an Old Cowhand" for the wooly, yet lyrical, interplay between this pair of soloists. With his rough and tumble tone punching through Byrd's elegant and fiery lines and creating a melodically charged harmonic invention in which the interval was everything, Adams came up with a session that was as passionate and innovative as it was hip and tender. This is a hell of an introduction to both players and captures their magic as a band better than any other document that is available on CD. ---Thom Jurek, AllMusic Review

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1 Watkins Production   Watkins 9:35     
2 Stop Navarro 8:21     
3 Redd's Head   Redd 9:11     
4 Bloos, Blooze, Blues   David 10:15     
5 Seein' Red    Harris 7:24     
6 Like...What Is This?    McKinney 7:36     
7 Skippy    Adams 7:46

Pepper Adams - Composer, Sax (Baritone)
George Duvivier - Bass
Elvin Jones - Drums
Hank Jones - Piano
Wynton Kelly - Piano
Bernard McKinney - Euphonium
Doug Watkins – Bass

A companion release to Hollywood Quintet Sessions, The Complete Regent Sessions (including tracks from the LPs Art Pepper/Sonny Redd, Jazz Is Busting Out All Over, and The Cool Sound of Pepper Adams), also from 1957, features emerging baritone saxophone star Pepper Adams in a series of lengthy jazz jams, unlike the shorter and compact studio recordings he did with West Coast musicians. These two East Coast dates done during the early winter in Hackensack, NJ, at Rudy Van Gelder's house studio feature Adams' running mates who matriculated from Detroit to New York City with him, including Doug Watkins (who was also on the Hollywood tracks), Elvin Jones on all selections, Hank Jones, and Bernard McKinney. These long-winded originals loaded with extraordinary solos mark yet another progression for Adams -- that of a keen improviser the likes of which jazz had rarely heard on his instrument short of Harry Carney, Serge Chaloff, and peer Gerry Mulligan. The first three tracks team Adams with the tart sweet and sour alto saxophonist Sonny Red, offering an interesting contrast to the warmer, dulcet low-end sounds of the bari. Two calypso or Latin swing tunes kick things off -- "Watkins Production," where you clearly hear the impressive solo chops of the principals, and the obscure Fats Navarro number "Stop," sped up and rushed by an atypically anxious Elvin Jones. "Redd's Head" is bop at its best, a hard-driving swinger with a distinctive melody and choppy lead-in to solos that hint at rhythm & blues. Of the remaining five selections, Adams and McKinney emphasize exclusively underground timbres on the opposite ends of the audio spectrum. Stealthy, sneaky, low-down detective music is extracted on "Bloos, Blooze, Blues," and McKinney's variation of "What Is This Thing Called Love?," retitled "Like...What Is This?," reharmonizes the famous standard in a cunning, circular, and hot adaptation. A Barry Harris composition, "Seein' Red," might be a reference to Sonny Red in its ribald and hard bop construct, but cools to a slow simmer, while "Skippy," from the pen of Adams, seems easy as pie and simple for these masters. Bassist George Duvivier contributes a fabulous bouncy and solid solo on "Skippy," and credit must given to the brilliant pianists -- Wynton Kelly on the cuts with Sonny Red, and Hank Jones with homeboys Adams, McKinney, and Elvin Jones. These definitive dates, as well as the Bethlehem label document Motor City Scene with Donald Byrd and Jazzmen Detroit, the earlier Savoy recording led by Kenny Burrell, all belong in the collection of any fan and admirer of Park Pepper Adams III. ---Michael G. Nastos, Rovi

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