John Coltrane, Ralph and Gilbert Pepper, Ornette Coleman, Larry Coryell, Don Cherry, Bob Moses, Gordon Lee, Native American chant, R&B, gospel music, rock
A Creek and Kaw Indian raised in Portland, Oregon, Jim Pepper combined Native American rythms with jazz, rock, and gospel music, and in doing so was a pioneer in both jazz/rock fusion and "world music." Pepper came to prominence in the late 1960s in New York City with guitarist Larry Coryell's "Free Spirits" band. He later worked with Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Mal Waldron, Gordon Lee, and the Liberation Music Orchestra of Charlie Haden and Carla Bley, among many others. His signature song, "Witchi Tai To," has been often recorded, both in jazz and pop realms, and remains a signature piece in the repertoire of the originally Pacific Northwest based group, Oregon. Pepper's seminal recording is "Comin' and Goin'," which contains the title track as well as the quintessential recording of "Witchi Tai To." Pepper died of cancer in 1992 at the age of 50. An excellent video documentary of Pepper's life in music, "Pepper's Pow Wow," has been produced by Sandra Sunrising Osawa (Makah nation) of Upstream Productions. See also: http://jimpepperlives.wordpress.com/
Witchi Tai To
The Jim Pepper Story, part I
The Jim Pepper Story, part II
Jim Pepper (1941-1992)'s Friend Space (Randomized)
JIM HOW ARE YOU DOING, YOU, JUST TOLD ME FINE, AND YOU ARE PLAYING WITH MILES AND ALL THE CATS.. I WILL KEEP PRAYING FOR YOU AS ALWAYS.. YOUR FRIEND, BUDDY, AND PAL.. I SURE MISS YOU JIM.. SEE YOU SOON. PEACE AND POWER TO OUR PEOPLE.. OR WHAT JIMMI SAID PEACE, LOVE, AND ALL THAT OTHER BULLSHIT.. PEACE MY BROTHER.. PETE LAST WALKING BEAR DEPOE..-------------------------------- 5 --------------------------------------..
JIM IAM WRITTING YOU, I KNOW YOU ARE NOT THERE, BUT IN SPIRITUAL FORM YOU ARE ALWAYS WITH ME, AND YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WITH ME. I SURE MISS YOU JIM AND THE FUN WE USED TO HAVE. REMEMBER THAT TIME IN SEATTLE WHEN YOU GOT THROUNE IN JAIL. YAH THEM WERE THE DAYS JIM. NOW YOU PEOPLE FROM N.Y. I KNOW YOU ARE FROM A FAST CITY, AND YOU FORGET THINGS VERY EASY. BUT DONT FORGET ABOUT JIM, SO FAR YOU HAVE, IT TOOK ME THREE WEEKS TO BE JIMS FRIEND. WHAT THE HELL IS UP. YOU GUYS BETTER START WRITTING HIM OR I WILL PUT A HECKS ON YOU. FROM SPACE.. PEACE AND POWER TO OUR PEOPLE.. OR WHAT JIMMI SAID PEACE, LOVE, AND ALL THAT OTHER BULLSHIT.. PEACE.. PETE LAST WALKING BEAR DEPOE.. ------------------------------------------- 5 ----------------------------------------..
A belated thanks. I haven't done much with it in a while, but I'm going to be adding some things to it in the near future, couple new article/essays, maybe start putting in excerpts with musicians who played with Pepper, and update the discograpy with a handful of new discoveries. Getting close to a book from a ll this.
Thanks for building this page, Jim Pepper is one of jazz's most overlooked innovators. Besides contributing to early "fusion", his integration of Native music (without exploiting it) as well as reggae into jazz and vice versa should make him one of the best known sax players of the last 3 years. America needs to put away their Dave Koz and Jajee albums and crank some Pepper!!! AHO!
