July 30, 2012

Art Pepper — Keep Swingin’

Let’s just start with a quote from our friend Laurie Pepper, “Art hated the idea that people put jazz in a pigeonhole. He wanted to make people forget the categories and ‘make them open up and listen.’”

That’s Omnivore Recordings mission in a nutshell, and if you’re here, reading this, you’re probably a musical adventurer, a seeker, an omnivore—just like we are. The goal is to “open up and listen.” And experience, and learn, and dance, and swing!

So to that end, we are overjoyed to announce today, our first title by Art Pepper, Neon Art: Volume One (with two more volumes to follow). All three volumes will be vinyl-only releases with download cards, containing previously unreleased live recordings, and all three will be pressed on hot, neon-colored vinyl with a see-through jacket.

Neon Art: Volume One, available August 28, showcases the song that was the catalyst for the series, “Red Car.” When we heard this track, recorded by Laurie Pepper in 1981 at Parnell’s in Seattle, we knew we had to do something special to share this exhilarating live performance. The flip is an equally playful and swingin’ version of “Blues For Blanche.”

Jump in, open up, and listen.