Composition List

  The following is a list of the 43 compositions written by Pepper Adams, with composition dates, publishing companies, and Library of Congress registration dates and numbers. A discography is also included of all known recordings of Adams' tunes, either commercially recorded by Adams and released with his consent, or recorded by other musicians. Where known, background information on each piece is appended.

Two compositions, Blues Out and Blackout Blues, are registered to Adams but were not written by him. Blues Out, released posthumously, is an improvised blues without a pre-written theme that Adams used to close out a concert. Similarly, Blackout Blues (retitled Four Funky Folk on a different record date) is a cycle of solos on the blues form without a theme.

Two other compositions, Hastings Street Bounce and Skippy, are also registered to Adams, yet he wrote neither. Hastings Street Bounce is a traditional arrangement that Adams recorded on April 15, 1958, live at the Five Spot, for Riverside. Its provenance is unknown. Skippy, recorded by Adams for Savoy on November 17, 1957, was written by Detroit vibist Abe Woodley.

Ad Astra (1975) D'Accord Music
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Julian (Enja)
Other recordings:
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3
Dale Fielder, Live at Howling Monk (Clarion)

Apothegm (1957) Crossroads Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 6 February 1957, #EU465300; re-registered on 27 December 1985, #RE0000274173
Adams recordings:
Kenny Clarke, Jazzmen: Detroit (Savoy)
Willie Wilson, Dedication (Prestige)
Other recordings:
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3
Fabien Mary, Fabien Mary Quartet + 1 (Elabeth)

Beaubien (1958) Modern Age Music
This may be an oblique reference to the Parrot Lounge in Detroit. Located at 504 East Canfield, at the corner of Canfield and Beaubien, Adams played the Parrot with pianist Boo Boo Turner and others. Alternatively, the title might refer to the Detroit Police, which had a station on Beaubien.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, The Pepper-Knepper Quintet (Metrojazz)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2

Binary (July 16, 1979) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 17 Sept 1979, #EU138552
Written in Quimper, France.
Adams recordings:
Pepper Adams, The Adams Effect (Uptown)
Louis Stewart (unissued)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4

Bossallegro (1980) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 21 February 1980, #PAu175976
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, The Master (Muse)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross)
Joshua Breakstone, Evening Star (Contemporary)
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3
Dale Fielder, Plays the Music of Pepper Adams (Clarion)

Bossa Nouveau (1975) D'Accord Music
"I wrote [this] on the Orient Express, which in those days was still running regularly," said Adams in 1982 to interviewer Ted O'Reilly on his Toronto radio program. "I had a few days off in Munich and went down to Vienna just to see the art."
Adams recordings:
Pepper Adams, Twelfth and Pingree (Enja)
Pepper Adams, Live in Europe (Impro)
Other recordings:
Hank Jones, Just For Fun (Galaxy)
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2
Dale Fielder, Plays the Music of Pepper Adams (Clarion)

Cindy's Tune (1968) D'Accord Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 19 June 1970, #EU193379
Based on the changes to Honeysuckle Rose, this composition was written during the period November 27-December 10, 1968 and is dedicated to Cindy Ley.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Encounter (Prestige)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, The Real Deal (Reservoir)
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3

Civilization and Its Discontents (1973) D'Accord Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 9 June 1976, #EU688800
According to a letter written in 1993 by Kellogg Wilson to Gary Carner, Adams first knew of the above title not as an essay by Sigmund Freud but as Philip Roth's working title for his novel Portnoy's Complaint.
Adams recordings:
Pepper Adams, Ephemera (Spotlite)
Bill Perkins, Confluence (Interplay)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross)
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 5

Claudette's Way (1978) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 15 September 1978, #PAu47553
Adams recordings:
Pepper Adams, Reflectory (Muse)
Pepper Adams, Live at Fat Tuesday's (Uptown)
Pepper Adams, (Uptown)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross)
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3

Conjuration (1980) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 28 April 1980, #PAu240617
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Live at Fat Tuesday's (Uptown)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2
Charles Papasoff, Emphasis (Ipso Facto cassette)

Diabolique II (1983) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 29 August 1983, #PAu540207
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Live at Fat Tuesday's (Uptown)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 1

Dobbin' (1983) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 29 August 1983, #PAu552019
As much as a year or so after Uptown Records owner Bob Sunenblick suggested that Adams name this tune for Len Dobbin, Adams adopted Dobbin' as the title. Adams, however, included the apostrophe in the title as a sly reference to the word "dobbing," which is defined as a plodding horse.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Live at Fat Tuesday's (Uptown)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2

Doctor Deep (1982) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 26 January 1982, #PAu368729
Adams dedicated this to very close friend Gunnar Windahl. According to Windahl, in a taped narration sent to Gary Carner in 1989, "I met Jimmy Rowles many years ago. He played together with Illinois Jacquet and Joe Newman in Copenhagen. We were drinking beer one evening in Montmartre, or wherever it was, and, when Jimmy Rowles heard that I was Ph.D., he mentioned a medical doctor in Los Angeles he called Dr. Deep, who used to cure tired jazz musicians when Jimmy Rowles was there in the '50s or '60s. I mentioned that to Pepper, and I said, "Maybe I should "frame" myself with that name?" Pepper laughed very much, and then, after that, he named me Dr. Deep. Whenever he called me up, he'd say, "Is Deep there? How are you doing, Deep?"
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Live at Fat Tuesday's (Uptown)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2

Dylan's Delight (1978) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 3 November 1978, #PAu-60111
This is Adams' dedication to his step-son, Dylan Hill, son of Claudette Nadra.
Adams recordings:
Pepper Adams, Live at Fat Tuesday's (Uptown)
Pepper Adams, The Adams Effect (Uptown)
Bill Perkins, Confluence (Interplay)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 1

Enchilada Baby (1979) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 18 June 1979, #PAu114438
"I think the film is called Sons of the Desert, where Laurel and Hardy are supposed to have gone to Honolulu but they really go off to a convention in Chicago, and then they have to convince their wives that they have actually been in Honolulu," said Adams in 1982 to interviewer Ted O'Reilly on his Toronto radio program. "The wives see them in a newsreel and know doggone well that they haven't been to Honolulu, but Laurel and Hardy are still trying to convince the wives, so they come in with a plastic ukulele, singing 'Honolulu Baby/Where'd you get that. . . .' My boy was about five or so when he saw that on television, and, a couple of days later, my wife and I caught him just walking around the house singing something like, 'Enchilada Baby, da/da-da-da /da-da-da,' thus the title."
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, The Master (Muse)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 1
Dale Fielder, Plays the Music of Pepper Adams (Clarion)

Ephemera (1973) D'Accord Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 9 June 1976, #EU688799
Adams considered this to be his finest composition. He felt his fellow musicians were "asleep" on this one, that is, they didn't understand the tune's originality or merit.
Adams recordings:
Pepper Adams, Ephemera (Spotlite)
Pepper Adams, Live in Europe (Impro)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross)
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2

Etude Diabolique (1978) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 15 September 1978, #PAu47555
The theme is written over Rhythm changes. This is not the same piece as John Duarte's composition for solo guitar.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Reflectory (Muse)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2

Excerent (1962) Jazz Standard Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 13 August 1962, #EU734980; re-registered on 20 December 1992, #RE511058
According to Ron Ley, the title is a play on words in which Adams combines "excellent "and "excrement."
Adams recording:
Red Garland, Red's Good Groove (Jazzland)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4
Jeremy Pelt, Close to My Heart (MaxJazz)

Freddie Froo (1957) Thank Music
"He wrote a tune for my brother, Freddie Froo," said Willie Metcalf in an interview with Gary Carner in 1988. "My brother was a drummer: Fred James Metcalf." Bob Pierson, in an interview with Carner in 1988, said about Metcalf, "He was on the scene all the time and he was somewhat of a character. . . . Freddie played drums. He never stayed at it and took it seriously. Naturally, he could play time, like a lot of people, but he didn't stay with it. . . . He was streetwise, and on the scene, and a real hipster. We had guys around then in those years that were talking so super hip that, if you weren't on the scene for three or four days, you didn't know what they were talking about. I dug the shit out of him! He was funny." Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Pepper Adams Quintet (Mode)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross unissued)

Hellure (How Are You're) (1973) D'Accord Music
"Hellure [is] part of Lloyd Price Band folklore," said Adams in 1977 to interviewer Ted O'Reilly on his Toronto radio program. "He had a road manager who was from Appalachia, from the mountains of West Virginia, and he actually spoke like that: 'Hellure. How are you're?' When they were at a club in New York, they needed someone to fill in. I had some friends on the band, so they arranged that I play that two weeks with them. After two weeks I came out occasionally answering the phone, "Hellure!" and it has permeated some of my set of friends. Ron Carter will occasionally answer the phone in that manner. Actually, I did not title it that. It was an untitled blues. We had just had a few minutes of studio time and a few minutes of tape left and just decided, 'Let's play a blues in G.' When we finished, they played it back and it sounded perfectly all right. Then we had to think of a title. Roland Hanna is responsible for giving it that title."
Adams recordings:
Pepper Adams, Ephemera (Spotlite)
Don Friedman, Hot Knepper and Pepper (Progressive)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2

I Carry Your Heart (1978) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 15 September 1978, #PAu47554
The title is taken from an E.E. Cummings poem, I Carry Your Heart with Me, that was read at Adams' wedding on Valentine's Day, 1976.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Reflectory (Muse)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 5
Dale Fielder, Plays the Music of Pepper Adams (Clarion)

Inanout (1970) D'Accord Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 16 June 1970, #EU193380
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Encounter (Prestige)
Other recordings:
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3

In Love with Night (1978) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 3 November 1978, #PAu60112
No Adams recording
Other recordings:
Bill Perkins, Confluence (Interplay)
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 5

Jirge (1975) D'Accord Music
Jirge is Adams' dedication to bassist George Mraz. The title is a combination of Mraz's Czech-born first name, Jiri, and George, Jiri's transliteration in English. According to Adams, in an interview with Peter Danson that was published in Coda (August 1, 1983), "For years I have written things for George that I wouldn't consider writing for any other bass player."
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Julian (Enja)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 1

Joy Road (1980) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 28 April 1980, #PAu240616
"One of America's best known poets, I guess, currently is Phil Levine," said Adams in 1985 to interviewer Len Dobbin on his Montreal radio program. "He's printed in the New Yorker quite frequently, and tours and lectures and reads his own poetry, and he teaches at one of the State University of California extensions. At any rate, he's quite well known, and in France, for example, I picked up one of their literary magazines one time and there was a long dissertation on a poem about urban decay that Phil Levine wrote called Joy Road. Much of the article was about this wonderful idea he had, inventing a name like Joy Road, and then using this as an example of urban blight and decay; which is a nice theory, but, the fact is that Phil and I went to school together at Wayne University in Detroit, and, in Detroit, in fact near Phil's old neighborhood, is indeed a Joy Road, and it is indeed an example of urban decay and blight just like it is being described in the poem!"
Adams recording:
Hod O'Brien, Opalessence (Criss Cross)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4

Julian (1975) D'Accord Music. Co-composed by George Mraz
Adams asked George Mraz to write the bridge, probably because he had only a week's lead time to prepare all the music for his Enja live recording.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Julian (Enja)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 1
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 5
Barry Altschul, Be-bop? (Musica)

Libeccio (1961) Publisher unknown
A libeccio is a westerly or southwesterly Mediterranean wind, located year-round in northern Corsica.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Motor City Scene (Bethlehem)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4

Like . . . What Is This (1957) Planemar Music
Based on the changes to What Is This Thing Called Love.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, The Cool Sound of Pepper Adams (Savoy)
Other recordings:
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3

Lovers of Their Time (1980) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 21 February 1980, #PAu175977
The title is taken from a William Trevor short story of the same name.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, The Master (Muse)
Other recordings:
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 5
Dale Fielder, Plays the Music of Pepper Adams (Clarion)

Mary's Blues (November 25, 1956) Prestige Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 19 November 1965, #EU915538
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams-Cecil Payne-John Coltrane, Baritones and French Horns (Prestige)
Other recordings:
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3

Muezzin' (1957) Thank Music
A muezzin is the person who alerts fellow Muslims about prayer time, typically from a mosque's minaret. About the composition's title, Bob Pierson, in an interview with Gary Carner in 1988, said, Pepper "was probably using a combination of words, making a pun out of it. There was a lot of heavy black interest in Islam in the mid-fifties. That's when Yusef [Lateef] got into it, and lot of other people. Charles Greenlee, a trombone player; he got into it, and Bernard McKinney too."
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Pepper Adams Quintet (Mode)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross)
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2
Dale Fielder, Baritone Sunride (Clarion)
Alain Cupper, Cold Station (AZ)

Now In Our Lives (1982) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 23 August 1982, #PAu430742
This is a musical description of Adams' deteriorating marriage.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, The Adams Effect (Uptown)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 1
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 5
Dale Fielder, Plays the Music of Pepper Adams (Clarion)

Patrice (1973) D'Accord Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 29 October 1970, #EU213014
Dedicated to either Pat Mead or Patsy Ryan.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Ephemera (Spotlite)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 1

Philson (1961) Publisher unknown
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Motor City Scene (Bethlehem)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4

Reflectory (1978) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 15 September 1978, #PAu47556
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Reflectory (Muse)
Other recordings:
Benny Bailey, Grand Slam (Storyville)
Benny Bailey, Peruvian Nights (TCB)
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2

Rue Serpente (1979) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 21 June 1979, #PAu116225
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, The Master (Muse)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 1
Dale Fielder, Plays the Music of Pepper Adams (Clarion)

Trentino (July 10, 1980) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 10 July 1980, #PAu247453
On the liner notes to Urban Dreams, Adams told reviewer Fred Goodman, "It's a song I started writing on a piano in a TV Studio in Trento during a short break and finished a few days later.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Urban Dreams (Palo Alto)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross)
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3

Twelfth and Pingree (1975) D'Accord Music
The intersection of Twelfth and Pingree is the address of Klein's Showbar, the Detroit club that Adams played at in residence for all of 1955.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Twelfth and Pingree (Enja)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross)
Kevin Bales, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 3

Urban Dreams (July 31, 1980) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 12 November 1980, #PAu247452
Written while traveling from New York to Paris via London. On the liner notes to Urban Dreams, Adams tells reviewer Fred Goodman, "Urban Dreams was written in London and for awhile I didn't have a title for it. . . . So I was announcing it as 'the untitled ballad' and getting unsolicited suggestions all over. I was determined to find a name for the damned thing just as soon as possible, just to stop the flow of suggestions. I played it at the Edmonton Jazz Festival as part of an all-star group with Lew Tabackin. . . . Lew, of course, had his own suggestions: 'It's a very sophisticated, big-city type of ballad,' he said. 'I know what you should call it: Big City Shit.' His suggestion, although obviously well meaning, did not convey what I had in mind. But it did put me on the right track. So Urban Dreams is really an offshoot of Lew's suggestion.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams, Urban Dreams (Palo Alto)
Other recordings:
Gary Smulyan, Homage (Criss Cross)
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 5

Valse Celtique (June 25, 1979) Excerent Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 17 September 1979, #PAu138553
Adams told Gary Carner in 1984 that he began writing this tune "the morning of the date and finished it during playbacks on the date, and [then] we recorded it that day." The session was on June 24, 1979 and the manuscript was finished the following day.
Adams recordings :
Pepper Adams, The Adams Effect (Uptown)
Barry Altschul, Be-bop? (Musica)
Other recordings:
Jeremy Kahn, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 2

What Is It (December 9, 1969) D'Accord Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 29 October 1970, #EU213017
Based on the changes to What Is This Thing Called Love.
Adams recording:
Richard Davis, Muses for Richard Davis (MPS)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4

A Winters Tale (1956) Publisher unknown
A possible allusion to Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.
Adams recording:
Mel Lewis, Got'cha (San Francisco)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4

Witches Pit (1957) Prestige Music
Registered at the Library of Congress on 19 November 1965, #EU915537
Based on the changes to Love Letters.
Adams recording:
Pepper Adams-Cecil Payne-John Coltrane, Baritones and French Horns (Prestige)
Other recordings:
Frank Basile, Pepper Adams: Complete Compositions--Volume 4