This was Art Pepper's "comeback" album, the first to be released after his long absence due to drug addiction and incarceration in San Quentin prison. Pepper had been finally released in 1966 and for a while only played tenor saxophone, showing how much of an influence John Coltrane had been on him in the intervening years. In 1968 Buddy Rich asked him to join his big band (on alto); Pepper borrowed an alto and, in his words, quoted in the sleeve notes to this album, "discovered I was able to say everything I wanted to say and I didn't have to sacrifice my individuality to be accepted or to be modern".
Following two operations for a ruptured spleen, Pepper moved into Synanon, a rehabilitation centre for recovering addicts, and began the slow return to full-time performing and recording.
AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow wrote that "Pepper displays a more explorative and darker style than he had previously. He also shows a greater emotional depth in his improvisations and was open to some of the innovations of the avant-garde in his search for greater self-expression."[1]
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