Recorded in 1960 but released in 1963, this has Pepper joined by Dolo Coker (piano), Jimmy Bond (bass), and Frank Butler (drums). A critical part of any west coast jazz library.

That cover photo makes me think of the moment in Lost in Translation where the translator turns a series of long directions in Japanese from the director to Bill Murray as an actor into just this: “more intensity.”

Part of a series of recent pickups from Pepper on reissues, my copy—direct from Craft Recordings—is the 2024 Acoustic Sounds Series reissue, mastered by Bernie Grundman and pressed at QRP.