Jim Gilbert Pepper II (June 18, 1941 – February 10, 1992) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and singer of Kaw and

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

heritage. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1964, where he came to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of The Free Spirits, an early jazz-rock fusion group that also featured

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist, widely considered the "godfather of fusion". Alongside Gábor Szabó, he was a pioneer in melding jazz, country and rock ...

and Bob Moses. Pepper went on to have a lengthy career in jazz, recording almost a dozen albums as a bandleader and many more as featured soloist or sideman. Pepper and Joe Lovano played tenor sax alongside each other in an acclaimed band led by drummer

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer of Armenian descent. He played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. Motian first came t ...

, recording three LPs in 1984, 1985 and 1987. Motian described Pepper's playing as "post- Coltrane". Don Cherry was among those who encouraged Pepper to bring more of his Native culture into his music, and the two collaborated extensively. Pepper died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

aged 50.

Early life

Jim Pepper was born on June 18, 1941, to Gilbert and Floy Pepper in Salem,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. He grew up in Portland. He attended Parkrose High School and Madison High School.

Music career

Beginning in the late 1960s, Pepper became a pioneer of fusion jazz. His band, The Free Spirits (active between 1965 and 1968, with guitarist

), is credited as the first to combine elements of jazz and rock. His primary instrument was the

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

(he also played

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

). Of Kaw and Creek heritage, Pepper also achieved notoriety for his compositions combining elements of jazz and

Native American music Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Abori ...

. Don Cherry (of Choctaw and African American heritage) and

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

encouraged Pepper to reflect his roots and heritage and incorporate it into his jazz playing and composition. He was a musical director for ''Night of the First Americans'', a Native American self-awareness benefit concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in 1980 and played also at numerous

powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity fo ...

s. Pepper supported the

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an Native Americans in the United States, American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues ...

. Pepper was a member of the short-lived band ''Everything Is Everything'' with Chris Hills, Lee Reinoehl, Chip Baker, John Waller and Jim Zitro. Their 1969 self-titled sole album spawned the single "Witchi Tai To", on which Pepper was the lead singer. It received airplay and reached number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was issued on Vanguard Apostolic and UK Vanguard in England, and is the only hit to feature an authentic Native American chant in the history of the Billboard pop charts. His "Witchi Tai To" (derived from a peyote song of the Native American Church which he had learned from his grandfather) is the most famous example of his hybrid (jazz/Native American) style; the song has been covered by many other artists including Harpers Bizarre,

Ralph Towner Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn. Biography Towner was born i ...

(with and without

Jan Garbarek Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław Gar ...

, Tom Grant, Pete Wyoming Bender, Brewer & Shipley, Larry Smith under the pseudonym of Topo D. Bill, a version recorded by

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

in 1969 that went unreleased until 2022, and by Pavement on their 2022-2024 reunion tour. It was also covered in 1973 by Quebec singer-songwriter Robert Charlebois. In his own projects, Pepper recorded with Don Cherry, Naná Vasconcelos, Collin Walcott, Kenny Werner, John Scofield, Ed Schuller, Hamid Drake, and many others. His CD ''Comin' and Goin' '' (1984) is the definitive statement of Pepper's unique "American Indian jazz" with nine songs played by four different line-ups. It was also the first CD issued by the then-new all-CD label

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

. He also worked with the Liberation Music Orchestra,

' s quintet, Bob Moses,

Marty Cook Marty Cook (born May 1947) is an American jazz trombonist. Biography Cook was born in New York (state), New York and raised in Ohio, where he began playing trombone at age seven. He played in New York in the late 1960s, recording with Marzette W ...

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

, David Friesen, Tony Hymas and Amina Claudine Myers, and toured Europe extensively throughout his career. While anecdotal mention of Pepper having played the saxophone solo on the Classics IV hit " Spooky" exists, this has been rather definitively credited to "Spooky" 's cowriter, Michael (Mike Sharpe) Shapiro, by Classics IV official biographer, Joe Glickman, and others.

Death and legacy

Jim Pepper died on February 10, 1992, of

. In 1998, composer

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

arranged, conducted and recorded ''Witchi Tai To: The Music of Jim Pepper'' for symphony orchestra and jazz band. Pepper was posthumously granted the ''Lifetime Musical Achievement Award'' by First Americans in the Arts in 1999, and in 2000 he was inducted into the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame. In 2005 the Oregon Legislative Assembly honored the extraordinary accomplishments and musical legacy of Pepper. In April 2007, the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

accepted Pepper's saxophone and hat at a ceremony honoring his music and legacy. On July 24, 2023, Pepper's former home in Northeast Portland was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, which protects it from demolition and recognizes it as a place of significance to contemporary Indigenous history.

Discography

* '' Pepper's Pow Wow'' (

Embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...

, 1971) * '' Comin' and Goin''' (Europa, 1983) * '' Dakota Song'' ( Enja, 1987) * '' Art of the Duo'' (Tutu, 1988) with

* ''The Path'' (Enja, 1988) * ''West End Avenue'' (Nagal, 1989) with Christoph Spendel, Ron McClure and Reuben Hoch * ''Camargue'' (Pan, 1989) with the Claudine François Trio * ''Flying Eagle: Live at New Morning, Paris'' (1989) * ''Remembrance'' (Tutu, 1990) * ''Polar Bear Stomp'' (Universal, 1991 003 * ''Afro Indian Blues'' (PAO, 1991 2006) with Amina Claudine Myers, Anthony Cox and Leopoldo Fleming With Everything Is Everything * ''Everything Is Everything'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

, 1969) With The Free Spirits * '' Out of Sight and Sound'' ( ABC, 1967) * ''Live at the Scene'' (Sunbeam, 2011)

As sideman

With Archie James Cavanaugh * ''Black and White Raven'' (BWR, 1980) With

* ''Nightwork'' (Enja, 1987) * ''Red, White, Black & Blue'' (Enja, 1987) With

* '' Coryell'' (Vanguard, 1969) With

The Fugs The Fugs are an American rock band formed in New York City in late 1964, by the poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver (musician), Ken Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined by Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber of the Holy ...

* '' The Belle of Avenue A'' (

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

, 1969) With Gordon Lee * ''Land Whales in New York'' (Gleeful, 1982 990 With

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

* '' The Ballad of the Fallen'' ( ECM, 1983) With Sandy Hurvitz * ''Sandy's Album Is Here At Last'' (Verve, 1967) With Tony Hymas * '' Oyaté'' (Nato, 1990) With

* '' The Story of Maryam'' ( Soul Note, 1984) * '' Jack of Clubs'' (Soul Note, 1985) * '' Misterioso'' (Soul Note, 1987) With Bob Moses * ''Love Animal'' (

Amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

, 1968 003 * ''When Elephants Dream of Music'' ( Gramavision, 1983) With Cam Newton * ''Welcome Aliens'' (

Inner City The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

, 1979) With Ray and the Wolf Gang * ''The Blues Can't Turn You Loose'' (Gray Cats, 1987) With Nana Simopoulos * ''Wings and Air'' (Enja, 1986) With

* '' Remembering the Moment'' with

Julian Priester Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935) is an American jazz trombonist and occasional euphoniumist. He is sometimes credited "Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto". He has played with Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Biog ...

, Eddie Moore & David Friesen (Soul Note, 1987) * '' Quadrologue at Utopia'' (Tutu, 1989) * '' More Git' Go at Utopia'' (Tutu, 1989) With Peter Walker * ''Second Poem to Karmela or Gypsies Are Important'' (Vanguard, 1968) With the World Music Orchestra * ''East West Suite'' (Granite, 1990)Siegal, B
Discography of Jim Pepper's Work
accessed November 12, 2015

Filmography

*''Pepper's Pow Wow'' (1995). Directed by Sandra Sunrising Osawa. Seattle, Washington: Upstream Productions.

References

The Encyclopedia of Native Music niversity of Arizona Press, 2005 Brian Wright-McLeod

External links

"Jazz and The Politics of Identity: The Legacy of Jim Pepper" (In Motion Magazine)
Oregon Historical Quarterly Spring, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, Jim Native American composers Native American singers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American saxophonists American jazz saxophonists American jazz tenor saxophonists Jazz soprano saxophonists American male saxophonists Jazz fusion musicians Avant-garde jazz musicians American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians The Free Spirits members Musicians from Portland, Oregon Parkrose High School alumni Muscogee people Kaw people Deaths from cancer in Oregon Deaths from lymphoma in the United States 1941 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Native American people Leodis V. McDaniel High School alumni