[purchase]
Art Pepper (´25-´82) was the west coast king of the alto saxophone. His career consisted of many highs. Some of these were related to his art, the others to heroin. Do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of his extremely candid autobiography Straight Life for all the sordid details. A great read, it puts the excesses of many a rocker to shame.
Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise was originally a song from a twenties operetta. Pepper reworked it to fit his needs, assisted by Miles Davis Band heavyweights Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, plus Conte Candoli on trumpet. You can find it on Gettin´ Together!, the follow-up to his undisputed masterpiece Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section.